Communication 101: Using it to Read the Bible (and every other book)

I grew up a "chapter and verse" guy, before I ever entered school.  That meant that reading was important.  In my parents' house, if you had an opinion on religion, then you had better know the chapter and verse you are getting it from.  But as one of my former college professors points out that means the rules of interpretation or the rules of communication are very important.  It comes down to method to help remove some of the differences in interpretation. 

I am currently writing a great deal about the meaning of holy.  It is a topic above the basics, but it is also built on a basic method.  The basics come first, but they also are there in the highest and most complex projects as well.  It is a good idea to start with them to handle all the complexity of communication that is going to come our way in a lifetime. 

My method is basically semantic.  It deals with meaning.  It begins with classes of meaning.  It does not begin with grammatical categories, though it certainly thinks they are valid for the average adult.  But before grammar really gets very clear to us, meaning has already gained the primary foothold. 

I learned this through my linguistics classes in college, especially when we learned about how children learn language and also when we learned about how people learn a second language.  They both really expose the importance of meaning over grammar, but not without some consideration for grammar as well. 

It is not meaning versus grammar, it is meaning followed by grammar, that is, meaning and grammar in that order.  My method of going from one language to another is as follows (from Nehemiah chapter 8):

     Translate
     Transfer
     Total
     Train
     Teach

This is my basic method in communicating from one language to another.  The total is necessary of the four other Ts.  It is that simple.  You need them all. 

I agree with those who say translating the Bible is not enough.  It is though the beginning and an important one.  Total is used in this method not as a separate step so much as the summary and reminder that the four other T's are required and not just one. 

So for basic translation workers, it is important to realize that even communication 101 has not happened, unless all four as a total are present.  Then we can talk about communication that works between languages.  Thank you for taking some time to read this entry.


Sincerely,

Jon