What Language Shall I Borrow

What language is most appropriate for worship? Should it lean toward the colloquial, perhaps targeting those attending a worship service for the first time? Or should it be a language with deeper roots, the language of a community that, for the most part, already loves the God to whom worship is offered? Ronald Byars argues that the communal speech that truly honors God is, in fact, biblical language, which encompasses a vast range of forms -- poetry and prose, song and proverb, parable and narrative. Byars explains how biblical language becomes liturgical language that pushes us beyond what we already think we know, requiring us to think anew about death and resurrection, beginnings and endings, and the life of faith. What Language Shall I Borrow? is an instructive, eloquent reminder not to retreat from biblical language and images but to fully embrace them in our worship today.

"[Wren's] work is fresh, daring, and suggestive, and at the same time informed, critical, and disciplined. . . . Wren has combined an exceedingly thoughtful theoretical presentation of the linguistic problem and a step-by-step practical walk-through of the issues. . . . It takes a poet, not a clerk, to voice what has been disclosed by God. Wren is such a poet; he invites us to fresh evangelical cadences that will themselves liberate." Theology Today "[Wren] makes an inventive effort to help cure the disease that is devastating the worship scene. He himself writes extraordinary hymn texts that are 'beyond patriarchy,' and he hangs them in 'galleries' in his book. . . . He gives us a readable, convincing book centered on the language question but profoundly theological in its implications." National Catholic Reporter "A book of tremendous value to liturgists, theologians, members of the newly forming men's liberation movement, clergy and policymakers, and anyone interested in the issue of inclusive God-language, including those who are curious about why it matters in the first place. . . . Part of the value of What Language Shall I Borrow? is Wren's graceful, imaginative presentation of his facts. Although there is ample cognitive input, it is interspersed with moving hymn texts, practical workshop ideas and fascinating narratives." The Presbyterian Outlook

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