Religious fundamentalists and many of today’s atheists share the same approach to texts. They read them directly and literally, ignoring the single most important fact about a sacred text, namely that its meaning is not self-evident. It has a history and it has to be interpreted.
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28 comments (26 - 28)
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Interpretation, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, ergo he who sits in the chair of the priest INTERPRETS soley what he/she reads to SUIT his/her own ends and means.
As for 'biblical' history, exactly WHAT 'history' does it really exhibit that has ever been proven empirically to be historic?
E.g. the Great Flood of the Ark of Noah - NEVER happened since to INUNDATE the ENTIRE Planet there WOULD never have been enough water, free, frozen or gaseous available to do so.
Triphid
Level 9
May 6, 2019
0
"Interpreted". By whom? An individual may interpret a text for his/her own direction but once a group starts "interpreting" anything, it ceases to have moral weight. It becomes a secular decision. And, as far as the Bible is concerned, it is proclaimed to be the inerrant word of God.
RonWilliam53
Level 7
May 5, 2019
0
Totally! Early writers wrote parables within parables within parables. Once you understand that, the Bible becomes an impressive feat of storytelling. Just imagine how impressive that would seem to simple people.
Interpretation? The writers were crystal clear about what they were trying to say. Look at the temple merchants parable.
Kohelath
Level 6
May 5, 2019
0
Quite so. I suggest that one of the things we forget is that up until a few hundred years ago teaching was done by the oral tradition and stories were used as vehicles for knowledge. Homily and allegory were employed to get the point across whether it be religious or cautionary tales. This is why the work of the Grimm Brothers in the context of European social history is important and highlights examples of a line of centuries of folkic oral transmission
The problem with calling them parables instead of actual events is that makes the Bible secular. I don't have a problem with using parts of it for moral input but kind of eliminates it as a piece of any religion.
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