Mullins 1 Tasi Mullins Mrs. Emerick English 10 H Sept.

8, 2013 Language from the Beginning

Being able to communicate is one of the most important skills one can have in todays world. To communicate, you must have language. Many people possessing many different world views and cultural backgrounds all pose the question of where language places its roots. I believe that God is the Creator of language. I also believe that through the Holy Spirit, He gives and takes away language, that language is Gods tool to tell the world about Jesus Christ, and that He made man in His image. Genesis 11:7 says, Come let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one anothers speech. God spoke in plural, including the Word and the Holy Spirit in the action of going down. Another situation that we see with the Hol y Spirit involved in the giving and taking of language is in Acts 2, verse 4: And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (The Holy Bible). According to the previous scriptures, it is easy to infer that God uses the Holy Spirit to give and take away language. This point shows Gods control over speech and language. There are more than 6,000 languages in the world today (Harrub, Thompson, and Miller). As Creationists, we believe that the scattering of language happened at the Tower of Babel, which is recorded in the book of Genesis. Secular scientists have no way to explain how language acquired the diversity that it has today. Looking into the Bible, we can see that God

Mullins 2 confounded the people to use them like seeds, and to spread language around the world. This is just another thing that points to God as the author of language. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 is a scripture that illustrates the Word. In the original Greek, word is logos, meaning of speech. The primitive root word of logos is le'-g, which means multiple things: Affirm over, maintain, to teach, to advise and to command (Vines Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, p. 683). The words used in this definition all have something in common: they describe the Prince of Peace. The depth put into language by God is evident, and amazing. Another argument to prove that God is the origin of language is the fact that man was created in His image. On Adams first day, he could speak just as well as you and I. God gave Adam the task of naming all the animals on the Earth (Genesis 2:9). The development of language by Adam was incredibly advanced, especially for such a new being. It is said that Adam named around 2,000 animals (The Genesis Flood). The amount of understanding of language needed to do that is unfathomable. And considering he was not even a day old, he must have been created with the ability to speak. Philip Lieberman, evolutionist and professor at Brown University (teaching anthropology, linguistics, and cognitive sciences) admitted in his book Eve Spoke, saying: Speech is so essential to our concept of intelligence that its possession is virtually equated with being human. Animals who talk are human, because what sets us apart from other animals is the gift of speech. (Eve Spoke: Human Language and Human Evolution, p. 5). Language distinguishes humans, who were made in Gods image, from animals. It is the definitive line between humanity and the rest of living things because that is how God meant for it to be.

Mullins 3 Another evidence for language being created is DNA. God created man using a language consisting of only four letters A, C, T, and G. Scientists all over the world are still trying to fully figure DNA out. So much time and money is being spent on DNA research because we have such a hard time decoding the language, even though the alphabet is only made up of four letters. God created man by breathing language into him. So that must mean that God created language, and with it, He created the blueprint for human beings. Language is an everyday tool that humans cannot live without. People are bound to question the origin of it; worldviews will continue to influence ones theories. I believe that God is the author of language, and gave the gift of language to humans as a means and tool to know and understand His plan for our individual lives in a more intimate and complete manner. Through the influence of the Holy Spirit, language can be used boldly and wisely to reveal Christ to the lost, as God used language to reveal Christ to us through the Word.

Mullins 4

Works Cited Gitt, Werner, Ph.D. "2.2 The Origin of Human Language (OB2)." - Answers in Genesis. N.p., 17 June 2012. Web. 08 Sept. 2013. New Kings James Version Bible: no publication date or place. Print. "Search the Bible." Welcome to BLB V3. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Sept. 2013. Thompson, Bert, Ph.D, Brad Harrub, Ph.D, and Dave Miller, Ph.D. "The Origin of Language and Communication." The Origin of Language and Communication. N.p., 2003. Web. 08 Sept. 2013. Vine, W.E., Unger, Merril F., and White Jr., William. Vines Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words. Nashville, 1961. Print. Von Buseck, Craig. "How Many Animals Were on the Ark?" CBN.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Sept. 2013.