by OpenFireGlass 22 Replies latest watchtower bible
note to board... I'm starting this thread as a request from "Judas I" cause he reached his limit... but it is related to this thread: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/113936/1.ashx
So why is everyone not allowed to interpert successfully the holy writings? For what reason is the truth hidden from us?
I would say that the shifts in meaning that occur in reinterpretation of older texts (from a different conceptual/cultural/linguistic milieu), whether through midrash and/or pesher eisegesis, is the very "mother of invention" of new theological and eschatological ideas, of discovering new "truths" by reading the old text in new ways (this is different from exegetically assessing what the text may have meant in its original context, tho since the context is imperfectly known today, such readings are also newer constructions). There are many, many examples within the OT, between Qumran/Jewish writings and the OT, and between the NT and the OT, of this phenomena.
Thanks Open.
I managed to squeeze one more off..probably the same time you did.
I am truly stumped..I wish I had as many answers as I do questions.
Maybe we just need a fresh point of view from someone else to bring it all together and find some answers.
Leolaia..can you simplify your post for me? I may be missing something because I don't understand or grasp all those big words. Can I get a breakdown on it please?
I think most organizations that base everything on scripture make a stand on what means what, then have to twist and maneuver or even come up with a New World Translation er um I mean another version slightly altered to fill in some holes.
The spirit and truth of the bible remain, because even if the details change, the message is the same. The bible is as useful for life as any manual for a machine, you don't follow it to the letter, the book doesn't tell you not to hit a rock with the lawnmower...you have to figure that part out. Same with the bible. If the same people that spend their time straining over the details of each scripture and trying to use it to predict the future would instead spend the same time helping others find the peace of mind and sense of completeness of being one with creation, the world would be a better place.
Instead people die every day because of other people's interpretation of scripture, using it to give themselves authority they have no real right to.
WLG
Leolaia..can you simplify your post for me? I may be missing something because I don't understand or grasp all those big words. Can I get a breakdown on it please?
man am I glad you asked that... I thought it was just me or something... began to think I smoked one to many, and couldn't understand english for a moment...
Judas,
Your question begs for Pilate's one: what is truth?
Or, narrowing down a bit, what is truth as far as the meaning of a text is concerned?
If truth lies in the author's intent, then it is lost forever -- at least as a certainty. And the whole history of interpretation (starting from the very first readers/hearers) is worthless.
If some truth however rests in whatever later generations have drawn from -- and read into -- the text, then the author's intent is not the whole truth -- perhaps just another opinion.
What is common to all is not the spirit, but the letter.
Can someone explain WHY the truth must be hidden from me and people wanting it as well?
Why must the truth be hidden from us?
Religions and cults need secrets to justify their existance so they either write cryptic books or mine old texts for ambiguity and symbolism to spin then tell you what they have is truth. If you ignore all that claptrap the world becomes a lot less mysterious.
For not understanding and not allowing you to interpretate is several reasons
1. Historical. Language changes, so you need expert who can translate words and sentences into your current language
2. You are too stupid to understand text. There is some degree of IQ needed sometimes to understand complex idioms and contexts
3. Your presupostition does not allow you to read what it is sayed, and you can fall into allegoric understanding where it is meant direct and vice versa.
So truth is not hidden. Just like truth about Quantum mechanics is not hidden, go and read books. But will you understand? And if your base is corrupted then whole building will fall apart! So for Bible in particular the base and the KEY for each context is Jesus Christ. If you do not know Jesus Christ, then Bible is hidden. And that's pretty clear. You need truth to understand truth. But Jesus Christ IS the truth!
