Subject:
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Re: Science and beliefs (was Re: Alien races)
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Thu, 5 Apr 2001 18:30:15 GMT
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Viewed:
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523 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Ryan Farrington writes:
> The thing is, I believe the Bible to be literal truth about the universe!
> So in that case, I never will stop believing the Bible.
Ryan, I don't presume to question your Faith, but for a number of reasons
your position on the nature of text isn't entirely supportable. If, for
instance, even a single snippet of The Bible is found to be not literally
true, then the literal interpretion of the whole work falls. For that
matter, as I've asked elsewhere, if we are to interpret The Bible literally,
are we all literally and in fact mustard seeds? If we are not, then The
Bible by definition cannot be taken literally. Further, every parable,
symbol, and metaphor must be taken literally, and Christ will appear as
predicted in Revelations with a literal sword in his literal mouth. If not,
we must be provided with an index of when scripture is to be read as written
and when it is to be interpreted as metaphor.
Beyond this simple rhetorical problem, we must ask whose literal
interpretation of The Bible is the correct literal interpretation, and who
is to judge the correctness of that interpretation? How is Aquinas'
interpretation better or worse than Luther's or Nietzche's or Koresh's? And
why? Throughout history people have commited horrible atrocities in the
name of Christianity, and even though no one believes these people to be
shining examples of "true" Christians, in their own time they asserted that
they were following the literal word of The Bible. How can we know that our
interpretation is better than theirs? Did they simply misinterpret The
Bible? How do we know that we haven't misinterpreted it? One common
answer, obviously, is that we're all human and therefore fallible, so
naturally we may make mistakes in interpretation. How, therefore, can we
assert with any confidence that the literal word (as we interpret it) is
true? On what basis can such a claim be made? For centuries the "literal
truth" of The Bible stated that the Earth was the center of the Universe.
This was conclusively disproven, and The Bible (or, more accurately, the
assessment of the literal word) was proven incorrect. The problem is that
any "correct" literal interpretation can be dismissed--after it's shown to
be false--simply by saying "Well, they didn't really interpret it
correctly." Such a position is circular and self-fulfilling.
It may seem as though I am attacking you personally, but in fact I am not.
Your view of the literal word is widely held, and I take issue with that
untenable position itself.
Dave!
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Message has 3 Replies:
 | | Re: Science and beliefs (was Re: Alien races)
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| (...) What if God isn't perfect? What if he purposefully put in mistakes as a sort of "test of faith"? (...) We could be, where is your undeniable proof that we aren't? For all you know your entire reality is just some form of illusion. (...) (...) (23 years ago, 5-Feb-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: Science and beliefs (was Re: Alien races)
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| In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Dave Schuler writes: For centuries the "literal (...) One nitpick(1): I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that the Bible never says that the earth is the center of the universe. I think that, at best, this idea is (...) (23 years ago, 5-Apr-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
| | | Re: Science and beliefs (was Re: Alien races)
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| (...) A few other basic problems with the literality of the Bible: - Which translation? - How do you reconcile the apparent contradictions? Would someone care to list them (I'm affraid I'm not a student of the Bible and therefore can't list them all (...) (23 years ago, 5-Apr-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Science and beliefs (was Re: Alien races)
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| Dave Low: (...) The thing is, I believe the Bible to be literal truth about the universe! So in that case, I never will stop believing the Bible. I believe the Bible is the word of God, written by the hands of men, under the inspiration and (...) (23 years ago, 5-Apr-01, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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