Subject: How can the Bible be "objective" truth |
Bible Note: Excellent points, Radioman! Present me with Psalm 23 in Hebrew and without telling me it is Psalm 23, ask me "What does this mean to you?" My answer, since I don't know Hebrew, would have to be "Nothing whatever; it means nothing to me." Now, does my answer of 'nothing' detract whatever from the inherent meaning of the Hebrew text? Certainly not! All it says is that I don't know Hebrew. It speaks only to my inability to extract meaning from that for which I am unprepared to understand. It is wise, I believe, to bear in mind that there is an element of "Hebrew" in what we read, even in English. That is to say that we all have our blind spots, our own peculiar ignorance of the exact meaning of words and ideas even when they are clothed in our native tongue. Thus to say 'this passage means so-and-so TO ME' may not be at all what the passage is actually saying. This constitues the best license I know of to avoid being so dogmatic on issues about which we may be afforded by our own biased and limited perception but a pale and distorted version of what the truth really is. --Hank |