by sabastious 132 Replies latest watchtower bible
SAB
Next time you reply use the Bible within inline quotes instead of just making stuff up. So often you just express your opinion as fact and completely ignore your own supposed source of knowledge. We had this same problem whenwe were discussing the snake in Genesis etc. When you do present a scripture, you cheat and completely change the meaning of words like our discussion in Revelation.
hey sab thanks for your advice
I find it quite helpful to think of posts here as having the power to take me to a place, a nexus, an intersection. I ask myself do I want to go to that place. If the answer is no then I refrain from going there. this helps me separate the place from the poster. This is vital for me as I don't really know what the poster's intentions are. I can guess at these, which I have done in the past, but I have found that people are much more complex than I can imagine.
Going back to your opening post - I really liked the literary techniques and methodology you were using to construct your thinking. I would go even further (I have been taught to go further and found I enjoyed this) and look for the antithetical themes in texts. In doing this with the bible it is still possible to maintain faith - indeed it could strenthen faith if that is what you want.
these points I particularly liked
| What the Bible is at it's core is scientific art. The word art is very important because being such demands the reader take as many angles as necessary to digest the material. It's a book written by the people and for the people. An ancient mostly secret bill of human rights. I invite you to take a look at this peice of art by an artist named John Pitre: |
| To understand this picture you must take a good long look at it. You will first come up with some possible situations, motivations and intentions and they will likely evolve over time. There is a good chance you might understand exactly what the artist was trying to express without reading his words about it. However, if you sat and had some tea with him he would not be opposed to a personal interpretation from someone who had nothing to do with it's creation process. Such is with the Bible and it's writers. Many people for thousands of years have provided verbal or written commentary to it's words. What we see today in modern Bible's is a thoroughly combed desert. The book did not even have chapters and verses when they were written down. The books were created to be like huge paintings that would take years to understand. This was likely because they became products and a competitive market arose. This is why the stories are so epic and have twists and turns. It reminds me of a scene in a movie: |
I don't know much about John Petrie but that picture is amazing. It seems to depict an upward struggle on a shaky and perilous support system which also has the man and rider strung to it. fear in the horse's eyes and stance is so palpable but the man seems very courageous as he extends himself fully.
