Cuvântul între moarte și viață
The Word between Death and Life

Author(s): Constantin COMAN
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, Theology and Religion
Published by: Editura Doxologia
Keywords: Living Word; dead Word; empty Word; Deceit; blessing; curse; autonomous reason; Godʹs communion;
Summary/Abstract: We live in an age of the excess of words/speech/communication. There is an unparalleled surplus in history of spoken and written words. It is time to remind ourselves that the function of words to express or represent can propagate both good and evil, blessings or curses, life and death, in equal measure. Starting from the works of the Great Fathers of the Church, who dealt with this subject (especially St. Gregory Palamas and Pious Sophronius Sakharov), I will try to draw the criteria by which we can discern the living words from the dead words, the words that carry life from the words that carry delusion, misguidance, hardening of the heart, or death. Essentially, living words are words which have divine communion, and dead words are words which lack this communion and are sprung from manʹs autonomous reason. I believe that it is not only necessary, but vital, to make these criteria our own in order to stop, as far as possible, the spread of words that bring death, and to spread words that bring life. The article has a self-critical perspective, starting from the conviction that the temptation to judge others is unmistakably part of the spreading of words that bring death.

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