Language Notes
When my father died, part of my inheritance was his copy of my doctoral dissertation. Stuffed between its covers were many half-sheets of paper of the sort upon which he used to take notes, covered in his neat, ele-gant hand with terms he had encountered that were unfamiliar to him and questions he meant to ask me when I got home to see him. As a dissertation in theology, it was full of technical terminology and foreign-language quotations, especially in Latin and German, languages that are normal working tools of academic theologians, many of which would have been outside his ready-to-hand knowledge. I found his attention to what I had written—not only the words, but also concepts and arguments—gratifying, and still retain the book, complete with all the notes, as a memorial to his character, a man who was constantly studying what he found difficult and by example taught his children to do the same.
This is the way our family is, so there are some attitudes we are not inclined to take in good humor. One of these is resistance to learning languages other than modern English and the belief that the use of foreign terms in English prose is a culpable sign of pride and elitism, opposed to a better morality based largely on the radical egalitarianism which has always been one of the more deplorable parts of the American ethos—sustainable only in an atmosphere of isolationist privilege, and a signature of lower-class self-consciousness. It is opposed to the attitude which seeks and welcomes new learning, and the Book of Proverbs in particular identifies it as profoundly unacceptable in believers.
If you cry out for insight and raise your voice for understanding,
If you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures,
Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He stores up sound wisdom for the upright. . . .
The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace. (2:3–7; 3:35)
THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:
S. M. Hutchens is a senior editor and longtime writer for Touchstone.
Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!
Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!
bulk subscriptions
Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.
Transactions will be processed on a secure server.
more from the online archives
24.6—Nov/Dec 2011
Liberty, Conscience & Autonomy
How the Culture War of the Roaring Twenties Set the Stage for Today’s Catholic & Evangelical Alliance by Barry Hankins
32.5—September/October 2019
Some Trivial Thoughts on the Study of Philosophy by Graeme Hunter
33.2—March/April 2020
Encounters with Faith & Forgiveness in Communities of Faith by Nicole M. King
calling all readers
Please Donate
"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand
"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor
