In any communication, it is helpful to establish some common ground among the participants. That is one of the objectives of this blog; to provide some framework to our creed, as a catalyst to draw together friendly project members of like precious faith. At the deepest level, this common ground would include the definitions of the words used and their connotations in the context of the message. Some words have a very broad meaning and several others have very little latitude.
For example, maybe Fred thinks that the word “religion” simply means rituals and traditions. And perhaps Ivan is thinking more along the lines of helping “the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). If Ivan and Fred are not talking about the meaning of the word, but simply use the word, then this would be miscommunication. Whatever one said, the other would “hear” something else.
Our plan is to include some word studies in future blog posts. Not that we want to dictate the meaning of words, as an authority in English lexicology, but just to clarify the nuances of how we are using some key words in relation to this project.
List of word study articles:
WhenHisVoiceIsHeard 