My best attempt at defining "Word of God"
My best definition of ‘Word of God’ is the phenomenon of the merciful God of the Universe simplifying his ideas so profoundly that they fit into our incredibly limited human language structure, for the purpose of drawing us close to him in a way we can intellectually grasp. For me, it is representative of his deep love for us and desire to draw us near to him.
Originally, I wanted to say ‘in a way we can intellectually understand’, but I don’t think our understanding is necessarily the purpose of him reaching out to us. I believe that God wants us to grapple with the profundity of his word. Just like how the historical-critical method, though useful, has increased our data regarding the text but also increased our confusion, the Word of God seems to me to be something meant as a conundrum, a sort of bait meant to draw us into a deeper relationship with the God who reveals a fraction of himself through it. Since it is so limited, God’s ‘word’ necessarily guides us into an interior relationship with him, so that we can grasp him more fully.
In Chapter 2, Schneiders points out the limitations of language to express something so grand. She notes that, in and of itself, the phrase ‘Word of God’ is a linguistic expression (she calls it a metaphor). (p. 27) She reminds us that words are not fully translatable in any language, and that they change in meaning over time. (p. 28) This is not a parallel to God himself, being that he is both completely available to any human person regardless of their cultural or linguistic background, and that he is unchanging, which makes him incredibly unlike words.
Therefore, words fall short, no matter how close they seem to come. However, John 1:1 states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And again in John 8:51, “Amen Amen I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” Which leads me to believe that God’s definition of “word’ (logos) is quite different from our own. Once again, we see how language fails us.