Bible really is the gospel truth
I THANK Mr West for the friendly way in which he challenged my use of the word "codswallop" and my Christian beliefs (Your Say, February 4), it makes a pleasant change.
Whilst the exact origin of the word 'codswallop' is unknown, oxforddictionaries.com and many other websites clearly suggest (the word I used in my original letter) that it could have come from Mr Hiram Codd's bottle for fizzy drinks and the slang word for beer, "wallop": Codswallop!
My 1995 Oxford Concise English Dictionary also has one definition of the word 'wallop' as "Brit. beer or any alcoholic drink".
As for my certainty about the facts concerning Christianity, this is because I have looked into them!
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Before becoming a Christian I too had preconceived ideas about the Bible which were based on rumours (contradicting itself, being historically unreliable, etc) but they turned out to be just that – rumours.
Christians are called to love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind, the 'mind' being our reason, logic and intellect.
In 2011 Oxford University Professor of Mathematics John Lennox gave a talk to UCLA in America entitled "Christianity and the Tooth Fairy" in which he answers some of these rumours and looks at reasons why Christian faith (the word comes from the Latin fides meaning 'Trust') is built on solid foundations.
He has also written a book on the subject "Gunning for God".
I agree totally with Mr West that imposing Christian belief, or "Bible bashing" as it is more commonly known, does little to genuinely convince people about the Gospel truth.
God Himself says "Come now, let us reason together" (Isaiah 1:18) so I encourage those who are genuinely looking to find the answers to life's big questions to conduct their own research into Christianity and to question anti-Bible hog-wash (now there's another debate).
GARETH JONES
Horrabridge
Comments
by JohnnyDale
Wednesday, February 13 2013, 6:14AM
“Thankyou for the etymology of codswallop. On consideration I think this does perhaps credit your drivel with too high a regard. Using you dictionary can you perhaps suggest another word which more accurately represents the truly puerile nature of the meaningless babble that you are spouting.”