 |
|
     |
|
|
|
Between Babel and Beast
(America and Empires in Biblical Perspective)
The Glory of Kings: A Festschrift for James B. Jordan
Fyodor Dostoevsky
(Christian Encounters Series)
Athanasius
(Foundations of Theological Exegesis and Christian Spirituality)
The Four: A Survey of the Gospels
Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom
From Behind the Veil: The Epistles of John
Deep Exegesis:The Mystery of Reading Scripture
1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary
The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter
A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons
Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature
Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen
The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism
A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel
From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution
Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy
Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper
A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament
Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature
Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays
Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life
The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church
Thinking through the dynamics of gift and gratitude, linguistic analogies are useful.
A statement or proposal or question is a gift. A response is supposed to be a counter-gift, an act of gratitude, grace returned for the grace given. To keep a conversation going, you need to receive the gift from the other and to offer a return gift. ”Gratitude” in a linguistic context is not merely a “thank you” for an insight given. It may be initially, but if someone says “thanks” without ever responding, it’s likely he’s trying to duck out of the conversation.
Not just any counter-proposal will do.
The return gift has to be appropriate to the gift you were given. It can’t be on a completely different topic – that is not a conversation, but a power-play. It cannot merely return the gift from the other speaker. Repeating the same thing back and forth is not a conversation. A parrot can do that.
A return gift of speech should glorify, enhance, extend, exceed what was spoken. It should be a creative variation on the theme of the conversation, a contribution to understanding the subject matter under discussion.
When the gift is extra-linguistic, the same standards apply: The counter-gift has to be suitable; it has to work within the constraints established by the initial gift, yet it cannot merely be identical to the initial gift; it should exceed and extend the original gift, not necessarily in monetary value, but in the contribution it makes to the relationship between giver and recipient.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Tuesday, August 14, 2012 at 10:16 am
Permission is given to use material on this site, provided the source is cited, blog entries are republished in full, and the author is notified in advance.
