Writing for Publication is a course at Denver Seminary that I have been teaching and loving since 2000. We always use Elements of Style, “Politics and the English Language” by George Orwell, as well as other writing on writing well. Theology is also our concern, as it should be in all areas of life (Matthew 22:37-40). Thus, we reflect on the purpose and meaning of writing. It begins with The Word.
The divine Word of John 1:1 is the foundation for all rational ordering and communication. Men and women were created to listen, learn, speak, and create culture. God spoke to them, they spoke back, and eventually they began to inscrible their ideas. God wrote the Decalogue himself. The prophets spoke truth for life, and it was later written down, since it was the revelation of the Logos. The Bible is God’s writing for us as recorded by numerous writers at different places and at different times. “Living and active” is how The Book of Hebrews describes itself and the entire canon of Scripture (Hebrews 4:12)
Authors should take care, as did the biblical writers. Luke tells us in his prologue that he carefully investigated all the pertient writings about Jesus and set forth his account so that the reading might have certainty about the events described (Luke 1:1-4). The Book of Ecclesiastes commends the writing of Soloman by noting his care in composing the wisdom of that book (Ecclesiastes 12:9-12). I could go on.
Follower of the Logos made man (John 1:14, 18), must be people of truth in a world of lies. Character matters here and everywhere. Knowledge and clarity should be our aim in all writing, whether about the Bible or jazz or painting or literature. We all write before the face of God. This true and living God calls for our best at all times in his strength, so that he be honored and his glory become global. This can not be done on the cheap. One cannot fake it and keep one’s integrity.
With the Logos above us, before us, behind us, beneath us, and for us, let us think and write as if our words are inscribed in the mind of God. They are.