Re: Going back...

Chuck Warman (cwarman@wf.net)
Sun, 22 Jun 1997 00:00:25 -0500

>At 10:48 AM 6/21/97 -0400, Pim wrote:
>
>CW: If you're one of those postmodern dudes that centers the meaning of
>words
>in the reader rather than the author, then we *literally* have nothing to
>discuss. If not, then I challenge you to read the four gospel books and
>demonstrate that the meaning, taken as a whole, is unclear.
>
>So you claim and others disagree.

No. I'm suggesting that you read it for yourself and give your honest
opinion of its clarity. The fact that some may misinterpret Jesus' teaching
shows correlation, not causation. :)

>And why are you limiting yourself to the
>4 gospels?

Because that's where the direct teaching of Jesus, in His own words, is
presented. Deal with that, Pim, and then we can discuss the rest of the
Bible. My challenge remains -- get a Bible, read the gospels, and form your
own conclusions, rather than parroting the standard atheist dogma.

>The meaning of the words depend on the reader especially since
>we do not have the authors available to explain it to us.

Then why are we having this conversation? If you are free to assign any
meaning you choose to my words, why even attempt to discuss anything? BTW,
you have just dismissed all recorded history to which there is no living
eyewitness. This way of looking at things is really pretty cool. I think
that Darwin never lived -- prove me wrong, using your antilogocentric
approach. You know, if we get enough people to agree, then we can get rid
of slavery, and all those slaves won't ever have been enslaved at all.
Clinton can then retract his apology -- this has real possibilities!

>>CW: OTOH, materialism has no moral base with which to condemn evils
>>committed in the name of materialism.
>>
>>And neither does christianity have a moral base with which to condemn
>>evils commited in the name of christianity either then.
>
>CW: Yes it does -- the teachings of Jesus Christ.
>
>That is not a moral basis. It is a subjective interpretation of morality
>and furthermore hearsay.

Hearsay? That statement in not worthy of you, Pim. The existence, the
life, and the teachings of Jesus is better attested by documentary evidence
than of any person of anitquity. Better attested than Plato, better than
Homer, better than Alexander the Great, better than Budda.

I'll pass on the rest of your post. It's redundant, it's been addressed my
many others on the list, and it's bald assertion.

Chuck
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Chuck Warman
cwarman@wf.net (Wichita Falls, TX)
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"The abdication of Belief / makes the Behavior small."
----Emily Dickinson