From: <PHSEELY@aol.com wrote:
> Allen wrote:
>
> << Yes, the Bible is the utmost metaphysical truth because we know we can
> trust the God of the Bible to tell us the truth. >>
>
> You do not seem to be reckoning with the fact that you are interpreting
the
> Bible, and that your interpretation is not necessarily infallible.
You are assuming that the Bible NEEDS interpreting in order to make sense.
In other words, the Bible cannot mean what it really says. You must change
the meaning to fit whatever philosophies are in vogue at the time.
The only interpretation needed is in accurately transmitting the meaning of
the texts from one language to another without adding to the meaning of the
texts the philosophies of the interpreters. The inclusion of the
translators philosophies into translations is espceially apparent when
comparing various translations of the Bible. And that is why one needs to
checK many translations and go back to the original langauges whenever
possible to see if alternative interpretations are possible and better.
>
> You are also assuming that God would not accommodate his revelation to the
> science/history of the times.
You are assuming that God would NEED to accommodate his revelation to the
science/history of the times. It is the sciences/histories of the times
which need correcting, not the other way around.
>
> You are also reading Greek science into the OT if you read in a spherical
> earth and modern science into the OT if you read out the solid firmament
with
> a literal sea above it.
You are assuming that Greek science is the oldest philosophy where a
spherical earth was ever conceived. You are assuming that translations are
free from philosophical influence. Does the original Hebrew word as used
in context throughout the Bible mean something solid? It says "waters" not
"sea" above it. Just because the societies within which the patriarchs of
the Bible lived believed in certain ideas, that does not mean that that is
what the patriarchs belived also. After all, they believe in one God who
had created the world and the universe, while their contemporaries worshiped
many gods. Following your line of reasoning, the patriarchs really believed
in many gods because that is what everyone else of the times believed, even
though they wrote and spoke of only one. That is reading into the Bible
what is not there.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jan 09 2001 - 07:58:17 EST