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You mean inspiring men to write in a language that is one of the best-studied and best-attested in the world where we know every minute, excruciating detail about its grammar, phonology and lexicon? Mistranslations and misinterpretations aren't God's fault. They're the fault of inadequately trained and/or dishonest people trying to sell something.What was an all-knowing God's purpose in inspiring men to write the Bible in a language destined to become obsolete, mistranslated and misinterpreted?
What was an all-knowing God's purpose in inspiring men to write the Bible in a language destined to become obsolete, mistranslated and misinterpreted?
So, your explanation is the God inspired the Bible to be read and understood by a tiny group of experts?You mean inspiring men to write in a language that is one of the best-studied and best-attested in the world where we know every minute, excruciating detail about its grammar, phonology and lexicon?
What difference does it make whose fault it is? An all-knowing God would know that these misinterpretation would happen.Mistranslations and misinterpretations aren't God's fault. They're the fault of inadequately trained and/or dishonest people trying to sell something.
I don't understand that concept. Are you saying the meaning of the scripture changes? If so, what changes it?That's only true if we consider Scripture a dead document. Treated as a living document within time and culture these become less problematic.
Not just them. It's also read and understood in Church, the context in which the New Testament was originally written and the Old Testament understood in light of Christ, under the guidance of the bishops who are the successors of the Apostles.So, your explanation is the God inspired the Bible to be read and understood by a tiny group of experts?
Yes, so what's your point? Just because the priest's wife knew her kids were going to misbehave during coffee hour after Liturgy doesn't make it any less the kids' fault.What difference does it make whose fault it is? An all-knowing God would know that these misinterpretation would happen.
To give a written account of the things that God has done for us, so that we might have a guide in how to live a Christian life.What was God's purpose in inspiring the Bible? What did He expect to accomplish?
I gave it more than a full-second thought and it occurred to me that if that small group of experts you speak of truly understood the sacred texts, they would be teaching the same message and we wouldn't have more than 30,000 Protestant sects alone.You also assume that those who study the Bible make no effort to relay their understanding to the rest of the Church. A half-second of thought should have told you that that's obviously not the case.
If the priest's wife was an all-knowing god why would she leave her kids alone to misbehave during coffee hour? An all-knowing god would know that mistranslations and misinterpretations would happen.Yes, so what's your point? Just because the priest's wife knew her kids were going to misbehave during coffee hour after Liturgy doesn't make it any less the kids' fault.
How to live a Christian life? Please explain: Are you saying that God inspired the Bible as a moral guide?To give a written account of the things that God has done for us, so that we might have a guide in how to live a Christian life.
The reason that there are 30,000 Protestant sects (the vast majority of them arising in the US) is because of anti-intellectual fideism and Protestants deciding to split and form their own denominations over such matters as whether music should be used in worship, whether baptism regenerates the believer, or how many buttons a shirt should have. In other words, there are so many sects precisely because they reject what the experts have said about the Bible since the beginning of the Church.I gave it more than a full-second thought and it occurred to me that if that small group of experts you speak of truly understood the sacred texts, they would be teaching the same message and we wouldn't have more than 30,000 Protestant sects alone.
Yes, and you have yet to make any kind of point. All I can guess is that you're arguing that God should make us little puppets with no free will. He should just Matrix download knowledge into our brains. Is that you're trying to say?If the priest's wife was an all-knowing god why would she leave her kids alone to misbehave during coffee hour? An all-knowing god would know that mistranslations and misinterpretations would happen.
As a moral guide, as a witness to things that have happened, and as an aide to understanding the Gospel and the theology of the Church.How to live a Christian life? Please explain: Are you saying that God inspired the Bible as a moral guide?
I was referring to "Ancient Hebrew." However, it's my understanding that "Ancient Greek" is obsolete (no longer spoken) also.Greek? Obsolete? Okay.
Biblical Hebrew is studied by Jews and Christians the world over and is hardly obsolete, at least for them. Koine Greek is so similar to modern Greek that anyone who knows it can pretty much read and understand modern Greek (first hand experience!)I was referring to "Ancient Hebrew." However, it's my understanding that "Ancient Greek" is obsolete (no longer spoken) also.
While I grant that many of the 30,000 sects separated on trivial matters, I think you exaggerate the factor. For most of its long existence, the Roman Catholic Church claimed to be the only path to Heaven, for example.....In other words, there are so many sects precisely because they reject what the experts have said about the Bible since the beginning of the Church.
In recent years, there has been a better understanding between the churches but it was not always that way. And, if the Bible was interpreted correctly by that elite group of experts you claimed, Christians would not have killed and persecuted other Christians as they once did.If one compares the oldest Christian traditions--the Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, the Oriental Orthodox and the Assyrian Church of the East--one finds massive areas of agreement, and relatively few points of contention. For example, the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox have largely agreed that our disagreements were primarily cases of linguistic misunderstandings.
You have either missed the point or you have no answer for it.Yes, and you have yet to make any kind of point.
I think I made my point clearly. It's not that difficult to understand.All I can guess is that you're arguing that God should make us little puppets with no free will. He should just Matrix download knowledge into our brains. Is that you're trying to say?
Because Weird Al is not an all-knowing god.If Weird Al-Yankovic knew his single "Don't Download This Song" would become the most-pirated song of all time, why did he make the song? He should have known that people would download his song.
Because she's not an all-knowing god.If the mother knew her child was going to put his hand on the stove, why did she let him put his hand on the stove?
Because George was not an all-knowing god.If George Washington knew that people were going to form political parties, why did he just tell them to not make political parties instead of making political parties illegal?
My question is not about causality or responsibility. It's about whether inspiring the Bible in a human language that would become obsolete, mistranslated and misinterpreted would have been a smart thing to do or a dumb thing to do for an all-knowing god.This can go on and on and on and on. Foreknowledge does not necessitate causality or responsibility.
If an all-knowing, all-powerful god intended to give us a moral guide, we would have a simple, cross-cultural guide not dependent on human languages. We may have that in the intuitive feeling that we refer to as "conscience."As a moral guide, as a witness to things that have happened, and as an aide to understanding the Gospel and the theology of the Church.
Are you claiming that most Jews and most Christians are Hebrew scholars? I hope not because that's absurd.Biblical Hebrew is studied by Jews and Christians the world over and is hardly obsolete, at least for them.
Most people don't speak Welsh, even Welsh people, does that make it obsolete? Dutch? That's a pretty minority language. The fact is that the Bible is relevant to millions of people, therefore the languages in which it is written are still relevant.Are you claiming that most Jews and most Christians are Hebrew scholars? I hope not because that's absurd.
What was an all-knowing God's purpose in inspiring men to write the Bible in a language destined to become obsolete, mistranslated and misinterpreted?
Ancient Hebrew is obsolete. That's a fact. So, whether Welsh is obsolete or not is not a relevant question.Most people don't speak Welsh, even Welsh people, does that make it obsolete? Dutch? That's a pretty minority language. The fact is that the Bible is relevant to millions of people, therefore the languages in which it is written are still relevant.
If Shira couldn't make it clear to you, then I'm not going to bother trying the same words in a different order, honestly.Ancient Hebrew is obsolete. That's a fact. So, whether Welsh is obsolete or not is not a relevant question.
The claim is that God inspired the Bible to be written in Ancient Hebrew knowing that it would be mistranslated into other languages. Why does it matter that the mistranslated Bible is available in languages people understand?
My question is for Christians because it's their belief that I'm trying to make sense of.It sounds to me like your question is more for God than for Christians, but if I had to venture a less-than-omniscient guess, it would be because inspiring men to write the Bible in a language that had not yet been invented would have made it more likely to end up in the garbage than on the all-time best-seller list.
I think your problem and Shira's is that you have no answer for a fairly simple question.If Shira couldn't make it clear to you, then I'm not going to bother trying the same words in a different order, honestly.
I think your problem and Shira's is that you have no answer for a fairly simple question.