Linguistic Apologetics

Tone

"Whenever Thou humblest me, Thou makest me great."
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The following is a scientific argument (very raw) I am making on another thread (Bible IS SCIENCE, exposing misnamed 'science' today), but I think it is, more fittingly, an extension of this thread as well:


*The Creator makes the earth and men devise ways to attempt to understand it.


*He has given us a way to understand it! (I refer you to the OP)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Words are Energy


"Linguistics is the scientific study of language.[1] It involves analysing language form, language meaning, and language in context.[2] The earliest activities in the documentationand description of language have been attributed to the 6th-century-BC Indian grammarian Pāṇini[3][4] who wrote a formal description of the Sanskrit language in his Aṣṭādhyāyī.[5]"
Linguistics - Wikipedia


"Energetics (also called energy economics) is the study of energy under transformation. Because energy flows at all scales, from the quantum level to the biosphere and cosmos, energetics is a very broad discipline, encompassing for example thermodynamics, chemistry, biological energetics, biochemistry and ecological energetics. Where each branch of energetics begins and ends is a topic of constant debate. For example, Lehninger (1973, p. 21) contended that when the science of thermodynamics deals with energy exchanges of all types, it can be called energetics."
Energetics - Wikipedia

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"energy (n.)

1590s, "force of expression," from Middle French énergie (16c.), from Late Latin energia, from Greek energeia "activity, action, operation," from energos "active, working," from en "at" (see en- (2)) + ergon "work, that which is wrought; business; action," from PIE root *werg- "to do."


Used by Aristotle with a sense of "actuality, reality, existence" (opposed to "potential") but this was misunderstood in Late Latin and afterward as "force of expression," [emphasis mine] as the power which calls up realistic mental pictures. Broader meaning of "power" in English is first recorded 1660s. Scientific use is from 1807. Energy crisis first attested 1970."

energy | Origin and meaning of energy by Online Etymology Dictionary


Historical Development of the Word "Energy" | Energy Fundamentals


Strong's Hebrew: 8633. תֹּ֫קֶף (toqeph) -- power, strength, energy
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"A word is more then it's definition because it contains energy and power. Klingler explains that we actually feel words.


Think of the word inch and notice what happens to your energy. How do you feel as you think or say the word?


Now, try the same thing with the word mile. Did you feel a difference in your energy between those two words? (I definitely do.)


And now close your eyes and think of the words short and tall? Did your energy shrink with short andexpand with tall? And what about those two words shrink and expand? It's crazy how we really can feel the difference in the energy of words.


Klingler explains that even though words don't seem to have an emotional value we can still feel a difference between them. And that's because words have energy."
The Power of Positive Words - Why the energy of words affect you!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Words are energy and energy affects matter. The energy of your microwave vibrates the water molecules and heats the water. The energy of electricity flows to your washing machine and powers the motor that spins the tub and cleans your clothes.


So, we can rightfully say that energy affects matter. Your words are energy that affects the matter in your life. When you speak the words, "This is the worst car I have ever had! You stupid piece of junk!" Those words are vibrations of energy that affect the atoms that make up that car. If you speak those words long enough, your car will obey you!


Scientists have performed experiments with atoms and their subatomic particles such as electrons. If you paid attention in school, you saw the diagram of an atom with the electron orbiting it like the earth orbits the sun.


The interesting thing is that scientists have discovered that the electron that is shown orbiting the nucleus is not always there in particle form. It exists in a wave state (like a cloud, everywhere at once) until someone looks at it.


When the scientist observes it, it suddenly appears as a dot (particle). What we all want to know is, "How does it know someone is looking at it?" It obviously is responding to the observer.


One of the difficulties in quantum physics is that the particles behave somewhat differently for each observer, which leads me to the question, "Does it behave according to what the scientist believes?"


In any event, we can definitely conclude that Jesus was right when He taught that all matter responds to faith and words. The substance from which our world is made is influenced and manifested by words. The things that you desire are made up of atoms. They know what you believe, hear what you say and behave accordingly!"
Words Are Energy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"There are many studies and experiments done on plants in which the same plants were placed in three separate rooms. In one room kind words were spoken, in the second harsh words were spoken and in the third room, there was pin-drop silence. The results showed that the plants which were exposed to kind words grew a little more than the other two. What does it show?


It shows that words are important. They effect all living beings. If they can effect plants, imagine the impact they would have on humans."
The science behind power of words - Daily Times
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Source:

A study released on August 26, 2013 confirms that language has the power to reshape our knowledge and expectations of the world we see. Interestingly, another study released the same day found that one’s “dispositional attitude” is what makes some people love everything they see and others to hate everything. Put together, this new research offers clues on ways that someone can change his or her explanatory style to be happier and more optimistic.


As an athlete, I have always used self-talk to create a parallel universe where anything is possible and the world around me is cooperating to help me achieve a goal. Whether I’m running 135-miles through Death Valley in July, or 154-miles in 24 hours on a treadmill — my inner dialogue always stays positive, optimistic and upbeat. I consciously reframe reality to make adverse or 'disagreeable' physical conditions become agreeable."
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/...ntists-find-single-word-can-alter-perceptions
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Observer bias (also called experimenter bias or research bias) is the tendency to see what we expect to see, or what we want to see. When a researcher studies a certain group, they usually come to an experiment with prior knowledge and subjective feelings about the group being studied. In other words, they come to the table with conscious or unconscious prejudices."
Observer Bias / Research or Experimenter Bias: Definition, Examples, How to Avoid - Statistics How To
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It is natural to imagine that the sense of sight takes in the world as it is — simply passing on what the eyes collect from light reflected by the objects around us.


But the eyes do not work alone. What we see is a function not only of incoming visual information, but also how that information is interpreted in light of other visual experiences, and may even be influenced by language.


Words can play a powerful role in what we see, according to a study published this month by UW–Madison cognitive scientist and psychology professor Gary Lupyan, and Emily Ward, a Yale University graduate student, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."
Language can reveal the invisible, study shows
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*John 1:1
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."


Hebrews 11:1
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Words)


(Emphasis mine)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Words are indeed powerful...


*Dâbhâr - Hebrew Thoughts- Language Studies - StudyLight.org

**"verb, דבר dâbhar (Strong's #1696), occurs over 1100 times and required 45 different English words). It can also be translated by 'power', 'purpose', 'book', 'provision', 'reason', 'work', 'matter', 'thing', 'cause' or 'commandment' (e.g., the 10 commandments or 10 words, Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13; 10:4)..."

(Emphasis mine)


"The Word was not just spoken it contained the power to fulfil or at the very least the intent to keep one's word. When the prophet heard a Word from the Lord it contained the driving force to impel its delivery. Jeremiah (20:9) could not restrain the Word any longer, but had to let it out. Just as the New Testament describes it the Word is alive and active, creative and explosive. It also was life to its hearers (Deuteronomy 32:46-47 and Jesus' words in John 6:63,68).


In the Old Testament the Word is almost personified, as is Wisdom, this is finally revealed in the New Testament as a description of Jesus, the Word incarnate."
Dâbhâr - Hebrew Thoughts- Language Studies - StudyLight.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"E = mc2, equation in German-born physicist Albert Einstein’s theory of special relativity that expresses the fact that mass and energy are the same physical entity and can be changed into each other. In the equation, the increased relativistic mass (m) of a body times the speed of light squared (c2) is equal to the kinetic energy (E) of that body."
E = mc^2 | Equation, Explanation, & Proof
 
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The following is a scientific argument (very raw) I am making on another thread (Bible IS SCIENCE, exposing misnamed 'science' today), but I think it is, more fittingly, an extension of this thread as well:


*The Creator makes the earth and men devise ways to attempt to understand it.


*He has given us a way to understand it! (I refer you to the OP)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Words are Energy


"Linguistics is the scientific study of language.[1] It involves analysing language form, language meaning, and language in context.[2] The earliest activities in the documentationand description of language have been attributed to the 6th-century-BC Indian grammarian Pāṇini[3][4] who wrote a formal description of the Sanskrit language in his Aṣṭādhyāyī.[5]"
Linguistics - Wikipedia


"Energetics (also called energy economics) is the study of energy under transformation. Because energy flows at all scales, from the quantum level to the biosphere and cosmos, energetics is a very broad discipline, encompassing for example thermodynamics, chemistry, biological energetics, biochemistry and ecological energetics. Where each branch of energetics begins and ends is a topic of constant debate. For example, Lehninger (1973, p. 21) contended that when the science of thermodynamics deals with energy exchanges of all types, it can be called energetics."
Energetics - Wikipedia

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"energy (n.)

1590s, "force of expression," from Middle French énergie (16c.), from Late Latin energia, from Greek energeia "activity, action, operation," from energos "active, working," from en "at" (see en- (2)) + ergon "work, that which is wrought; business; action," from PIE root *werg- "to do."


Used by Aristotle with a sense of "actuality, reality, existence" (opposed to "potential") but this was misunderstood in Late Latin and afterward as "force of expression," [emphasis mine] as the power which calls up realistic mental pictures. Broader meaning of "power" in English is first recorded 1660s. Scientific use is from 1807. Energy crisis first attested 1970."

energy | Origin and meaning of energy by Online Etymology Dictionary


Historical Development of the Word "Energy" | Energy Fundamentals


Strong's Hebrew: 8633. תֹּ֫קֶף (toqeph) -- power, strength, energy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"A word is more then it's definition because it contains energy and power. Klingler explains that we actually feel words.


Think of the word inch and notice what happens to your energy. How do you feel as you think or say the word?


Now, try the same thing with the word mile. Did you feel a difference in your energy between those two words? (I definitely do.)


And now close your eyes and think of the words short and tall? Did your energy shrink with short andexpand with tall? And what about those two words shrink and expand? It's crazy how we really can feel the difference in the energy of words.


Klingler explains that even though words don't seem to have an emotional value we can still feel a difference between them. And that's because words have energy."
The Power of Positive Words - Why the energy of words affect you!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Words are energy and energy affects matter. The energy of your microwave vibrates the water molecules and heats the water. The energy of electricity flows to your washing machine and powers the motor that spins the tub and cleans your clothes.


So, we can rightfully say that energy affects matter. Your words are energy that affects the matter in your life. When you speak the words, "This is the worst car I have ever had! You stupid piece of junk!" Those words are vibrations of energy that affect the atoms that make up that car. If you speak those words long enough, your car will obey you!


Scientists have performed experiments with atoms and their subatomic particles such as electrons. If you paid attention in school, you saw the diagram of an atom with the electron orbiting it like the earth orbits the sun.


The interesting thing is that scientists have discovered that the electron that is shown orbiting the nucleus is not always there in particle form. It exists in a wave state (like a cloud, everywhere at once) until someone looks at it.


When the scientist observes it, it suddenly appears as a dot (particle). What we all want to know is, "How does it know someone is looking at it?" It obviously is responding to the observer.


One of the difficulties in quantum physics is that the particles behave somewhat differently for each observer, which leads me to the question, "Does it behave according to what the scientist believes?"


In any event, we can definitely conclude that Jesus was right when He taught that all matter responds to faith and words. The substance from which our world is made is influenced and manifested by words. The things that you desire are made up of atoms. They know what you believe, hear what you say and behave accordingly!"
Words Are Energy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"There are many studies and experiments done on plants in which the same plants were placed in three separate rooms. In one room kind words were spoken, in the second harsh words were spoken and in the third room, there was pin-drop silence. The results showed that the plants which were exposed to kind words grew a little more than the other two. What does it show?


It shows that words are important. They effect all living beings. If they can effect plants, imagine the impact they would have on humans."
The science behind power of words - Daily Times
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Source:

A study released on August 26, 2013 confirms that language has the power to reshape our knowledge and expectations of the world we see. Interestingly, another study released the same day found that one’s “dispositional attitude” is what makes some people love everything they see and others to hate everything. Put together, this new research offers clues on ways that someone can change his or her explanatory style to be happier and more optimistic.


As an athlete, I have always used self-talk to create a parallel universe where anything is possible and the world around me is cooperating to help me achieve a goal. Whether I’m running 135-miles through Death Valley in July, or 154-miles in 24 hours on a treadmill — my inner dialogue always stays positive, optimistic and upbeat. I consciously reframe reality to make adverse or 'disagreeable' physical conditions become agreeable."
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/...ntists-find-single-word-can-alter-perceptions
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Observer bias (also called experimenter bias or research bias) is the tendency to see what we expect to see, or what we want to see. When a researcher studies a certain group, they usually come to an experiment with prior knowledge and subjective feelings about the group being studied. In other words, they come to the table with conscious or unconscious prejudices."
Observer Bias / Research or Experimenter Bias: Definition, Examples, How to Avoid - Statistics How To
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It is natural to imagine that the sense of sight takes in the world as it is — simply passing on what the eyes collect from light reflected by the objects around us.


But the eyes do not work alone. What we see is a function not only of incoming visual information, but also how that information is interpreted in light of other visual experiences, and may even be influenced by language.


Words can play a powerful role in what we see, according to a study published this month by UW–Madison cognitive scientist and psychology professor Gary Lupyan, and Emily Ward, a Yale University graduate student, in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."
Language can reveal the invisible, study shows
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*John 1:1
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."


Hebrews 11:1
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Words)


(Emphasis mine)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Words are indeed powerful...


*Dâbhâr - Hebrew Thoughts- Language Studies - StudyLight.org

**"verb, דבר dâbhar (Strong's #1696), occurs over 1100 times and required 45 different English words). It can also be translated by 'power', 'purpose', 'book', 'provision', 'reason', 'work', 'matter', 'thing', 'cause' or 'commandment' (e.g., the 10 commandments or 10 words, Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13; 10:4)..."

(Emphasis mine)


"The Word was not just spoken it contained the power to fulfil or at the very least the intent to keep one's word. When the prophet heard a Word from the Lord it contained the driving force to impel its delivery. Jeremiah (20:9) could not restrain the Word any longer, but had to let it out. Just as the New Testament describes it the Word is alive and active, creative and explosive. It also was life to its hearers (Deuteronomy 32:46-47 and Jesus' words in John 6:63,68).


In the Old Testament the Word is almost personified, as is Wisdom, this is finally revealed in the New Testament as a description of Jesus, the Word incarnate."
Dâbhâr - Hebrew Thoughts- Language Studies - StudyLight.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"E = mc2, equation in German-born physicist Albert Einstein’s theory of special relativity that expresses the fact that mass and energy are the same physical entity and can be changed into each other. In the equation, the increased relativistic mass (m) of a body times the speed of light squared (c2) is equal to the kinetic energy (E) of that body."
E = mc^2 | Equation, Explanation, & Proof
This has got to be worth a million dollars!
The test might be for you to look at something, covered by a dish, and say "Grow, grow, grow!" and then we could see what happened to it.
 
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Tone

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This has got to be worth a million dollars!
The test might be for you to look at something, covered by a dish, and say "Grow, grow, grow!" and then we could see what happened to it.

Why would my voice have that kind of power...we're talking about the Creator's Word--which made all things. The studies I have pointed out were dealing with the words of human beings...which, are undeniably, very powerful. I'm sure there are words that effect you til this day, that you remember from childhood. For us,it would take great faith to look at something that is inanimate and speak to it in such a way as to cause a visible and demonstrable change, but try looking at a random person on the street and saying something negative...and you will find some proof of the power of words.

"A human voice can shatter a glass. Every object has a resonant frequency – the natural frequency at which something vibrates. Wine glasses, because of their hollow shape, are particularly resonant. If you run a damp finger along the rim of a glass, you might hear a faint, ghostly hum – the resonant frequency of the glass. Or you can simply tap the glass and hear the same frequency. To shatter the glass, a singer’s voice has to match that frequency, or pitch, and the glass must have microscopic defects."
Can a human singing voice shatter glass? | EarthSky.org
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"Clink a wine glass with a fork, and the high-pitched tone you hear is its natural resonance. Every object possesses a natural resonance, or a specific frequency, that causes it to vibrate. Therefore, when the fork vibrates the glass, the natural resonance sings out. A human voice could theoretically shatter that same glass by matching its high-pitched natural resonance tone, potentially producing vibrations powerful enough to break it.

MythBusters Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage put those physics principles in motion by recruiting a trained vocalist to break some crystal glasses. They picked crystal due to its fragile structure and also hand-picked glasses with clear, ringing natural resonance notes that would be easier for the vocalist to strike.

Demonstrating the piercing power of the human voice, the singer not only broke glasses with an amplified voice, but also without any acoustic enhancements. For final myth confirmation, untrained Adam Savage also shattered a glass, while everyone's eardrums miraculously escaped intact."
Voice/Glass
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I'm sure if we had faith and could tap into the right frequencies, we could do many more such things. We do things with our words everyday, as they manifest onto blueprints, and are carried out with action, and you have everything around you built upon words.
 
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For us,it would take great faith to look at something that is inanimate and speak to it in such a way as to cause a visible and demonstrable change, but try looking at a random person on the street and saying something negative...and you will find some proof of the power of words.
Yes, words can certainly have great effect on the way people think. But it was you who said:

"Words are energy and energy affects matter. The energy of your microwave vibrates the water molecules and heats the water. The energy of electricity flows to your washing machine and powers the motor that spins the tub and cleans your clothes.
So, we can rightfully say that energy affects matter. Your words are energy that affects the matter in your life. When you speak the words, "This is the worst car I have ever had! You stupid piece of junk!" Those words are vibrations of energy that affect the atoms that make up that car. If you speak those words long enough, your car will obey you!"


I'm a bit disappointed. I thought I was going to learn the secrets of using the "energy in my words" to "affect the matter in my life".

Oh well. I'll just have to settle for saying "Please could you pass the salt," and lo! The salt shall appear in front of me.
If, that is, the person next to me hears the energy vibrating in my voice and his atoms feel moved to pick up the salt cellar.
 
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Uber Genius

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I challenge any athiest to go back to the beginning..."to the natural things of creation", and to how these things were originally understood...

So the natural things of creation like:

Kalam cosmological argument (considering that everything that begins to exist has a cause sufficient to explain there existence)

Or the fine-tuning of the universe for life from examining the constants of creation and their initial quantities and then asking are these elements best-explained by chance, necessity or an intelligent designer

Rinse and repeat for the fine-tuning of our solar system

Similarly the complexity of DNA required for the first life

Or the sudden appearance of life from non-living amino acids and proteins.

We can look at the existence of objective moral values and duties and ask are these best explained by naturalism or a function of an all-good being?

Romans 1:20 says that the non-Jews were without excuse due to the evidence of God's existence through the things that were made and of course their faculty of intuiting moral duties known as a conscience.

These are ways of arguing Lewis took up in his various debates with atheists. We have updated versions of course but I am puzzled why you think these metaphysical arguments are not the type that Lewis used and think that by doing deep exegetical analysis of the text of scripture will somehow yield the answer to the atheist.

Firstly the atheists we encounter out here continue to produce a straw man version of theism not found anywhere in scripture in English. They are largely impervious to the most cogent and simplistic arguments demanding to wallow in their ignorance. They give us responses that run the gamut of logical fallacy, mocking attempts to help them improve ON THEIR OWN ARGUMENTS. And you expect exegesis not eisegesis?

Secondly, where exactly do you find the type of arguments that say William Lane Craig puts forth in debate with atheists, in scripture?

Thirdly, give us an example of your process.
 
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"The Hebraic conception of truth, while not denying the importance of correspondence, seems to have a different focus. The Greek conception of truth as a static property that pertains to propositions inevitably led to metaphysical speculations about "essences" and "universals." The Hebrew mind, on the other hand, seemed more focused on the dynamic, the changing, and the idea that truth involved the formation of the character of the person -- and the restoration of the world. Especially in relation to God, to Whom the Jew must give account, the nature of truth becomes grounded in the moments of decision encountered in one's life. Shall I steal? Shall I turn a blind eye to social injustice? etc....

In Hebrew, the word for truth, emet (אֱמֶת), contains the first, middle, and the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, indicating that truth encompasses all things and endures from the beginning (א) to the end (ת)...

The word emet comes from a verb (aman) that means to support or make firm, and expresses the image of strong arms of a parent supporting the helpless infant. Truth stands in active relation to the one who is supposed to know it and "carries the burden," so to speak, by being the foundation of one's existence in creation...

The LORD Yeshua our Messiah is called the Aleph and the Tav (הָאָלֶף וְהַתָּו), "the first and the last" (הָרִאשׁוֹן וְהָאַחֲרוֹן). These are clearly divine titles that exclusively belong to YHVH (Isa. 41:4, 44:6, 48:12; Rev. 1:1,17-18; 22:13). Indeed, Pilate's famous question, "What is truth?" is a category mistake, since truth is not about "what" but about "Who." That is, truth is not something objective and static, a thing to be known and studied from a distance. No. Truth is up-close and personal. Understood in this way, truth is a way of living, a mode of existence, and inherently relational. It is a mistake to think of God as an "object" to be studied. No, God is not some static thing but rather a dynamic and forceful Person. Unlike the Greek philosophers who tended to regard God as little more than a "machine" (deus ex machina) or device that caused the universe to "get going," the LORD God of Israel is intensely personal, feeling, emotional, compassionate, angry, and so on. The Hebrew view of God is that of a Living Person, a Spoken Word, and a Fiery Breath that broods over the events of the physical world..."
Hebrew Word of the Week - Emet
But this misses the point of evangelism doesn't it? We are not given one size fits all.

Paul claims to be all things to all men so that he may win some. He uses various techniques in Acts 13-19. When talking in the synagogue we can expect a discussion of fulfilled prophecy found in the OT. But when he goes out and argues at the agora with Ephesians he uses a different approach, also at Athens he does not quote OT prophecy. So why think that we need to use a distinction about the hebrew mind for evangelism?

Of course we would want to understand the authors worldview when it comes to exegesis but apologetics seems to be contextual iced by the worldview of the hearer.
 
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