Avoiding Extrabiblical Language in Theological Discourse
Scripture repeatedly warns against speech that obscures truth or substitutes human invention for divine revelation. Paul instructs Titus that ministers should use "sound speech that cannot be condemned" [5], language that conveys "just ideas of things" and remains "agreeable to the Scriptures of truth" [5]. This principle extends beyond pulpit ministry to all theological discourse, where the choice of vocabulary either clarifies or clouds the biblical witness.
The Biblical Warrant for Verbal Restraint
The impulse to avoid extrabiblical terminology finds direct support in passages cautioning against verbal excess. Ecclesiastes warns, "Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter a word before God. After all, God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your words be few" [2]. Paul similarly cautions against "philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ" [3]. The concern is not merely stylistic but theological: human constructs can displace scriptural categories, introducing "stories and endless genealogies" that "bring arguings, rather than that stewardship of God which is with faith" [4].
John Gill identifies the target of such warnings as "profane and old wives' fables"—whether "Jewish ones, the traditions of the elders; or those of the Gnostics, concerning God, angels, and the creation of the world" [6]. These are "foolish and impertinent" precisely because they substitute speculation for revelation [6]. The remedy is to "refuse" such language "with abhorrence and contempt, in comparison of the words of faith and good doctrine" [6].
The Danger of Technical Vocabulary
Theological precision often requires technical terms, yet the proliferation of specialized vocabulary carries risks. Gill warns that false teaching amounts to "mere babbling; a voice, and nothing else"—"great swelling words of vanity, like large bubbles of water, look big, and make a great noise, but have nothing in them" [9]. When terminology becomes an end in itself, discourse devolves into "perverse disputings" that "provoke to wrath and anger, and every evil work" [10]. The problem intensifies when teachers are "destitute of the truth of Christ" yet engage in elaborate verbal constructions that mask their distance from Scripture [10].
Adam Clarke offers a constructive alternative: "Let all your conversation be such as may tend to exemplify and recommend Christianity; let it not only be holy, but wise, gracious, and intelligent" [8]. Speech should be "seasoned with salt," opposing "the corruption of sin" [8]. Clarke adds a pastoral note: "A harsh method of proposing or defending the doctrines of Christianity only serves to repel" [8]. The goal is not merely accuracy but accessibility—language that invites understanding rather than erecting barriers.
Silence as Theological Discipline
Scripture occasionally commends silence over speech, particularly when confronting blasphemy or error. When Rabshakeh mocked the God of Israel, Hezekiah's officials responded with restraint: they answered "not a word—so as not to enter into a war of words with the blasphemer" [7]. This restraint reflects wisdom, not weakness. Verbal combat can dignify falsehood by treating it as a legitimate alternative. Sometimes the most faithful response is to refuse engagement, allowing error to collapse under its own weight.
The prohibition against "evil-speaking" reinforces this discipline [1]. Such speech is "expressly forbidden" and "foreign to the whole Christian character and the example of Christ" [1]. Severe consequences attend those who persist in it [1]. The standard is high: speech must align with the character of God, who is "in heaven" while we remain "on earth" [2]. This vertical distance should chasten our verbal confidence, reminding us that human formulations always fall short of divine reality.
Theological discourse thus requires both precision and humility—using language that clarifies biblical truth while acknowledging the limits of human expression. The test is whether our words serve "that stewardship of God which is with faith" [4] or merely multiply "arguings" that obscure rather than illuminate.
Sources
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Evil-speaking — Is expressly forbidden (Titus 3:2; James 4:11), and severe punishments are denounced against it (1 Cor. 5:11; 6:10). It is spoken of also with abhorrence (Ps. 15:3; Prov. 18:6, 7), and is foreign to the whole Christian character and the example of Christ.”
- Ecclesiastes “Ecclesiastes 5:2 (BSB) — Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter a word before God. After all, God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your words be few.”
- Colossians “Colossians 2:8 (BSB) — See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.”
- I Timothy “I Timothy 1:4 (Rotherham) — Not to be teaching otherwise, nor yet to be giving heed to stories and endless genealogies,—the which, bring, arguings, rather than that stewardship of God which is with faith;—”
- Titus (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Titus 2:6: Sound speech that cannot be condemned,.... In the public ministry, the wholesome words of our Lord Jesus should be used, and the doctrines of the Gospel be expressed, as near as can be, in the words which the Holy Ghost teacheth, and not in the enticing words of man's wisdom; such speech or language should be chosen, that is plain, easy, and acceptable, and conveys just ideas of things; and which being agreeable to the Scriptures of truth, and the analogy of faith, cannot be justly found fault with: or this may refer to private conversation, in which no rotten speech, o”
- 1 Timothy (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Timothy 4:7: But refuse profane and old wives' fables,.... Either Jewish ones, the traditions of the elders; or those of the Gnostics, concerning God, angels, and the creation of the world; or those doctrines of demons, and which forbad marriage, and commanded abstinence from meats before mentioned; which are called profane, because impious and ungodly, and old wives' fables, because foolish and impertinent; and which were to be rejected with abhorrence and contempt, in comparison of the words of faith and good doctrine. And exercise thyself rather unto godliness; either to th”
- Isaiah (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Isaiah 36:21: not a word--so as not to enter into a war of words with the blasphemer (Exo 14:14; Jde 1:9).”
- Colossians (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Colossians 4:6: Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt - Let it be such as has a tendency to oppose and preserve from the corruption of sin. The rabbins say: "He who, in prayer, omits any word, should begin again at the beginning; for he who does not is like boiled pottage, in which there is no salt." Berachoth, fol. 34, 1. Let all your conversation be such as may tend to exemplify and recommend Christianity; let it not only be holy, but wise, gracious, and intelligent. A harsh method of proposing or defending the doctrines of Christianity only serves to repel m”
- 2 Timothy (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 2 Timothy 2:16: But shun profane and vain babblings,.... The ministry of false teachers is mere babbling; a voice, and nothing else, as the man said of his nightingale; a sound of words, but no solid matter in them; great swelling words of vanity, like large bubbles of water, look big, and make a great noise, but have nothing in them; contain nothing but vain, empty, idle, and trifling stuff; what is unprofitable and unedifying, yea, what is profane, contrary to the nature and perfections of God, and not agreeable to the doctrine which is according to godliness; and being palmed u”
- 1 Timothy (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 1 Timothy 6:5: Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds,.... Who being corrupt in their principles, and corrupters of the word of God, dispute in a very froward and perverse way, rubbing and galling one another, and so provoke, to wrath and anger, and, every evil work: and destitute of the truth of Christ, who is the truth, knowing nothing of him spiritually and savingly; and of the Gospel, the word of truth; and also of the truth of grace, being carnal, sensual, and having not the Spirit of God. Supposing that gain is godliness; such were Simon Magus and his followers, and”