Modifiers versus nouns and verbs

For once I must admit that a pope has made a fairly decent point. Maybe it's not perfect, but there are some merits to the position of Francis. CNN reports:

In a speech on Monday to the Dicastery for Communications, the Vatican's communications authority, Pope Francis urged people not to describe Christianity with qualifiers and adjectives. "We have fallen into the culture of adjectives and adverbs, and we have forgotten the strength of nouns," he said.

Instead of calling churches "small but authentic," or trying to distinguish things as "authentically Christian," he said people should call them simply "Christian." The term "Christian" is strong and authentic enough as it is, without the need for adjectives, he said.

"I am allergic to those words," he added.

Of course the problem with his argument... something that Francis seemed to realize in other reporting... is that the word, "Christian", in the context that he used it, is in fact an adjective. Yes, "Christian" may also be used as a noun, an adjectival noun... but fundamentally it is an adjective. When we describe a place of worship or a person as "Christian", then we use the word "Christian" as an adjective. If we say someone is a Christian, then the adjective takes on the form of a noun; but it is still fundamentally an adjective.

Leaving aside that relatively minor issue, the notion of a "culture of adjectives and adverbs" is indeed interesting. Certainly, the extensive use of adjectives and adverbs does tend to color a message in ways that are sometimes unpredictable and even unwanted or misleading. Adjectives and adverbs may, on occasion, blur the science of communication, even when they simultaneously enhance the art.