Description
THE FACT that the author of the Fourth Gospel mentions these three languages in relation to the death of Jesus may well stem from his desire to suggest the universal efficaciousness of that event, yet in fact it is altogether probable that in the Palestine of Jesus' day it was necessary for official documents to be trilingual. That observation suggests the shape of this present introduction, but some further explanatory reasons for ordering the material in this way are called for.
Language is the most obvious sign of the differences between people, as the Hebrew sage who penned the story of the tower of Babel (Gn 11) so shrewdly observed. Yet language itself, considered not just as a system of sounds but more importantly as a mode of interpreting reality is dependent upon deeper factors that lie at the heart of any people's self-identity. A slogan of the national movement in Ireland that eventually led to (partial) Irish independence in 1921 was, 'gan teanga gan tir', 'without language, without country'. But language is only part of the story. Without the freedom to express its distinctive character in story and song, carnival and ritual, arts and crafts, trade and commerce, there is a real danger that any people will lose its sense of identity and become absorbed by the larger political and cultural powers that control it.
ISBN:0894531255
