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Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Theology » Page 9

Theology

Misunderstanding the Written Word

By Steve Laubeon July 20, 2020
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Back on June 8, I wrote “Barriers to Effective Communication,” attempting to look at some things that get in the way in relationships, business, and writing.

I’ve continued to reflect on this topic, particularly with regard to the written word. Not only in books and articles, but also in our emails and social-media posts.

Author Intent

Have you ever been upset by an email from a colleague? Or from a friend? Or a spouse or family member? Of course we have.

I came across a fascinating look at “authorial intent” in a recent book Church Doctrine & the Bible by David Instone-Brewer (Lexham Press, 2020). His context was to introduce the challenge of biblical interpretation by making a parallel to our written words:

It is actually impossible to know … what the author was thinking about and intending to convey in their writing…. You can mistake irony for plain speech, misunderstand who or what they are talking about, interpret advice as criticism, or even misunderstand the meaning of a word – for example, “that’s incredible” (“amazing” or “unbelievable”?), “that’s confusing” (a reference to what they describe, or the way they’re describing it?), “How much?” (“too much” or “too little”?)…. When you add  the fact that an author is from a different family and area, possibly from a different culture, language, country, religion, and time period, there are so many possibilities for misunderstanding that some have concluded we can never be sure what the author meant (pp. 4-5).

Chew on that for awhile, and think of the times where you reacted strongly to something you read.

Reader Understanding

We often read meaning into words that isn’t there. That last kerfluffle with your spouse or relative? Did they really say what you heard? Fortunately, there is something called forgiveness!

In the study of literary criticism, there is something called the “Reader-Response” theory, whereby each reader can read the same material but understand it or absorb it differently. It’s one reason why two people can read the same novel and one thinks it’s trash and the other thinks it is brilliant. Which one is right? Could it be both?

On a side note, this can be rather theological in that it is one way that God meets a reader where they are. That unique connective space that the reader and writer alone (with God’s help) meet. I see a wonder here, a divine mystery. Sort of the “how” writing reaches past the intellect and to the heart. The same way God meets us intellectually (via assent), as well as emotionally/spiritually (via repentance) and practically (via holiness).

Grace Is the Solution

The beginning of understanding is to first check the anger at the door. Of course, there is a place for genuine outrage. At the same time, don’t take offense when a colleague was merely expressing how they felt about having to complete that task by 5 pm today when it’s 4:45 pm. They aren’t necessarily upset at you personally, but at the situation and its demands.

At the same time, it is critical for your emotional and spiritual health to respond properly to bad reviews or harsh criticism of your book or article. Our initial reaction is to take it as a personal attack.

Grace is the solution! Giving benefit of the doubt is a wonderful starting point.

 

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Category: Communication, The Writing Life, TheologyTag: Criticism

The Industry Changes but Seems Unchanged

By Steve Laubeon June 15, 2020
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I recently came across an article I had saved from 2004 predicting “Book Trends 2005” by Sally E. Stuart in an issue of Advanced Christian Writer newsletter. Reading through the article makes one realize how different things are but also how much they are still the same! Isn’t that a paradox? To rattle your brain a little, when that article was published, Google was only six …

Read moreThe Industry Changes but Seems Unchanged
Category: Book Business, The Publishing Life, The Writing Life, Theology, Trends

Instrument (A Writer’s Prayer)

By Bob Hostetleron May 13, 2020
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God, from ancient days to modern times, you have chosen human language to communicate with men and women; in fact, you are a writer yourself, having written your commandments in tablets of stone, my name in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and your Word in my heart. You have also given me a love for the written word, and have indebted me to the writings of many gifted men and women. So, while I am a …

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Category: Inspiration, The Writing Life, Theology

How Are You Reading?

By Steve Laubeon April 27, 2020
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by Steve Laube

I collect books. I graze through them like I'm at an all-you-can-eat buffet. I sample this tidbit and that. Eventually I get enough to eat or have found the right morsel to consume until it is finished.

It helps make me an eclectic sort. But there are days, even weeks, where I must discipline myself to become immersed in extraordinary writing. It is there where the soul …

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Category: Reading, TheologyTag: Reading, Theology

Fear and Its Antecedents

By Steve Laubeon March 16, 2020
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The coronavirus is the topic on everyone’s mind. Your community, your family, and even yourself may have been or could be affected. Maybe not by the virus itself but by the economic and societal fallout of the cancellations and shutdown of communities. Many experts, much smarter than I, are speaking erudite words of “stay calm and be wise.” I land on the fact that God is bigger …

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Category: Encouragement, Faith, Theology

A Writer’s Prayer of Confession

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon March 4, 2020
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Most holy and merciful Father: I confess that I have sinned by my own fault in thought, word, and deed; by what I have done, and by what I have left undone. I have not loved you with my whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. I have let the idea of being a writer distract me from devotion to you. I have made myself busier with words than with your Word. I have been consumed by my writing plans and …

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Category: Encouragement, Faith, Inspiration, Theology

A Writer’s Double Portion (A Prayer)

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon January 22, 2020
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Gracious God, who inspired faulty and feeble people in times past to write for the purpose of changing lives, please let some of that spirit–a double portion, even, as I am faultier and feebler than they were—rest on me as a writer. Grant me the productivity of Moses, who though he lived in an age before paper or press is credited with “the books of Moses,” revered as Torah by …

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Category: Personal, The Writing Life, Theology

Never Burn a Bridge!

By Steve Laubeon December 2, 2019
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The sale of Thomas Nelson to HarperCollins and last week's sale of Heartsong to Harlequin brought to mind a critical piece of advice:

Never Burn a Bridge!

Ours is a small industry and both editors and authors move around with regularity. If you are in a business relationship and let your frustration boil into anger and ignite into rage...and let that go at someone in the publishing company, …

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Category: Agency, Book Business, Book Business, Career, Communication, Rejection, The Publishing Life, The Writing Life, TheologyTag: Agents, Editors, Get Published, Rejection, Trends, Writing Craft

A Writer’s Prayer of Thanks

By Bob Hostetleron November 27, 2019
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A Writer’s Prayer of Thanks Lord, Jesus, Logos, Living Word, thank you for the joy and privilege of being a writer. Thank you, a million times, thank you that I get to spend my days amid words and sentences and paragraphs that (mostly) cooperate and do my bidding. Thank you for the smell of pencil shavings, the elegance of a good fountain pen, the click-clack of ancient typewriter keys; for the …

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Category: Personal, The Writing Life, Theology

A Writer’s Evening Prayer

By Bob Hostetleron October 16, 2019
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A Writer’s Evening Prayer (based on “An Evening Prayer” by C. Maud Battersby) __________   If I have failed to heed your voice today, If I have driven any of your thoughts away, If I have written my own willful way: Dear Lord, forgive!   If I have written idle words or vain, If I have worked for earthly gain, If my words should bring one soul pain, Dear Lord, forgive!   If I …

Read moreA Writer’s Evening Prayer
Category: Encouragement, Inspiration, The Writing Life, Theology
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