Posted by rayww on January 8, 2003, at 15:01:35
I'm taking liberty here and quoting something that was written by noa on the Admin board. It is as follows:
"I like knowing about how other people think and why they believe what they believe, and how that differs or is similar to what I might believe, etc., so if the discussion stays on that level--people explaining how they feel, think, believe, without portraying it as the "Truth" and "Only Truth", then the discussion can be stimulating and interesting and friendly.
One thing that I believe people should look out for is stating events as history when they are accounts of events coming from religious texts, or from religious tradition. In this case, I think it would help if people cited where they are getting the account from, rather than just stating it, which can come across as being an attempt to portray their religion's view of history (lore, events, tradition) as the definitive historical account of something, when it is really a religious/traditional view of how things might have happened and why. Afterall, history can be seen from many perspectives.
So, I think a good solution is to cite the source of such historical accounts, ("according to...." or "in the book of ..... it says....." etc.) so we can place them in the context of the tradition that is relating them."
End of noa's quote
My thoughts:
Scripture can be read on three levels.
1: historical and literary
2: belief and understanding
3: follow and do
or:
1.Read it
2.Believe it
3.Do it
It is the reader who determines at which level to read. It's the same in a class. The teacher can teach on one level, but the learner is free to learn or listen at his own place.Once a person identifies where they're at, it is easier to understand why God teaches us bit by bit, precept by precept, here a little, there a little, gradually weaving truth and understanding into the fabric of our lives.
I may be at a read it level on one principle, while on another at a do it level. And again, during a visit to the Holy Land, purely a historical or literary.
I wish there was a cross-referencing system on the Internet of the religious texts from all religions, so we could better understand one another.
poster:rayww
thread:1538
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20021227/msgs/1538.html