Posted by thor on July 14, 1998 at 23:17:48:
In Reply to: It's not as hopeless as you're describing. posted by blue on July 14, 1998 at 21:42:19:
I have never been a Mormon. The closest I've ever been to a group of Mormons was at the '84 Holiday Bowl.
: But interpreting the Bible is not as hopeless as you are making it out to be. It takes dedicated study similar to how one might study Shakespeare. You don't need an "intermediary," but it is enormously helpful to study the Bible with someone who already understands the Bible, like being taught math by a teacher. You could deduce arithmetic, but you sure learn faster after you've been taught.
: My main "angle" is that my beliefs need to come from the Bible. Beliefs such as Arminianism were invented by a man who then lifted verses of the Bible out of context to support his view. I think a similar trick has been played on Mormons, and they have the extra burden of "unlearning" what they have been taught before the beauty of the Scripture can be seen. A key is that if you see a "problem" in the Bible, which usually means you see an inconsistency, you have to do some serious study to see where Truth really lies. The more often you do this, the more you see the cohesiveness of the entire Bible.
: I think the key isn't that Mormons have been given a "bad list of facts to memorize." The problem is they don't look at the Bible as a whole, study it as a whole, and use the intellect they have obviously been given to form their own views based upon what Scripture reveals to them, not the facts someone taught them. I guess I am saying they need to learn the method, not the material. Do you get my meaning?
Your example is still logically suspect. The example you
give of studying shakespeare is relevant, and up to
a point correct. But let's be clear here. There will
be differences on areas of the bible that are not clear or are
ambiguous. as a result, differences of interpretation
will occur. Even with Sahkespear there are very large
debates...which academics base their careers on, on
how a passage is to be interpreted...
Are you not willing to admit that interpretation and
intuition are part of the process of reading the
bible? who decides which way it will be read?
thor