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64-465: Christianese (or Christianeze) refers to the contained terms and jargon used within many of the branches and denominations of Christianity as a functional system of religious terminology. It is characterized by the use in everyday conversation of certain words, theological terms, puns and catchphrases , in ways that may be only comprehensible within the context of a particular Christian sect or denomination. The terms used do not necessarily come from

128-570: A multi-site network and an average of 7.6 services per weekend. The study also found that most U.S. megachurches are in Florida, Texas, California, and Georgia. Churches that gather more than 10,000 people every Sunday have been dubbed gigachurches . In 2015, there were about 100 gigachurches in the United States. Several megachurch pastors also preach on television or radio programs, thereby also being televangelists . Aimee Semple McPherson

192-489: A semantic field . Slang can be either culture-wide or known only within a certain group or subculture. Argot is slang or jargon purposely used to obscure meaning to outsiders. Conversely, a lingua franca is used for the opposite effect, helping communicators to overcome unintelligibility, as are pidgins and creole languages . For example, the Chinook Jargon was a pidgin. Although technical jargon's primary purpose

256-471: A claim as an unwarranted boast." Coleman wrote: From what we have seen, then, it appears that a good deal of the Evangelical grammar, if we can call it that, seems designed to avoid reference to human beings as primary agents and to introduce God as the moving force behind all good actions. This is what we should expect, of course: the Evangelical needs to be able to talk about events in a way that members of

320-423: A combination of plain language and images. The criticism against jargon can be found in certain fields where professionals communicate with individuals with no industry background. In a study done by analyzing 58 patients and 10 radiation therapists , professionals diagnosed and explained the treatment of a disease to a patient with the use of jargon. It was found that using jargon left patients confused about what

384-502: A convenient way within communities. A subject expert may wish to avoid jargon when explaining something to a layperson. Jargon may help communicate contextual information optimally. For example, a football coach talking to their team or a doctor working with nurses. With the rise of the self-advocacy within the Disability Rights Movement , "jargonized" language has started to face repeated rejection for being language that

448-418: A conversation about or within the context of a certain field or profession will go. For example, a conversation between two professionals in which one person has little previous interaction or knowledge of the other person could go one of at least two possible ways. One of the professionals (who the other professional does not know) does not use, or does not correctly use the jargon of their respective field, and

512-429: A filter of faith and doctrine. Linda Coleman's 1980 research into Christianese notes three purposes: the ability to reinforce in-group belonging while remaining separate from outsiders; a sign to the member's degree of engagement in the worldview ; and finally, its use to both display and apply the speaker's beliefs and Christian worldview , which she refers to as a worldviewlect . Christianese features "influences from

576-476: A form of branding and discusses the overlap between Christian jargon and corporate jargon . Phrases like "making an impact" or "come on board with us" are common to both the Christian and corporate worlds. Hobbs argues that the jargon lends an appearance of authority: new terms are constantly being introduced by authoritative figures and one must understand, or pretend one understands, the meaning. In addition, there

640-467: A megachurch as any Protestant Christian church that draws 2,000 or more people in a weekend. The first megachurch was established in London in 1861. More emerged in the 20th century, especially in the United States, and expanded rapidly through the 1980s and 1990s. In the 21st century, megachurches became widespread in the United States and a growing phenomenon in several African countries and Australia . In

704-524: A negative connotation with lacking coherent grammar, or gibberish as it was seen as a "broken" language of many different languages with no full community to call their own. In the 1980s, linguists began restricting this usage of jargon to keep the word to more commonly define a technical or specialized language use. In linguistics, it is used to mean "specialist language", with the term also seen as closely related to slang , argot and cant . Various kinds of language peculiar to ingroups can be named across

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768-401: A person of power's character when speaking with one another. Megachurch A megachurch is a church with a very large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities. Most megachurches are Protestant , and particularly Evangelical , although the word denotes a type of organization, not a denomination. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research defines

832-660: A phenomenon, though few, date back to 1980. Academic interest has increased as Christian religious identity is a growing area of study, with language use noted in multiple studies. Among other contexts, it has been studied among preachers and American presidents. Vitaly Voinov has examined issues regarding translation of the Bible into Tuvan for the Tuvan people and the potential cultural impacts of "Christianese" word choices. Various lists of Christianese terms and their definitions have been published, including in newspaper articles, blogs, and

896-555: A significant development in Protestant Christianity. Most of these churches build their buildings in the suburbs of large cities, near major roads and highways, to be visible to as many people as possible and easily accessible by car. Some install a large cross as decoration for believers and to signal to potential new members. A 2020 study by the Hartford Institute found that 70 percent of American megachurches had

960-463: A special language because every science has its own ideas". As a rationalist member of the Enlightenment , he continued: "It seems that one ought to begin by composing this language, but people begin by speaking and writing, and the language remains to be composed." An industry word is a specialized kind of technical terminology used in a certain industry. Industry words and phrases are often used in

1024-417: A specific area, and those in that field know and use the terminology. Precise technical terms and their definitions are formally recognized, documented, and taught by educators in the field. Other terms are more colloquial, coined and used by practitioners in the field, and are similar to slang . The boundaries between formal and slang jargon, as in general English, are quite fluid. This is especially true in

1088-399: A specific industry. The primary driving forces in the creation of technical jargon are precision, efficiency of communication, and professionalism. Terms and phrases that are considered jargon have meaningful definitions, and through frequency of use, can become catchwords . While jargon allows greater efficiency in communication among those familiar with it, a side effect is that it raises

1152-471: A temporary living place before proceeding to one's eternal home. Likewise, words may be used with metaphorical meanings not immediately clear, such as "the Lord's Supper ...still speaks to every circumcised ear" referring not to the physical rite of circumcision but rather the Christian hearer. Borg states, "Speaking Christian is an umbrella term for not only knowing the words, but understanding them... It's knowing

1216-458: Is a Protestant term. In the United States, the phenomenon has more than quadrupled in the two decades to 2017. In 2007, five of the ten largest Protestant churches were in South Korea. In 2007, the largest megachurch in the world by attendance was South Korea's Yoido Full Gospel Church , an Assemblies of God (Pentecostal) church, with more than 830,000 members. Graha Bethany Nginden ,

1280-573: Is a megachurch which is one of the largest churches in Surabaya , Indonesia and Southeast Asia . The Church is affiliated with Bethany Indonesian Church . Australian scholar Sam Hey wrote in 2011 that "almost all megachurch developments are Pentecostal , or charismatic and neo-Pentecostal offshoots". One of the first megachurches in Australia was the Christian Outreach Centre (COC), now

1344-571: Is a positive or negative attribute of a patient's experience has evidence to support both sides. On one hand, as mentioned before, these phrases can be overwhelming for some patients who may not understand the terminology. However, with the accessibility of the internet, it has been suggested that these terms can be used and easily researched for clarity. Jargon is commonly found in the field of law. These terms are often used in legal contexts such as legal documents, court proceedings, contracts, and more. Some common terms in this profession include: There

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1408-576: Is little regarded or remembered beyond small talk or fairly insignificant in this conversation. Or, if the person does use particular jargon (showing their knowledge in the field to be legitimate, educated, or of particular significance) the other professional then opens the conversation up in an in-depth or professional manner. The use of jargon can create a divide in communication, or strengthen it. Outside of conversation, jargon can become confusing in writing. When used in text, readers can become confused if there are terms used that require outside knowledge on

1472-518: Is more specific than "person" and "people" in their everyday use. The French word is believed to have been derived from the Latin word gaggire , meaning "to chatter", which was used to describe speech that the listener did not understand. The word may also come from Old French jargon meaning "chatter of birds". Middle English also has the verb jargounen meaning "to chatter", or "twittering", deriving from Old French. The first known use of

1536-541: Is pressure to use the correct jargon as a member of the group. Archaic words and meanings may be used, or used in ways unfamiliar to modern speakers. Coleman states that passive voice and euphemisms may be used to emphasize God's action rather than one's own actions, due to the theological emphasis on depravity . "I/We ministered to them" may be considered unacceptable, in favor of "I was enabled to minister to him in some small way"; phrases such as "I feel/felt led to do X", rather than "I decided to do X", emphasize God as

1600-452: Is specialized terminology within the field of education. Educators and administrators use these terms to communicate ideas specific to the education system. Common terms and acronyms considered to be jargon that are used within this profession include: Jargon may serve the purpose of a "gatekeeper" in conversation, signaling who is allowed into certain forms of conversation. Jargon may serve this function by dictating to which direction or depth

1664-459: Is they are trying to say." The editorial staff of Biola University 's Chimes asks readers "How do you 'do life together?' What does 'praying a hedge of protection around one another' look like?", urging readers to reconsider Christianese as it "only alienates people outside of the Christian community and makes us seem like even more of a members-only culture." One Southern Baptist writer has referred to Christianese as "insider jargon they use all

1728-631: Is to aid technical communication , not to exclude outsiders by serving as an argot, it can have both effects at once and can provide a technical ingroup with shibboleths . For example, medieval guilds could use this as one means of informal protectionism . On the other hand, jargon that once was obscure outside a small ingroup can become generally known over time. For example, the terms bit , byte , and hexadecimal (which are terms from computing jargon ) are now recognized by many people outside computer science . The philosopher Étienne Bonnot de Condillac observed in 1782 that "every science requires

1792-401: Is widely inaccessible. However, jargon is largely present in everyday language such as in newspapers, financial statements, and instruction manuals. To combat this, several advocacy organizations are working on influencing public agents to offer accessible information in different formats. One accessible format that offers an alternative to jargonized language is " easy read ", which consists of

1856-783: The Bible itself. They may have come into use through discussions about doctrine, through the social history of the Christian church at large, or in the unique history of a specific denomination or movement. In the developed Christian context, particular terms like God and Christ (or Jesus ) as well as more common terms such as faith , truth and spirit have a rich history of meaning to refer to concepts in spirituality , which Christians may consider to be particular to Christianity, and not available to dissimilar or distantly foreign belief systems . While particular terms may have some functional translatability to concepts in other systems, such translations may typically be controversial outside of

1920-1110: The Holy See , there is a great deal more uniformity within its literature. For example, when a non-denominational Protestant refers to the End Times, he or she may be referring to the period following the Incarnation , as Catholics believe, or any number of eschatological interpretations of the Book of Revelation , the Olivet Discourse or The Sheep and the Goats . There are other "authoritative" lexicons within other Christian sects, but these lexicons are considerably less standard. Christian jargon has been critiqued as clichéd ; its potential to confuse or isolate others has also been critiqued in media, both explicitly Christian and otherwise. The article "Unlearning 'Christianese'" in Canadian Mennonite makes

1984-737: The Metropolitan Tabernacle , which had a 6,000-seat auditorium. The first megachurch in the United States was the Angelus Temple , founded in 1923 by Aimee Semple McPherson in a 5,300-seat auditorium in Los Angeles . A megachurch has been defined by Hartford Institute for Religion Research (2006) and others as any Protestant Christian church which at least 2,000 attend in a weekend . The OED suggests that megachurches often include educational and social activities and are usually Protestant and Evangelical. These large congregations are

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2048-503: The Christianese used by those around her. Some Christian writers have also come up with alternative terms and phrases that are theoretically more "religion-neutral". While the effectiveness of this strategy is undetermined, there is a feeling among some Christian communicators that this may be simply creating a condensed form of Christianese but failing to address the underlying issue of contextual understanding. Studies on Christianese as

2112-532: The Hartford Institute's database listed more than 1,300 megachurches in the United States . About 50 churches on the list had average attendance exceeding 10,000, and one had 47,000. On one weekend in November 2015, around one in ten Protestant churchgoers in the U.S.—about 5 million people—attended service in a megachurch. Some 3,000 individual Catholic Church parishes have 2,000 or more attendants for an average Sunday Mass, but they are not called megachurches as that

2176-710: The International Network of Churches. Hillsong Church was founded in 1983 in Sydney , New South Wales , out of two Christian Life Centre churches and has since planted churches all around Australia and the world. Another significant Australian international Pentecostal network is the C3 Global Network , founded in 1980. In 2005, Baptist Pastor Al Sharpton criticized megachurches for focusing on "bedroom morals", statements against same-sex marriage and abortion , by ignoring issues of social justice , such as

2240-571: The Word', Mylon LeFevre and Broken Heart's 'Love God, Hate Sin,' the Michael Card -penned Amy Grant hit ' El Shaddai ,' and numerous others proved to be highly appealing affirmations to evangelicals while being largely unintelligible and/or terribly trite to non-Christians. There is a standard Christian lexicon within the Catholic Church ; given that Catholic terminology is dictated by the authority of

2304-399: The agent. In connection with phrases such as "to have fellowship with [another Christian]", "the Evangelical avoids claiming to have performed a specific good action. In other words, 'have fellowship with' is a euphemism. It is, furthermore, a euphemism for something which most non-Evangelicals have no hesitancy about claiming responsibility for, since the broader culture would not perceive such

2368-479: The basic vocabulary, knowing the basic stories." An article published in Christianity Today comments that those unfamiliar with Christianese, lacking a reference point, may fill in the blanks with other cultural references – such as from pop culture – leading to misunderstanding. Words like just may be used more often or in different ways than typical. One linguistic analysis of online evangelical sermons by

2432-581: The broader society generally do not, since the Evangelical is trying to reference two levels of reality which impinge on each other. Others, however, have since argued for a more nuanced view of God as agent in Christianese, contending that a part of such language competence is to know when to refer to God actively or passively, which often occurs in different topic categories such as "action", "plan", or "blessing" vs. "belief", "surrender", or "conversion", respectively. Words may also take on different functions in Christianese as part of functional shift , including

2496-784: The business world is a common occurrence. The use of jargon in business correspondence reached a high popularity between the late 1800s into the 1950s. In this context, jargon is most frequently used in modes of communication such as emails, reports, and other forms of documentation. Common phrases used in corporate jargon include: Medicine professionals make extensive use of scientific terminology. Most patients encounter medical jargon when referring to their diagnosis or when receiving or reading their medication. Some commonly used terms in medical jargon are: At first glance, many people do not understand what these terms mean and may panic when they see these scientific names being used in reference to their health. The argument as to whether medical jargon

2560-528: The comparison to legalese , "which has its place and purpose, but is confusing and meaningless to people who aren't lawyers." The author addresses the perceived clichéd nature of Christianese and urges readers to use more thoughtfulness and clarity when discussing faith. An article in Relevant magazine listed several "Christianese relationship cliches" to avoid such as "I'm guarding my heart", stating, "People often use these phrases without really even knowing what it

2624-524: The defunct website, Dictionary of Christianese. Jargon The terms jargon , slang, and argot are not consistently differentiated in the literature; different authors interpret these concepts in varying ways. According to one definition, jargon differs from slang in being secretive in nature; according to another understanding, it is specifically associated with professional and technical circles. Some sources, however, treat these terms as synonymous. The use of jargon became more popular around

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2688-435: The effect of excluding those who are unfamiliar with the particular specialized language of the group. This can cause difficulties, for example, when a patient is unable to follow the discussions of medical practitioners, and thus cannot understand his own condition and treatment. Differences in jargon also cause difficulties where professionals in related fields use different terms for the same phenomena. The use of jargon in

2752-411: The faith less accessible – which he compares to Jesus, who used stories that were understandable by the general public. Likewise, Christianese may be interpreted quite differently: a 2017 news article noted the difference between in-group and out-group understandings of the Christian usage of thoughts and prayers . One Christian young adult novel features a non-Christian girl's attempts to understand

2816-503: The formation of the noun fellowshipping and the verb to disciple . Christian terminology can be used to display in-group belonging: "[Christians] use coded Christian terms like verbal passports – flashing them gains you admittance to certain Christian communities." Historian of religion Bill J. Leonard states that for American politicians, speaking "Christian" is a necessity in order to win elections: politicians may use coded Christianese to appeal to voters. He notes that Abraham Lincoln

2880-835: The forum of comparative religion . Because terms interoperate in a closed system, Christians may consider the use of such terms outside of Christianity or their particular branch (or denomination) as a distortion. The term Christianese is an informal and sometimes pejorative reference to the language of terms used in Christianity as contained and, in some cases, deliberately or effectively uncooperative with secular and foreign terms. Certain denominations—contemporary Pentecostalism and Evangelicalism for example—may be more widely considered as users of distinctly localised variants of Christianese. In its basic form, Christianese uses theological and/or Biblical terms to describe matters of faith and everyday experiences as interpreted through

2944-456: The hymn " There is Power in the Blood ". Leonard argues this is coded language intended to appeal to Christian voters; Bush's speechwriter Michael Gerson , however, contends it is "our culture". While lacking fluency in Christianese at the time of his 2016 campaign, Trump's use of Christianese, and Christian nationalist language, has increased significantly. In analyzing 448 presidential speeches from

3008-429: The immorality of war and the erosion of affirmative action . A study by the Hartford Institute published in 2020 found that 60 percent of American megachurches were members of a Christian denomination. In 2018, American professor Scot McKnight of Northern Baptist Theological Seminary criticized nondenominational megachurches for the weak external accountability relationship of their leaders, by not being members of

3072-438: The late 2000s and early 2010s, they shifted away from traditional church architecture, with most newer ones having stadium-type seating. The origins of the megachurch movement, with many local congregants who returned on a weekly basis, can be traced to the 19th century. There were large churches earlier, but they were considerably rarer. The first evangelical megachurch was founded in 1861 in London by Charles Spurgeon at

3136-513: The more traditional Christians , emphasize new Christians "[allying] themselves with a person rather than converting to an institutionalized religion ." Megachurches and celebrity pastors have also been linked to the rise of modern Christianese by University of Sheffield linguist Valerie Hobbs, author of An Introduction to Religious Language: Exploring Theolinguistics in Contemporary Contexts . She contends that they use this language as

3200-454: The pastor of megachurch Lifechurch.tv found an excessive use of just in phrases like "Again, let me just put it as simply as I can...", often used in order to express sincerity. The study described it as "[seemingly] unique to evangelical Christian sermons and extemporaneous prayers among insiders"; the preacher's "myriad uses of just ... demonstrate his placement in the evangelical tradition." Terms such as Christ followers , as opposed to

3264-432: The rapidly developing world of computers and networking. For instance, the term firewall (in the sense of a device used to filter network traffic) was at first technical slang. As these devices became more widespread and the term became widely understood, the word was adopted as formal terminology. Technical terminology evolves due to the need for experts in a field to communicate with precision and brevity but often has

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3328-429: The sixteenth century attracting persons from different career paths. This led to there being printed copies available on the various forms of jargon. Jargon, also referred to as "technical language", is "the technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a special activity or group". Most jargon is technical terminology ( technical terms ), involving terms of art or industry terms , with particular meaning within

3392-411: The speaker of the wider language (e. g. English ); however, without an understanding of the passage of the Bible, issue of theology or (sometimes) specific doctrine at the forefront of the mind of the speaker, the listener may lack the context to understand what is being said. One example is the allusion to one's home as a "tent until I’m called home", referencing the biblical image of an "earthly tent" as

3456-437: The subject. Ethos is used to create an appeal to authority. It is one of three pillars of persuasion created by Aristotle to create a logical argument. Ethos uses credibility to back up arguments. It can indicate to the audience that a speaker is an insider with using specialized terms in the field to make an argument based on authority and credibility. Jargon can be used to convey meaningful information and discourse in

3520-476: The technical terminology, and thus lose track of a speaker or writer's broader and more important arguments. Some words with both a technical and a non-technical meaning are referred to as semi-technical vocabulary: for example, Chinh Ngan Nguyen Le and Julia Miller refer to colon as an anatomical term and also a punctuation mark ; and Derek Matravers refers to person and its plural form persons as technical language used in philosophy , where their meaning

3584-755: The term spiritual warfare has lost its original sense – as an insightful new biblical metaphor – in modern Evangelicalism. In the book Apostles of Rock: the Splintered World of Contemporary Christian Music , author Jay Howard comments on a move towards exhortational, "scripture lesson" themes in contemporary Christian music , in which Christianese became more common: Lyrics were soon overflowing with phrases and references all but incomprehensible outside of an evangelical framework. With lines such as 'If you die before you die than [ sic ] when you die you won't die,' Benny Hester 's 'If You Die Before You Die,' Kenny Mark's 'Soul Reviver', Dan Peek 's 'Doer of

3648-404: The threshold of comprehensibility for outsiders. This is usually accepted as an unavoidable trade-off , but it may also be used as a means of social exclusion (reinforcing ingroup–outgroup barriers) or social aspiration (when introduced as a way of demonstrating expertise). Some academics promote the use of jargon-free language, or plain language, as an audience may be alienated or confused by

3712-529: The time of Franklin D. Roosevelt to Donald Trump , researcher Ceri Hughes has found that Trump's use of Christian terminology surpasses all other presidents studied, climbing dramatically after his inauguration. Religion scholar Elizabeth McAlister notes an increasing use of "evangelical tropes and cues" supporting American military activity along with increasing spiritual warfare imagery and militaristic rhetoric in Evangelicalism; E. Janet Warren argues that

3776-422: The time, whether they know it or not. ... This language is like a liturgy for them, but they don't understand that other people don't get it". Christian writer Dean Merrill's book Damage Control: How to Stop Making Jesus Look Bad argues that "Christianese mystifies, overwhelms, antagonizes and manipulates those who don't hold similar beliefs." Bill J. Leonard argues that it can appear elitist and divisive – making

3840-449: The treatments and risks were, suggesting that jargon in the medical field is not the best in communicating the terminology and concepts. Many examples of jargon exist because of its use among specialists and subcultures alike. In the professional world, those who are in the business of filmmaking may use words like "vorkapich" to refer to a montage when talking to colleagues. In rhetoric , rhetoricians use words like "arete" to refer to

3904-522: The word in English is found within The Canterbury Tales , written by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. Chaucer related "jargon" to the vocalizations of birds. In colonial history, jargon was seen as a device of communication to bridge the gap between two speakers who did not speak the same tongue. Jargon was synonymous with pidgin in naming specific language usages. Jargon then began to have

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3968-463: The worldview appearing in nearly every area of language use." New Testament scholar and theologian Marcus Borg comments that Christianese is used by Christians "to connect their religion to their life in the world". Like secret languages such as rhyming slang , evangelical Christianese relies on the hearer's ability to "reconstruct...the sequence of logical connections" to understand the meaning of an utterance. The words and phrases used are known to

4032-521: Was a pioneer of radio evangelism and a founder of an early megachurch. Robert Schuller , Oral Roberts , Jerry Falwell , Joel Osteen , and T. D. Jakes developed both megachurch and television audiences. Megachurches are found in many countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, including Tanzania , Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda. The largest church auditorium, The Glory Dome , was inaugurated in 2018 with 100,000 seats, in Abuja , Nigeria. In 2010,

4096-502: Was critiqued for not using enough "conversionistic" language. While avoiding explicit references to Jesus or Christ, George W. Bush was known to use Christian figures of speech. In his 2003 State of the Union address, for example, he referred to the "wonder-working power – in the goodness, and idealism, and faith of the American people", a reference recognizable to many evangelical Christians from

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