Throughout the Christian biblical texts the theme of divine and human language constantly emerges. The way in which these two languages differ gives great insight into the moral characteristics of both the mortal beings as well the characteristics of the divinities. The way the divinities speak both contrasts and compares to the way the mortals use their language. Although in all of the texts the divinities use speech to create bounds while the mortals are simply unable to do anything but comply. There does come a point where these two methods of divine and human speech come together to share striking similarities. This can be seen in the biblical books of Genesis, Gospel According to John, and the book Confessions by Saint Augustine. The …show more content…
At the start God begins with a language that defines him as a creator. He can be seen as solely altruistic in the way in which he brings about life to the earth. He gives statements such as “let there be light.”, “let the waters gather in one place and let the dry land appear.”, “let the water and earth bring forth swarms of living creatures.” And finally “let us make man in our own image and give him dominion.”(Gen. 1. 3-26.) God’s benevolence is evident in the way in which he brings about the world. As humanity begins to thrive in the gardens however, they make a fatal mistake which serves to dim this benevolent nature God starts off as having. He becomes infuriated after hearing that Adam and Eve have eaten the apple which he had previously forbidden and he begins to now exert his power as a divine being in a more disciplinary way. He begins to say things like “I will multiply your pain in childbirth.” And “cursed is the ground on account of you.”(Gen. 3. 16-18.) He begins to set bounds on humanity and eliminates their immortal status. There was little Adam and Eve could do to redeem their mistake but explain themselves, but this unfortunately had no difference is assuaging the punishments brought onto them