Wittgenstein for Preaching

Preachers are heirs of a tradition that recognizes "meaning" as written into the very foundations of the world. We have tacitly accepted meaning as prior to any use of it. In fact knowledge of the "real" meaning of things is held to increase the effectiveness of our use of it. At a lower level of association, we can know meaning so well that we master it and exploit it for our advantage. Perhaps we hide from such openness and say we exploit it for the good of whatever cause we are serving! Just as the positivists felt a true proposition had a meaning which corresponded exactly to the fact thereby represented, so religionists feel that every event in life can, with proper searching, find its "meaning" written somewhere in God's intention put into the world at creation. We are simply awash in the assumption that the meaning of anything lies ready to be found: dictionaries, scientism, fundamentalism, - any status quo thinking - all refer to exact meanings for words and feelings that men can find.

Thomas D. Peterson. Wittgenstein for Preaching: A Model for Communication. University Press of America, 1980, p 7