Re: tsunami impact on animals

----- Original Message -----
From: <RFaussette@aol.com>
To: ""George Murphy"" <gmurphy@raex.com>; """"Charles Carrigan""""
<CCarriga@olivet.edu>; <asa@calvin.edu>; <donperrett@genesisproclaimed.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 7:44 AM
Subject: Re: tsunami impact on animals

> Your last sentence isn't entirely clear. The Nag Hammadi texts of course
> do tell us how the writers _of those texts_ understood the OT. Whether or
> not they (a) understood them correctly or (b) understood them the way
> Jesus did is of course another matter.
>
> That is why comparing the texts is so important to widen the scope of
> inquiry to be sure you are getting the intent of the writers. If a basic
> theological idea exists in the Zend Avesta and in genesis, and in the NT
> and in the nag hammadi texts I can safely assume it is a core religious
> idea. For example, I haven't entered the thread in which someone asked
> about the absence of night in a redeemed world. The battle between light
> and darkness (dualism) can be found in its earliest form in the Vedas. It
> travels to Persia with Zoroaster and pops up in the OT, the NT, the
> Kabbalah and the NG texts. I can safely assume this is a core theological
> idea and I can track its development in the texts from the Indus Valley to
> Persia to Jerusalem with the return of the exiles and determine it is not
> an abberation in theological thought. I can compare the texts this way to
> find out where they agree and when I find agreement across them all, this
> is a core religious idea. The paper True Religion I keep mentioning
> (sorry) interprets two stories in genesis. The stories are important
> because one is the proper attitude of an individual in the face of God
> (and Adam's fall) and the other is the proper attitude of a family or a
> tribe in the face of God, respectively the personal and communal aspects
> of religion.
> If you think I'm wrong on a point, please argue it. I would appreciate
> that.

1) You would have to say more fully what you mean by a "core religious
idea" but I think some care is needed with theological use of it. One of
the most "core" of religious ideas is the belief that we save ourselves in
one way or another via our religious, ethical, &c works or qualities. &
that of course contrasts sharply with the core Christian belief that we are
saved entirely by the grace of God.

2) Having said that - sure, there are significant influences of the modes
of expression of other faiths on Jewish & Christian throught & scripture.
(E.g., the LXX translation of Gen.1:2, in which the earth was "invisible" -
/aoratos/ - may show Zoroastrian influence - & probably in turn influences
Heb.11:3.) But the fact that an idea is found in a lot of other religions
doesn't mean it's compatible with Christianity.

3) At least as far as Christianity is concerned, I wouldn't say that the
battle between light & darkness is not a "core theological idea" but an
important metaphor used to express theological concepts. Where it's most
prominent, in the 4th Gospel, verses like Jn.1:5 clearly aren't to be taken
literally.

Shalom
George
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
Received on Wed Jan 12 19:36:22 2005