Friday, September 30, 2011

Clear writing is a foretaste of grace

I believed, and still do, that effective communication is an attempt to overcome the brokenness of language that is the result of fallenness. In this way, clear writing is a foretaste of grace, that wonderful concept that reminds us that something must bridge the gap between us and perfection, the gap that divides us from other persons as well as God.
--Gene Fant (from this First Things article)

5 Comments:

At 9/30/2011 5:20 AM, Blogger Emerson Fast said...

Here here!

Death to Soren Kierkegaard's "indirect communication"!!!!!

 
At 9/30/2011 7:08 AM, Blogger Ben Byerly said...

Since you seem to be on a clear writing kick, you may might want to explore some ideas around NLP, hypnotic language, suggestive language, or persuasive communication (e.g. marketing). You may be surprised to find, Chris, how vague language can be quite persuasive as it allows the reader's imagination to fill in the blanks or confusion with more meaningful subconscious thoughts which they then attribute to the author and begin to consider her a genius--though obscure writing seems to be more epidemic among the male species.

 
At 10/01/2011 4:10 PM, Blogger Chris Tilling said...

How interesting! So, obscure lectures may help my students to think more?!!!

Perhaps I need Soren's advice!

 
At 10/26/2011 4:41 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Super interesting! I hadn't really carefully thought about Grace and how clarity or poetic speech relate!

Thanks for sharing!

 
At 12/02/2011 5:12 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Despite their best intentions everyone can only ever communicate what they have Realized about the Truth.

Put in another way, all of the communications of any and every one who begins from the presumption, and the thus always dramatized disposition of being "fallen", will always reinforce their "fallen-ness" - their commitment to being an active sinner.

 

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