What’s in a Name? Recovering Naming and Meaning in an Age of Confusion
The Lost Grammar of Truth
Introduction — Naming as the Foundation of Knowing
Language is not neutral. From the opening chapters of Genesis, Scripture reveals naming as a sacred act that bridges creation and understanding. When Adam named the creatures, he participated in God’s own ordering of reality, translating divine truth into human expression. In this sense, to name rightly is to perceive truth rightly.
Yet modern culture has severed language from reverence. Words, once mirrors of meaning, now serve as instruments of control. Our educational systems often perpetuate this detachment—teaching students to manipulate symbols rather than discern truth. The result is a generation fluent in expression but impoverished in wisdom.
Aletheia Christian College seeks to restore what Proverbs 1:7 calls “the beginning of knowledge”: reverent attention to God as the foundation of all understanding. Recovering the sacred grammar of naming is essential to this renewal.
Historical Context — From Revelation to Relativism
The modern crisis of language is not new. From the Enlightenment’s exaltation of human reason to postmodernism’s denial of objective meaning, education has followed a trajectory away from revelation. The medieval scholar sought to “think God’s thoughts after Him”; the modern scholar often seeks to replace God’s thoughts with man’s inventions.
Philosophers from Rousseau to Foucault reframed words as tools of social construction rather than conduits of truth. In classrooms, grammar gave way to ideology, and the purpose of language shifted from revelation to self-expression. The result is Babel revisited: fractured tongues, fragmented meanings, and fragmented souls.
Against this backdrop, Christian education must recover its biblical heritage—language not as manipulation but as ministry. To speak truthfully is to participate again in creation’s original order, where words reveal rather than conceal.
Scriptural Framework — The Fear of the Lord and the Grammar of Truth
Proverbs 1:7 roots all knowledge in the fear of the Lord. This is not fear as dread but as reverence—an orientation of the heart that acknowledges God as the source and measure of all meaning. Without that posture, learning becomes idolatry: knowledge pursued without wisdom, speech detached from truth.
The biblical concept of knowing (yada) encompasses relationship, covenant, and transformation. To know something truly is to be rightly related to it and to its Creator. Language, therefore, is covenantal: it binds speaker and listener within the moral order of God’s reality.
This scriptural grammar contrasts sharply with modern relativism. Where the world teaches students to define their own truth, biblical education trains them to recognize truth already defined by God. Naming, in this context, is a form of worship—acknowledging that all reality speaks His name first.
Pedagogical Application — Restoring Reverent Language in Education
Aletheia’s mission to prepare educators in Theopaidia—“God-centered formation”—requires recovering this biblical grammar of truth. To teach well is to name rightly; to name rightly is to restore clarity to thought and compassion to speech.
1. Teaching as Discernment, Not Construction.
Aletheia’s mission to prepare educators in Theopaidia—“God-centered formation”—requires recovering this biblical grammar of truth. To teach well is to name rightly; to name rightly is to restore clarity to thought and compassion to speech.
2. Language as Formation, Not Performance.
In a world of self-promotion, Christian education models self-surrender. Words shape character; therefore, speech must reflect humility before truth. The classroom becomes a sanctuary of attentiveness rather than an arena of assertion.
3. Naming as Restoration, Not Reduction.
When educators call things by their proper names—beauty as beauty, sin as sin, grace as grace—they participate in redemption. The right use of words heals perception and reforms the imagination.
The educator’s vocation is thus priestly: to reconcile words with meaning and students with truth. This is the task of Christian learning in every age, but especially in ours.
Conclusion — A Call to Reverent Attention
The recovery of naming begins with repentance—turning from linguistic vanity to humble speech. As we train the next generation of Christian educators, we must remember that the integrity of education depends upon the integrity of language.
Let our words once again mirror the Word made flesh. Let our classrooms resound with language that honors rather than distorts, reveals rather than conceals. To recover the grammar of truth is to recover education as sanctification—learning as the renewal of the mind under the lordship of Christ.
At Aletheia Christian College, this conviction shapes every course, every practicum, every conversation. We invite all who long to teach, lead, or learn in truth to join this restoration.