121 The Upside and Downside of Meaning

Meaning: “conveying a significance that is not directly expressed . . .”

In Blog #115, I wrote about Type and Process in meaning, and we have spent several blogs on process. Now to expand on type, let’s start by restating that in type there is negative meaning and positive meaning— “meaning” there is an upside and a downside to what an issue can mean.

Which side we choose is up to us.

For example, everyone has experienced the uncomfortable situation of thinking, “I wonder what she/he meant by that?” A meaning was implied by word or deed, and if it was possibly unflattering, it was disturbing. If it could be construed as positive, then all was well. Each of us is capable of perceiving, or indirectly conveying, meaning of a flattering or unflattering type, meaning that can harm or help.

Actually, there is a range of meaning between positive and negative, including mixed meanings, neutral meanings and others. But for the purpose of this blog (which means for simplicity’s sake), we will stick with positive and negative meaning and the proposition that positive and negative meaning have an adversarial relationship.

First, to give this adversarial orientation to “meaning” some dimension, some attention needs to be drawn to the word “adversarial.” From Encarta, the noun adversary means an opponent in a conflict, contest, or debate. Adversarial means relating to conflict or adversaries.

Next, in The Holy Bible, the Adversary (Strong’s #7854) is the oldest name for Satan (Sátán, Strong’s #7854). Occurring 24 times in the Old Testament, Satan/Adversary refers most often to cosmic strife in the invisible world, between God and opposition forces of darkness (Vine’s, p.213).

The Triune God of Scripture sees Satan as an adversary or enemy, an opponent in conflict with Him (Luke 10:17-20, “Behold, I give you the authority . . . over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means harm you.” NKJV).

In this adversarial relationship, God is the proponent of pure goodness and Satan is the proponent of evil (Matthew 4:1-11, Satan Tempts Jesus; NKJV).

Good and evil (evil, Gr. n., rá, Strong’s #7451) are regularly contrasted in Scripture, and evil (Satan’s work ethic) is designated as that which must be hated and destroyed (Psalm 5:4-6, v.4 “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You.”; Psalm 97:10a, “You who love the Lord, hate evil!”; NKJV).

According to the Bible, Satan and his minions are behind all evil (Matthew 10:1, “And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease.” NKJV).

To be continued . . .