no, that's sophistry. something can be written in such broad language that you can extract contradictory principles from it. at that point it can become useless. how many different christian denominations are there that claim their's is the correct interpretation of the bible?Originally Posted by Aqueous Moon
the obstacle is the path
You shouldn't use christians as your example for bible interperters.
Most of them take the scriptures very literal and fail to look deeper than face value.
But, that's why we have brains. We can look into the scripture and see the truth, not interpertation but solid truth.
I just try to pay attention to the essentials when reading. But I have to say that I do believe in a Grand Creator and so I would say that prayer is not pointless, at least not for me. I would also say that it is not my place to judge and that every one must walk their own path. I have to tell you though, that the power of faith is an amazing thing. And not for what happens internally but for what has happened around me consistently. I would say that God has been ever-vigilent in taking care of me, for many different reasons.I absolutely agree with you on that point. there are many good lessons one cantake from the bible. However, it can be a trap if you take everything in it to be the truth, if you believe that it was written by God, and it is an authority on everything, but it turns out that this is false. You waste time and energy praying to god, your will take everything in the book to be true, while it may be just some fact and good knowledge mixed with fiction and bad principles.
I do not however, accept everything that's written in the Bible or the Quaran as truth simply because it's been interpreted (sp?) by man who where in posistions of power and no doubt, used that to their advantage. I think this happened a great deal w. the bible and less so with the quaran. But intrepretation is a tricky thing so something so minute as a upper or lower case letter can make a world of difference in my perception of meaning. This has happend in the past and it makes thing tricky when trying to decipher an exact meaning of something. It makes me wish I spoke Arabic so that i could decipher it for myself.
I haven't been to a day of actual church in my life. I think it's important to find your own meaning in the words that are there and not let anyone else's perception define them for you. After all when you die, that's you all on your own. I'd rather take my own reasoning with me vs. someone else's logic.no, that's sophistry. something can be written in such broad language that you can extract contradictory principles from it. at that point it can become useless. how many different christian denominations are there that claim their's is the correct interpretation of the bible?
I understand what you are saying. however i am an agnostic, so my view is somewhat different on the so called holy books. but this may be going off topic.
the obstacle is the path
I certainly hope you don't dismiss these holy books because you're agnostic.
There is knowledge to be gained within them and it would be foolish to dismiss them as useless.
What going off topic? Maybe everything is on-topic and we're just not looking deep enough. What does agnostic mean to you?
lol... unfortunately I no longer have the luxury of being able to discuss interesting topics for hours on end. maybe we'll continue another time, since we could go about this for hours. not trying to duck the question but I gotta hit the sack soon, I got bar school 8:30 am tommorrow.
the obstacle is the path
alright homie, but please lets discuss this further at a latter time, I've gotta be up at 6:30 for work myself so I won't be on here much farther but it's a conversation that should continue.
for sure...
the obstacle is the path
holy books capitalize on the power of suggestion
the truth is in them
as Aqueous mentioned - they cant be dismissed
you can use a hammer to kill people
but
its best function is when you use it to build things
dont even settle for being an agnostic denaturat
dont be an anything
all the points have been made
explain
the obstacle is the path
the truth is best conveyed in the most precise and exact language possible. metaphors and parables can be misleading as they may mean more than one thing. you arrive at truth through logical reasoning. you have premises that lead to a conlusion. i need to know exactly what the author is saying so that i can properly consider or question it. when I am completely convinced that one particular proposition is reasonable, I move on to the next, and so on, until I can arrive at a conclusion.
the bible, the only holy book I am familiar with, spoon feeds conclusions but does not facilitate the above described reasoning process. consequently it does not truly teach. for example, Jesus said, among other things, to turn the other cheak. why? maybe it is a good principle, but the bible does not explain why (other than that you will go to heaven for being meek -- that is not an explanation, that is a reward). a person who follows biblical teachings is induced by rewards of after life in heaven. that is all he needs to know according to the bible. ultimately, do as jesus says, but why? because jesus says? that is not wisdom, that is just instruction without explanation. or maybe you shoudl do good because jesus will send you to heaven. well, that is not an explanation either, but is actually bribery.
Last edited by denaturat; 05-15-2006 at 01:33 PM.
the obstacle is the path
bump
Break fast is served
i gotta come back to this - but for now - build
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