Image of the Logos

The Image of the Logos (6)
Being a word eater, part 1.

Key verses: But he answered, "It is written, "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:4 ESV)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1 ESV)

The most significant event of the 20th century was the decline of the age of typography and the ascent of the age of television.

Why is this significant?
Because with no words you can not think. With no way to organize your thoughts into things with meaning you do not think. This is shown by Helen Keller.

She remembers when she didn't know how to communicate everything was just black nothingness in her mind. There was no meaning to anything. It was only on March 3, 1887, when she learned her first word that she said that she first had a thought and was excited for the next day to
come. She calls that day her soul's birthday.

The imago dei---what is it?
(Image of God)
We have five basic non-physical attributes of a non-physical God.
This is also what separates us from animals. Animals have the first three but to a lesser degree because of the lack of words.
•Intelligence- Language enables a much higher level of intelligence. With no language Helen Keller would have peaked at a low level of smarts. As it works out she was a genius.
•Personality- Animals have a certain level of personality but it is more in their breeds then the individuals. Golden retrievers are more friendly while terriers are more fierce.
•Gregariousness- (a fancy way of saying we like to hang out with other people). Animals form groups too but it is mostly for survival purposes. We group together because humans are attracted to each other.
•Morality-We have innate morality while animals do not. They have no problem killing each other.
•Creativity-We are the only creatures that create for our pleasure alone.

We should consume words.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12 ESV)

Being a question asker (part 2)

Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. (Acts 17:11 ESV)

When we are consuming words we should not always do it by ourselves. Sometimes we must have discourses with others.
There are three ways we should do this:
•Language acquisition-hearing words.
•Oral discourse-Asking questions of people.
•Literary discourse-Having conversations with authors and books by reading them.

We are a generation raised by appliances. We are raised more by computers than by people. This is not a good set up for learning. The messages might be true but there is no room for questions.

So what is the difference between images and words?

Images:
-Communicate immediately and intuitively.
-Are impressionistic
-Are scanned subjectively
-Can not be judged true or false

Words:
-Communicate through abstraction and analysis
-Are precise and exact
-Are read in linear, logical fashion
-Can be judged as true or false.