The pen is mightier than the sword. That saying expresses a truth that is not immediately apparent to everyone. The written word can influence the lives of people much more completely, more profoundly, more lastingly than any material instrument. The sword can only affect the physical life of a person, while the word can shape a person’s mind and spirit and so help to determine that person’s destiny forever.
If this is true of a purely human word, it should be all the more so in the case of God’s Word. And that is the conviction of the Scriptures themselves and of the Church throughout her history. Two familiar passages from the Bible express this conviction.
In the book of Isaiah, God says:
“For just as from the heavens
the rain and snow come down
And do not return there
till they have watered the earth,
making if fertile and fruitful,
Giving seed to him who sows
and bread to him who eats,
So shall m word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
It shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it”.
(Is 55, 10-11)
And in the letter to the Hebrews, we read: “Indeed, God’s word is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword. It penetrates and divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the reflections and thoughts of the heart’’ (Heb 4, 12).
To appreciate more fully the nature of the conviction, it is helpful to realize that in the Semitic mentality (which was the manner of thinking of most biblical authors) the “word” was thought to be a reality lodging within the person, and that it goes out from the person when spoken or written and then lodges within the person to whom it is directed. It will have an effect on that person in accord with the strength of spirit of the one who utters it. After Isaac had pronounced his word of blessing on Jacob, Esau, the rightful heir, came to Isaac and asked for his father’s blessing of the firstborn. But Isaac was unable to call back the word he had spoken to Jacob. It had already gone forth from him, and so the grain and the wine were already Jacob’s (Gn 27, 1-37).
We know something of the power of the human word in our own experience. A word of consolation or of praise or even a cheerful “Good morning!” can have a marked effect on the one to whom it is addressed. The spirit is made new again, and the person is made more fit to cope with the problems of the day. On the other hand, an angry word or demeaning word can depress the spirits of the one to whom it is addressed. Human words do have power.
In the light of this human experience we can see more clearly why the two biblical passages quoted above speak so convincingly of the power of God’s Word. Modern scholars refer to this effect of inspiration as the sacramentality of the Word. By this is meant that the biblical Word has some similarity to the seven sacraments. In a sacrament there is a real encounter with God through Jesus Christ. His presence comes to us through the sacraments in seven distinctive ways in various stages of our lives. The biblical Word, when it is read or listened to in the openness of faith, has a similar effect; it brings God in his self-revelation closer to us. That is why the Church has encouraged the reading of the Scriptures and shy she attaches so much importance to the liturgy of the Word in the first part of the Mass.