The New Language of the Web | Beyond the Pulpit

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The New Language of the Web

The process of designing and building this website has taught me many things. First, never try to do this yourself! We could not have achieved the site you are now viewing without the very capable work of Brad Morrison of Southpoint Media and Ariel Janzen of Bright White Space. The second thing I have learned is that communicating the gospel in the 21st century requires learning a new language – the language of cascading stylesheets, RSS, and Java. (If you don’t know what those are, try building a website and you will learn quickly!)

Of course, the gospel has always been translated into new languages and thought-forms. It adapted from Greek to Latin. It has found a home in postmodernism just as it did in Neoplatonist philosophy. Part of what makes the gospel Good News for all people is that it is infinitely translatable; it can find expression in any number of cultural and intellectual forms. And just like an announcement of good news, the gospel is not identical with the language in which it is spoken but could not take embodied form without that language.

Learning a new language is always a challenge, but especially as we age. I imagine that my son will grow up speaking the language of the internet far more fluently than I ever could. And eventually he will have to learn a new language in adulthood through which to share the gospel. And on it will go…