This post was inspired after a
talk I had with Fr. William Taylor, Chairman of the Anglican and Eastern
Churches Association. The theological conversation was based on why God allowed
for the birth of all the languages in the world. Could we have only one
language?
The answer is a complex one. The
birth of all the languages is to be found in Genesis 11: 1-9, where we read:
‘And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to
pass, as they journeyed from east, that they found a plain in the land of
Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make
brick, and burn them throughly. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city
and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest
we be scattered abroad upon the face to the whole earth. And the Lord came down
to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the Lord
said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they
begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have
imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that
they may not understand one another’s speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad
from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the
city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there
confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter
them abroad upon the face of all the earth’.
However, during Pentecost we see
the reverse of the above. The gift of unity is given by the Holy Spirit, where
we read, ‘They were all in one accord in one place’ (Acts 2:1). Therefore,
during Pentecost we chant the following hymn: ‘When the Most High came down and
confused the tongues, He divided the nations; But when he distributed tongues
of fire, He called all to unity. Therefore with one voice we glorify the All
–Holy Spirit.
Metropolitan Kallistos explains,
in regards to this important subject, that “The Spirit brings unity and mutual
comprehension, enabling us to speak ‘with one voice’. He transforms individuals
into persons. Of the first Christian community at Jerusalem, in the period
immediately following Pentecost, it is stated that they ‘had all things in
common’ and were ‘united in heart and soul (Acts 2:44, 4:32); and this should
be the mark of the Pentecostal community of the Church in every age…Not only
does the Holy Spirit make us all one, but he makes us each different. At
Pentecost the multiplicity of tongues was not abolished, but it ceased to be a
cause of separation; each spoke as before in his own tongue, but by the power
of the Spirit each could understand the others”[1].
Interpretation is key here. We
understand the existence of multiple languages, which could divide people.
However, we can also perceive that all the languages together can better
explain the mystery of our existence, explain theology and maybe God, in a
better manner, than could be achieved with only one language. Despite having a
multiplicity of tongues, we can identify the fact that the Holy Spirit does
unite all faithful, within the body of the Church.
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