*Grin* I know that I don't have to quote Arthur C. Clarke's Three Laws, because you know them... But I will anyway:1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right; when he states that something is impossible, he is probably wrong. 2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible. 3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Although I was a bit grumpy at being required to take an Old Testament class in order to get my degree (Methodist private college*), the teacher was quite good at it. He did a really great job of destroying the notion that the Bible is prohibitive or finite in it's number of potential interpretations. He went through Mormon, Anabaptist, Baptist, Catholic, Anglican, Islam - and was able to recite from memory the "authoritative" passages from within the Old and New Testament (even though we were focusing on Old) that seemed to enable that particular slant of interpretation; "upon this rock" for the Catholics etc. etc
( ... )
*Chuckle* Sounds like a great class! And I kinda agree on the idea that faith is eternal and internal.
"Wherever bibliolatry has prevailed, bigotry and cruelty have accompanied it." - T. H. Huxley (ancestor of Aldous Huxley, iirc) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliolatry
Hmm... Ever notice how the first word used in Genesis for G_d, "Elohim," is plural? ;) (And I often subscribe to a Medieval, pre-Reformation belief that sometimes old gods became (near-)mortal to embrace Christianity... NOT a common belief among anyone anymore, I fear! ^_^ )
The novel I've been working on for years has bibliolatry, and the conflict that emerges over different versions of the same holy book, as a subtext to a big part of the plot. I drew inspiration from Luther's fights over the Bible, stunned to hear that at the time; the Catholic Church forbade quoting of the Bible as a defense for heresy. On the other hand, it's something that makes you think. If you only allow strict interpretation from a single source, then potentially you've opened up to many various interpretations - as long as they can find defense in that single source, since few works are written to such a specific standard that everyone will read the same words the same ways (indeed it might be an impossible feat for language itself). So the Catholic Church, in defense of itself at least, might have been on to something there...a thought I keep in mind when dealing with strict constructionalists of the Constitution
( ... )
And, yah, that whole idea of prima scriptura versus sola scriptura was a huuuuge part of the Reformation / Counter-Reformation fight (which fight gave us the actual Witch Craze, by the way). As were the others of the Five Solas.
*Snerk* You can tell that someone cut and paste part of the Wiki articles and forgot to take out links. ^_^
One of the things I like about the Methodist-related churches, pasting from Wikipedia -- Wesleyan Quadrilateral http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesleyan_Quadrilateral * Scripture - the Holy Bible (Old and New Testaments) * Tradition - the two millennia history of the Christian Church * Reason - rational thinking and sensible interpretation * Experience - a Christian's personal and communal journey in Christ
Comments 16
Funny you and I were thinking of similar things on the same day and decided to post about it!
I posted -) This (- before I refreshed my friends page and saw your post.
Divine intervention?
Maybe today, something special is going to happen...
Reply
*Grin*
I know that I don't have to quote Arthur C. Clarke's Three Laws, because you know them...
But I will anyway:1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right; when he states that something is impossible, he is probably wrong.
2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Reply
Reply
*Chuckle*
Sounds like a great class!
And I kinda agree on the idea that faith is eternal and internal.
"Wherever bibliolatry has prevailed, bigotry and cruelty have accompanied it." - T. H. Huxley (ancestor of Aldous Huxley, iirc)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliolatry
Hmm...
Ever notice how the first word used in Genesis for G_d, "Elohim," is plural? ;)
(And I often subscribe to a Medieval, pre-Reformation belief that sometimes old gods became (near-)mortal to embrace Christianity...
NOT a common belief among anyone anymore, I fear! ^_^ )
Reply
Reply
Much good luck on the book!
And, yah, that whole idea of prima scriptura versus sola scriptura was a huuuuge part of the Reformation / Counter-Reformation fight (which fight gave us the actual Witch Craze, by the way). As were the others of the Five Solas.
*Snerk*
You can tell that someone cut and paste part of the Wiki articles and forgot to take out links. ^_^
Similar movement in Islam:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qur%27an_alone
One of the things I like about the Methodist-related churches, pasting from Wikipedia --
Wesleyan Quadrilateral
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesleyan_Quadrilateral
* Scripture - the Holy Bible (Old and New Testaments)
* Tradition - the two millennia history of the Christian Church
* Reason - rational thinking and sensible interpretation
* Experience - a Christian's personal and communal journey in Christ
Reply
Leave a comment