I, however, call on our Christians as individuals and as communities to open their eyes to the needs of their neighbours
4.1 Lexical choices for thetheme of faith
Theme of faith is one of the major themes conveyed in the bishops‘ letters. The bishops exhort the audience to have complete trust in God, and shun anything that can distract them from total dependence on God. They express sadness over the fact that many present-day Christians are yet to appreciate the necessity and centrality of faith in the life of a Christian.
The bishops consider lack of faith to be the main reason why, in the face of normal problems of life such as sickness, death of a beloved one, violence, betrayals, hunger, childlessness, poverty, delay in marriage, joblessness, etc., Christians run from place to place in search of solutions. They enjoin Christians to have faith and complete trust in God whatever their circumstances because God never fails those who trust in him.The theme of faith is communicated through choice of faith-related words, synonyms, antonyms, and lexical repetitions.
Of the four major themes found in the bishops‘ letters, the theme of faith has the greatest emphasis with faith-related lexical choices constituting 35.0% of the total number of theme-related lexical choices deployed, which is 817. This shows that the issue of faith is of paramount importance to the bishops.
4.1.1Words signifying the theme of faith
These are words that collocate with faith. They constitute 55.6% of the total number of faith-related lexical choices deployed, which is 286.The bishops have carefully selected words
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relating to faith to communicate to their audience the theme of faith in God. Examples of faith-related words found in the letters are: belief, trust, church, devout, evangelization, Christian, fidelity, commitment, adherence, magisterium, worship, prayer, sacrament, conviction, loyalty, creed, etc. By choosing these words, the bishops foreground the theme of faith to enhance its understanding by the faithful. Consider the choice of the words faith, believe, and trust, for example, in text 1 below:
Text 1:
…many Christians today are men and women of sight and not of faith. They believe and trust their senses so much so that faith has no place in their lives. (IYHF, p.21)
In this text, the words faith, believe, and trust suggest the theme of faith. Believe means to accept something or somebody as true; trust means confidence in something or somebody.
Trust is borne out of belief in something or somebody. Faith incorporates the meaning of both believe and trust. It means trust, confidence or strong belief in God. The words are brought together to emphasize the theme of faith. The emphasis is intensified by choice of the words sight and senses which in this context are antonymous to faith. In the context of this text, the bishops express worry over the attitude of the faithful when faced with normal problems of life.
They go to any length in search of solutions, even if it means going to places or doing things that are contrary and detrimental to their faith. The faithful are therefore enjoined to remain steadfast in their faith.
Another example of choice of faith-related words to convey the theme of faith is seen in the use of the words worship, faith, and believe in text 2 below:
Text 2:
Worship in itself is an act of faith: ―What we pray we believe and what we believe we pray.‖ (LTF, 39)
The word worship means to honour God or a god with praise, prayer, hymns, etc. As such it requires faith or belief in the existence of God or a god being honoured and his or its ability to receive and appreciate the worship given. The theme of faith is also intensified by the word pray. We pray with the belief or faith that we would obtain what we pray for. The text occurs in the context of the bishops‘ admonition of the faithful to nourish their faith in God by constant prayer. The quoted words are a translation of the Latin slogan used to support the view
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that worship is an act of faith. The words worship, faith, believe and prayer are therefore appropriate in foregrounding the theme of faith. One can only worship or pray to a god he or she believes or have faith in.
Also, the words fidelity, faith and trust in the text 3 below relate to the theme of faith:
Text 3:
The Old Testament prophets bring out another dimension of faith as a life of trust and fidelity in relationship with God. (LTF, P.8)
Fidelity is synonymous with faithfulness, loyalty, or devotion. It means sticking to God, a god or a marriage partner without prostituting with another. In the context of the above text, fidelity means faithfulness, loyalty or devotion to the Almighty God. It implies negligence of other gods or objects of worship and total commitment to the one and only God. Trust and faith in a person or god leads to fidelity. By choosing these words, the bishop makes clear to the faithful, the importance of remaining faithful to God and avoiding worship of other gods. The choice is therefore appropriate in projecting the theme of faith in the pastoral letters.
4.1.2 Synonyms
Synonyms are different phonological words which have the same or very similar meanings (Saeed, 2009). Different words which have the same referent are also considered to be synonymous. In the bishops‘ pastorals, synonyms relating to the theme of faith constitute 19.6% of the total number of faith-related lexical choices deployed. They includejourney-pilgrimage, idolatry-superstitious, believe-adhere, reject-doubt, obligation-task, devotion-reverence, confidence-trust, steadfast-faithful, supernatural-religious, acceptance-acknowledgement, grace-privilege, trust-faith, etc. In text 4 below, for example, the synonymous pair confidence and trust are used to foreground the theme of faith:
Text 4:
The man or woman of faith has supreme confidence and trust in God‘s providence. No matter the situation, the problems and difficulties, the child of God says in faith, like Abraham, the Lord will provide (IYHF, p.48).
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In the above text, the synonyms faith, confidence and trust are used to echo the theme of faith in God. The three words denote firmness and resoluteness in the belief expressed. The last two are a restatement of the meaning denoted by the first. Confidence means trust or belief in a person or thing, while trust is belief or reliance on the truth, goodness, character, power, or ability of someone or something. They are used as qualities or markers of faith, such that a man or a woman of faith will be measured by his or her level of confidence and trust in God. The bishop has deployed the synonyms in order to make clear to the faithful the need for total dependence on God, his power and ability to provide for them in all circumstances. This way they reinforce the theme of faith to facilitate understanding.
Another example of the use of synonyms inthe bishops‘ letters to reiterate the theme of faith in Godis seen in text 5 below:
Text 5:
The Christian civilization with all her greatness and grandeur is a product of a belief in a being beyond human. It is the fruit of a faith never based on a person, idea or thing but on being beyond earthly, a transcendental being, the redeemer of creation, our Lord Jesus Christ. (OEO, p.5)
Here, in this text, the pairs of words used synonymously are greatness-grandeur; product-fruit;
belief-faith, as well as the different descriptive phrases used for Jesus Christ. The emphasis of the bishop here is on the productivity of faith in God. The text is found in the context of the bishops‘ admonition of the faithful to live their lives according to the faith they profess so as to bridge the wide gap between religion and morality in the Nigerian society. Greatness and grandeur, both denoting large size, are used to emphasize the high degree of the civilisation brought about by Christian faith. Product and fruit, which are manufacturing and plant registers, respectively, emphasize result, productivity and fruitfulness. The two synonyms which are also metaphorically used are meant to echo the bishops‘ message that faith in God must be accompanied by good works. Belief and faith are used synonymously to project the theme of faith in God. The expression, a being beyond human, used synonymously with being beyond earthly, a transcendental being, the redeemer of creation, our Lord Jesus Christ, serve to emphasize the divinity of the object of faith. In fact it is this divinity that makes Christian
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faith productive, one capable of bringing about such enormous civilization. Through the use of these numerous synonyms, the bishops foreground the theme of faith in God and the need for the faithful to live good lives as a testimony of the faith they profess.
Also consider the use of the synonyms oppression and persecution and steadfastly and unwavering in text 6 below:
Text 6:
They [the forefathers in faith] suffered oppression and persecution. Yet they were unwavering in their faith and steadfastly bore witness to it through good Christian living. (LTF, P.4)
Oppression and persecution are used synonymously in the text, and so are unwavering and steadfastly. The first pair of synonyms belongs to the class of abstract nouns. The words denote suffering inflicted by an external force. Despite this suffering which is supposed to constitute a setback to the faith of the forefathers, they remained resolute. The words unwavering and steadfastly denote this resoluteness, which is a characteristic feature of real faith in God. They are considered to be synonyms although they belong to different parts of speech: the former is an adjective while the latter is an adverb. The synonyms are used by the bishops to emphasise the strength of faith demonstrated by the early Christians despite numerous oppositions. The bishops are of the view that real faith in God is that which stands the test of time, that which triumphs over challenging circumstances. This is the kind of faith they expect the faithful to demonstrate. This message is effectively communicated through the use of synonyms.
4.1.3 Antonyms
Antonyms are words that have opposite meaning.Palmer (2000) identifies three kinds of opposites as gradable, complementary, and relational opposites. Gradable opposites are seen in terms of degrees of the quality involved, as in wide/ narrow, old/ young, big/ small, etc.
Complementary opposites involve items that are complementary to each other, as in married/
single, male/ female, alive/ dead, etc., whilerelationalopposites exhibit the reversal of a relationship between items, as in buy/ sell, lender/ borrower, parent/ child, give/ receive, etc.In the bishops‘ letters, the theme of faith in God is conveyed through the use of antonyms, which constitute 16.8% of the total frequency of faith-related lexical choices deployed. Examples of faith-related antonyms in the letters are weakness-strength, faith-fear, faith-sight, doubt-hold,
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freedom-slaves, visible-invisible, human-divine, seen-unseen, power-weakness, faith-works, believing-doubting, foundation-starting-point, hearers-doers, etc. Consider text 7 below:
Text 7:
The profession of Simon Peter shows clearly that the light of God‘s grace transforms human being‘s limited vision to the higher vision of God: The revelation of the true identity of Jesus Christ was not by sight but by faith.
(WWF, p.45)
Antonymous relations exist between the adjectives limited and higher and between the nouns sight and faith, in the text above.In the context of this text, the bishops admonish the faithful to remain steadfast in their faith in God, as it is only through this that they will be able to understand the plan of God for them.. The text is a Biblical example cited to buttress this message. The antonyms limited and higher are used to mark the difference between the realm of the divine which is the realm of God, and the realm of reality which is the realm of man. The former is higher while the latter is limited. It is only through faith, which is a grace given by God, that man can attain that higher realm and be able to see beyond the realities around him.
Through the contrast brought about by the use of the antonyms the bishop emphasises the need for faith in God. The second pair of antonyms, sight and faith, is parallel to the first. Sight corresponds to limited vision while faith corresponds to higher vision. Revelations from God are received through the eyes of faith, and not through physical sight. The emphasis of the bishop, through the use of these antonyms, is on faith in God. The contrasts enable the faithful to understand the difference between the realm of the divine and of the physical, and the role of faith in linking the two.
The use of antonyms to reflect the theme of faith in God is further seen in text 8 below:
Text 8:
For Paul, faith has in addition to past dimensions also future ones as the work begun by the redeeming death and justifying resurrection of Jesus will be consummated in eternal life (LTF, p.20)
Here the antonyms are past and future, begun and consummated, and death,resurrection/life.
These are employed to explain the theme of faith in God. Past corresponds to begun while future corresponds to will be consummated. Christ initiated our faith in the past through his death and resurrection just as he is going to end it in future in eternal life. The contrast between
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these pairs of antonyms is thus blurred, as it is Christ who connects both our past and future as he is both the author and finisher of our faith. He is the same yesterday, today, and always. The choice of the antonyms is meant to reiterate the theme of faith in God. Also, the antonyms death and resurrection/life are used to advance the theme of faith. In the context of Christian faith the two antonyms often form a fixed collocation, such that when they are used, the emphasis is no longer on the contrast between them but on what they have jointly come to symbolise in Christianity: faith. The antonyms are therefore appropriate in projecting the theme of faith in God.
A further example of the use of antonyms to portray the theme of faith in God is seen in text 9 below:
Text 9:
Beyond the external verbal profession of faith or ritual religious acts, faith has to be expressed in good works. St James was very clear on this when he stated that faith without good works is dead. (IYHF, p.29)
In this text, faith and works are contrasted to reflect the wide gap there is between the lives of the faithful and the faith they profess, and the need to strike a balance between the two. The bishop‘s message is that faith is useless if it does not reflect in the daily living of the faithful.
The bishop is of the view that Christian faith, as a practical faith, cannot be separated from good works and so should reflect in the day-to-day living of the faithful. By contrasting between faith and works, therefore, the theme of faith is emphasized. This is further intensified by the repetition of the antonyms in the paraphrased quotation from St James in the Holy Bible.
The bishop‘s message of faith is thus foregrounded by the use of antonyms and validated by Biblical quotation.
4.1.4 Lexical repetitions
Lexical repetition is the occurrence of the same lexical item more than once in a text.
Apart from serving a cohesive function, it is a strong pointer to the themes of a text. It keeps the reader focused on the topic or idea being repeated.Faith-related lexical repetitions have the lowest frequency rate of 8.0% of the total frequency of faith-related lexical choices in the letters, which is 286. Words,such as faith, believe, Church, mystery, Christianity, God, cross, Christian, commitment,etc., are repeated to keep the theme of faith in the consciousness of the
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audience to ensure concentration and understanding. In text 10 for example, the word commitment is repeated three times and the word Christ two times, to emphasise faith in God:
Text 10:
Faith in Jesus Christ which Paul harps upon is not merely an intellectual acceptance of a body of truth, but a total surrender and commitment to the person of Christ. It is not a commitment that is made once and for all. Rather, it is a commitment that is to be nurtured so that it can grow…. (LTF, p.17)
Commitment means devotion to something, somebody or a cause. It involves much attention and a sacrifice of both time and resources and so relates to faith. So does the word Christ relate to faith. Christ himself is the basis of Christian faith. By hammering on the words, commitment and Christ, the bishop intends to register the theme of faith in the minds of the faithful, as faith in God is considered to be a very important subject in Christianity. Christianity as a religion which bothers mainly on mysteries requires faith for its acceptance and practice. Repetition of the faith-related words in this text is therefore important in ensuring that this message of faith is made clear to the faithful. The force of the repetition is intensified by the use of related words such as acceptance and surrender. These emphasize the degree of commitment to Christ expected of the faithful.
Similarly, in the text 11 below, the repetition of the words cross and Christ is meant to foreground the theme of faith:
Text 11:
Christianity without the cross is false. You will never find Christ anywhere without his cross. (LTF, p.44)
The above text occurs in the context of the bishop‘s exhortation on the need for the faithful to remain steadfast in their faith, even in the face of challenging circumstances. The word cross is repeated two times. Cross, as used in the text and in the context of Christianity, is a symbol of sufferings, persecutions or trials. By its repetition, the bishop emphasises the necessity of sufferings and trials in the growth and development of faith in God. The repetition of the word Christ is meant to intensify this message. The text is an indirect criticism of the undue emphasis, in most Pentecostal Churches, on prosperity and miracles with the impression
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thatwhoever embraces Christ ceases to suffer or have problems. The bishop through this device of repetition makes it unequivocally clear to the Catholic faithful that suffering is the crucible in which faith is tested, refined and made strong, and that just as Christ and the cross are inseparable, so are Christianity and sufferings or trials. The second sentence is a restatement of the first. This adds to the thematic emphasis achieved through the repetition of the word cross.
Another example of the use of lexical repetition to communicate the theme of faith in the bishops‘ letters is found in text 12 below:
Text 12:
The God we worship is a mystery. The Trinity is a mystery. The incarnation is a mystery. The teaching of Christ is not according to the wisdom of this world. The truths we teach are mysteries, hidden from all eternity.
The death and resurrection of Christ are mysteries. The Church is a mystery. The Sacraments are mysteries. The priesthood is a mystery. The Christian life itself is a mystery. (WWF, pp.3-4)
Here, the word mystery, together with its variant mysteries,is repeated eleven times in various forms: six times as a singular noun, three times as a plural noun, and two times as restatements in other words (in sentences 4 and 5). This is a way of emphasising the fundamentality of faith to Christian religion. If everything about the Christian religion—God, the Trinity, the incarnation, the teaching of Christ, the truth taught by the Church, the death and resurrection of Christ, the Church, the Sacraments, the priesthood, and Christian life itself—is all mysteries, then the indispensability of faith in its practice becomes evident. The word mystery refers to something that is unfathomable, something, that is, beyond human understanding. It is therefore only through faith that such a thing can be accepted. Both the eleven-time repetition of the word mystery and a catalogue of the essentials of Christianity which are all mysteries combine to make the message of faith in God stand out clearly. The faithful are made to see clearly the need for them to live a life of faith. The repetition, apart from emphasising the theme of faith, adds beauty and rhythm to the text.