Unintended Meanings In Christian Faith-Based Discourse

Abstract

Language, in different facets of human life, has always enjoyed the attention of scholars over the years. There have been works on Christian faith-based discourse, some of which are termed ‘the language of religion’, ‘religious language’, ‘Christian religious language’, ‘language of worship’, etc. most of these works focus on register or vocabulary. With the proliferation of churches in Nigeria today, certain linguistic trends have emerged in Christian faith-based discourse. This paper investigates these linguistic trends in Christian assemblies with the aim of highlighting the meanings they could convey. Fifteen speech samples produced by a set of purposively sampled participants who occupy certain leadership positions in their assemblies are used in this study. Some of the speech samples were transcribed from existing audio-tapes and interaction with church leaders while others were recorded through note-taking during church activities. The findings reveal that the trend of language usage under study projectsunpleasant and unintended meanings which may inhibit the successful practice of the Christian faith by adherents, and hinder intending or prospective members. Unintended expressions tend to underrate God and magnify Satan (the archenemy of the Christians), or they mock the Christian faith and exaggerate life’s problems. Words are powerful and as such, must be employed in Christian faith-based discourses with utmost care. The role of language in the progress of the church, physically or spiritually, should not be underestimated.