Modifiers versus nouns and verbs

[Abhidevananda]

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.

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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.

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/09/24/us/pope-adjectives-intl-hnk-scli/index.html
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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.

--
Abhidevananda Avadhuta