| re Note 628.1 by JUPITR::MNELSON:
> Chesterton made the following comment (paraphrased) when someone told
> him that Christianity didn't work, "It's not that Christianity doesn't
> work, heck, it hasn't even been TRIED!"
Yes, but (to play the devil's advocate a bit) isn't that just
one more reason to throw out the Bible: it is ineffective?
After all, it is the most widely distributed (and read) book,
it has been studied to great depths for thousands of years,
it has been quoted and preached to millions of people.
If, after all that, it still is true that "it hasn't even
been TRIED!" then it is clear that the Bible is hopelessly
ineffective, and there is no sane reason to believe that it
will be "tried" in the future.
Civilization should move on to the next solution to all of
the world's problems! :-}
Bob
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|
RE: .7
Hi Collis,
>research indicates that the current version of the Old
>and New Testament that we have in Hebrew (and Aramic)
>and Greek are extremely close to the originals, :-)
Even if that were true, the main problem lies in translating them
from those languages into English and other modern languages,
where much is lost. All you have to do is look at the different
Bibles in existence today, all of the "bibles of humanity" don't
agree with each other and they are always fighting each other.
Even if the translation were as close as humanly possible to the
originals, many of the stories in the Bible were not meant to be
interpreted literally, and there lies another problem.
Here is an example taken from "The Mystery Teaching of the Bible"
by Daisy E. Grove.
"one can only take from any book according to what one is able to
bring to it. If the reader is not illumined, and possesses no
knowledge of the very involved and ingenious system of symbolism
employed, the real Bible must remain a closed book. Its truths are
written large, but he who reads according to the letter will only
see but the highly coloured script.
He will read of marriages and adulteries, of battles, conquests and
captivities, of long journeyings and strange adventures, a picture
language indeed, telling of spiritual realities which, to the
uninstructed, are obscured by the very imagery through which they
are intended to be conveyed.
We ourselves are the actors in this tremendous drama and these
ancient stories, rightly understood, depict states of consciousness,
modes of progression and phases of spiritual experience common to us
all. There are various figures in Biblical story by which the chief
actors in the drama of the soul are depicted. The most easily
recognized is that of the Woman, a symbol which persists throughout
the Bible.
Her sufferings allude to the sorrow of the soul realizing its state
of separation from its spiritual source, banished as it is from its
true home. Her adulteries (a constant figure of speech for her
worship of false gods) denote the soiling or contamination of the
soul through its unfaithfulness to the Divine Lover, by giving itself
in worship to anything less than the highest.
Her lawful marriage is the union of soul with Spirit, her bringing
forth of children is the expression through her of the Divine. At the
very outset we find the woman soul depicted as Eve. The name means
"breath" or "life", and its association with Adam ("read earth") is
an obvious allusion to the relation of soul and body, spirit and
matter, life and form.
The consequent curse of Eve is the bondage of the soul within the
limitations of matter. She is made subject to the "man" (physical
conditions). The labor and pain of childbirth denote the spiritual
stress under which all good will be brought forth. To her in her
degradation, however, comes the promise of ultimate victory, for she
is destined to bring forth that "seed" (spiritual life) which shall
"crush the head of the serpent" and so bring about the final
destruction of evil.
The symbol of the serpent in the story is indicative of the urge of
the human principle to seek that wisdom through experience, and to
begin its pilgrimage through form. The urge is the result of the
newly acquired duality of will and intellect, and it is to be noted
that it is the will which, urged on by this acquisitive force,
determines the action or direction of the intellect.
The tree, which in the English translation is located in the center
of the garden, is, in the Hebrew, located in the bottom of the
garden; and Eve states that she is not allowed to "dive" to it.
This is a very plain indication that the wisdom is only to be gained
by a "descent" into a "more" material state, a lower sphere of
activity. The word translated as "ye shall die" is "themutthoun"
and is identical in meaning with the English word "transmute", which
it suggests. It indicates merely a change to a lower state of being.
. . . . . . .
From Rahab in direct descent we come to Mary, the Virgin Mother.
Here we find the soul presented again as woman, but advanced by many
stages. No longer rebellious, as Eve, no longer suffering shame and
degradation, but dedicated, conscious of its lofty mission and joyfuly
cooperating in the divine plan.
The name Mary is derived from the Hebrew MAR, "bitter" or "the sea".
Here we observe at once the connection of Mary with water, a constant
symbol of the soul. For the human soul has a dual aspect, it faces
two ways. On the one side it is attracted to matter through the
senses; this is the passional desire element in man, that which
imprisons and keeps him subject to the limitations of matter, that
which drags him down.
But on the other side the soul aspires to higher realms of being,
it feels the upward pull of the spirit, it is attracted towards the
high and holy things, seeking to escape from the bondage of the flesh
and to be restored to a heavenly state. Thus it is ever in strife,
drawn first one and then the other, alternating between good and evil,
desiring both. This is "bitterness", its curse."
Juan
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| Strangely enough, I find myself in aggreement with Collis, Jill and
Alfred on this one, although for an entirely different reason.
Any document/authority can be used as a justification for someone's
actions, thereby relieving the actor of any personal responsibility for
said actions. Certainly the Bible has been used in such a way, but so
have Plato's _Republic_, _Mein Kampf_, the story of Cinderella, etc,
etc. My point is that if someone is not willing to take personal
responsibility for his or her actions, they're bound to find
*something* on whichto place the blame or justify their actions.
Nanci
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