2.  Words Change in Meaning

Etymology is the study of the history and development of words; it is concerned with origins of words and the way the meanings of words have changed through the years. ^[6]   The fact is that words do change in meaning, and sometimes radically so.  It is interesting to see how the meaning of a word can change from something good to something bad. 

For example, the English word "imp" once meant "a young shoot of a plant."  Later, the word came to mean "child."  Prayers made years ago for the Prince of Wales referred to him as "that most angelic imp." ^[7]  However, today, the word imp means "an evil creature." ^[8] 

Another example of an English word which has changed in meaning from good to evil is the word "gay."  Not many years ago, the English word gay was an adjective which meant happily excited, merry, lively. ^[9]  Today, the predominant use of the word is as a noun, meaning homosexual.  A few years ago, it would have been a compliment to say that Pastor Peters is a gay man and that the church he pastors is a "gay" church.  Today, to say such would be libelous and slanderous--a complete lie.  Today, it would be defamation of a Christian's character for the media to accuse him of being "gay," or to portray him as such. 

Just as the meaning of the words imp and gay have changed from something innocuous to something evil, so also the meaning of the word Identity has changed from benign to evil.