Christianese
Christianese (kirs'ch nez') is a form of jargon sometimes used by members of the Christian church, especially within, though not limited to, contemporary Pentecostalism and Evangelicalism. Christianese is characterised by the use of certain words, theological terms, and catchphrases in everyday conversation in ways that are only comprehensible within the context of Christian belief. Many of these terms are rooted in current Protestant doctrine that postulates a highly individual and personal connection to Christianity.
Basic Christianese In its basic form, Christianese uses Biblical and theological terms to describe matters of faith and everyday experiences as interpreted through the filter of that faith. Though the words and phrases are, per se, known to the speaker of the wider langauge (eg English), without an understanding of the Bible, theology or (sometimes) specific doctrine the listener has no context in which to understand what is being said. For example, a phrase like,"Washed in the blood" in Christianese means "My sins are forgiven because I believe in the terms of salvation as defined by Jesus." However, without an understanding of Jesus, what He did, or what His actions mean in Christian theology, this statement could sound quite disgusting. Below are a few examples of Christianese terms and what they mean. - "Blessed" = A feeling of personal well-being, especially as connected with a casual religious experience or a religious interpretation of everyday experiences.
- "Born Again" (can be used as a noun or an adjective) = A Christian, especially one who has come to a belief in Christianity as an adult and has experienced a spiritual rebirth.
- "Saved" = By being a Christian, the individual believes he will be "saved" from Hell when he dies.
- "On fire for God" = Excited about Christianity, especially "Outreach" (see below).
- "Fellowship" = A sense of belonging to a community, either within a specific church or within Christianity as a widespread religion.
- "Sanctified" = The common dictionary definition is "to make holy or purify"; in Christianese this is usually applied to individuals rather than objects. Often a synonym for "Born Again" or "Saved".
- "Redeemed" = This is used in the sense of "To set free, rescue or ransom"; The speaker believes that his or her faith in Christianity has "rescued" them from the spiritual consequenses of their actions or previous lack of belief.
- "Backsliding" or "Backslider" = A noun or verb describing a Christian who seems to be losing their faith or behaving in an "unChristian" manner.
- "Made right with God." = Can refer to either an indivudal's intial religious conversion or to a "backslider"'s recovery of faith or principles.
- "Slain in the Spirit" = An experience in which belief in the physical power of God causes people to fall to the ground. See laying on of hands,
- "Walk with God" = The practise of applying Christian principles and beliefs to everyday life.
- "Signs of the times" = When current world events are interpreted as agreeing with certain passages of the Bible commonly interpreted as prophecies indicating Christ's "second coming." See millenialism.
- "Mission" = Christian activites which serve the church or the community. This can include "Outreach" (see below.)
- "Outreach" = The process of taking the Christian message to people who are not Christians.
- "pre-Christians" = People who are not Christians.
- "Witness" or "Witnessing" = Telling someone how and why you are a Christian, generally on a one-to-one basis.
Some members of the Christian community now view some or all othese terms as cliches. The belief that Christianese has hindered the communciation of the Christian message to the rest of the world has led some Christian writers to advocate the conscious removal of Christianese from believers' conversations and writing. Many have also come up with alternative terms and phrases that are theoretically more "religion-neutral." The effectiveness of this strategy is undetermined.
See also
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