“And God said” – the Creative Element in the Ultimate Speech Act

The book “ How To Do Things With Words” by J. L . Austin, was published in 1962, and has been a good challenge to many to further describe and map the field of pragmatics, of language usage. One of his students, John Searle, developed the initial ideas and introduced the concept ‘Speech Acts’. We do things with words, and we cause things to happen simply by uttering meaningful noises by our mouth. There has to be the right circumstances, and I have to have certain authority, etc., but given these, we perform through speech. One example could be command: Come. Another could be the change of social status when a licensed priest utters the words: “I now pronounce you man and wife.” It causes real change.

            There is something yet undiscovered, something to yet be the subject of study: In the intersecting fields of language, God, and physics, there is an ultimate speech act: And God said: be… light, water, soil, air, planets, vegetation, animals and people – life … And it was so. There are examples of the ultimate speech acts. Something new emerges out of this bidding. Naturally, as God, he can provide the information needed for ultimate change.

            There is something about the words, the acts, which stirs me. There is no magic formula in the language, but there is a creative element in it.

            God created. I have no qualms about stating that as a fact, although some may squeak out a ‘how do you know’ skepticism. Anyone who denies the statement will have the same problem defending his or her statement, as I may have with mine. But the consequences are far more beneficial for my stand.

            I was not going to battle buzzing flies in the air.

I read an article a friend had posted on Facebook, about a young and bright physicist at MIT called Jeremy England[1]. There were two things which fascinated me: One is that he suggests that life is a consequence of physical laws and not due to randomness. The other is that there is much more to the language in the Biblical texts than we are accustomed to think.

The writer of the article, Megan Walsh, is surprised and curious about the young academic star’s insistence on God’s reality. But she leaves me wonder and wanting to learn more – about the connections Jeremy England finds in the words for create, creating, creation, come into being, be, being etc. Science may describe, may give indications on how things connect and coexist, he concurs, but it can never give any answer about what we should do with it. An ethical aspect emerges. Normative aspects want answers, too.

Creation is more than taxonomy, more than naming and categorizing. Still, the naming is important for knowing. Perhaps it carries in its origin a creative activity? 

As my a priori point of departure I say: God is. God is creative. God is ultimate intelligence. And He speaks it into being… well, that did not sound too new. That was old news. But maybe that is what we have: the Creative, intelligent God who is always there. Our relation with God is also morally reflexive. We stand responsible before Him.

“And God said:…. And it was”      “And God says…And it is”.

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[1] “Jeremy England, the Man Who May One-Up Darwin”, by Megan Walsh, OZY. April 20, 2015