Anyone can read the Bible. - Really?

Pineal said:
This kind of gloating has always struck me as fitting very poorly with the spirit of the teachings of Jesus. Though since I am no longer a Christian at least some members of the thread would say I cannot accurately weigh in. And I will certainly admit there is no specific biblical injunction.

The closest might be...


But perhaps you like people gloating when they think you are missing out.
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Gloat all you want, because I will by flying high singing that ol song.
 
Arioch said:
@Knowledge --

I didn't fall, I was liberated by my lack of faith.
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You learned that you were doing okay, but you can't fly unless you leap. Tell me this, you. Say I were to take you to the glory that is the face of God, what would you say then.
 
Hey, I'm not the one who created everything, and I just happen to think that people should take responsibility for their mistakes. He fucked up, demonstrably so(just look at our anatomy), and so he should answer for this.
 
Signal said:
Ah, literary scholars don't count!
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Oh, well, historians, social scientists, biologists...I know this was a player response, but I realized someone might think it was an exception. Most academics seem to be allowed to study what they love even if it would be gauche to put it in those terms, certainly in print.
 
Knowledge91 said:
Gloat all you want, because I will by flying high singing that ol song.
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I was talking about you gloating over what you expect to be the future missing out of Arioch. I ain't gloating. What do you think? Do you think it is Christian or Christlike or aligned with the spirit of love as presented by Jesus to gloat over what non-believers will experience after death?
 
Signal said:
Instead, it is believed that a person must first have particular qualifications (such as humility), before they can hope to understand scriptures.
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Who can say who can read the Bible?
If you give a list of criteria around expertise, including spiritual expertise or 'fitness', there still may be someone who fits the criteria but interprets important portions of the
Bible differently.

So it seems to me that either it is everyone or "only those who agree with my interpretations". If it is some other kind of criterion, and this results in a set of people including individuals who disagree over important points in the Bible, then one must accept that qualified readers will arrive at different conclusions. Some Christians and Jews can tolerate this, and these people could have a checklist of qualities like humility, studied the Bible under a scholar who has qualities X, understands the relevent languages to Y degree and so on. Those who cannot tolerate this cannot really have a checklist of personal qualities, but rather must focus on beliefs.

Now one trick they can pull is to say, basically, i
'if you disagree over doctrine with me, you are not __________' (humble, etc.) But you can only determine this personal quality failing by checking their interpretations.
 
Arioch said:
Hey, I'm not the one who created everything, and I just happen to think that people should take responsibility for their mistakes. He fucked up, demonstrably so(just look at our anatomy), and so he should answer for this.
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Question me, then. I will answer for Him as best as I can. You see, God will not here from you for you have no faith. Question me, I am a man. If I comitt folly then he will surly say so. If I am not fit to speak for You, strike me down.
 
God says you should shut up.
He's not interested in either striking you down OR you spouting inane unsupported drivel.
 
Pineal said:
I was talking about you gloating over what you expect to be the future missing out of Arioch. I ain't gloating. What do you think? Do you think it is Christian or Christlike or aligned with the spirit of love as presented by Jesus to gloat over what non-believers will experience after death?
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No but I will. For ever I have screamed from the mountain FAAAAIIIIIITTTTTTHHHHHHH, now in the ends times are dire. Im going to be mean. Do you believe in God?
 
Knowledge91 said:
God says, bow your head, you, and take heed to my words or you will surly die.
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Wrong again.
God says I'm not going to die happy, not surly. But he will give me a goldfish if I eat my greens.
 
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Signal said:
But in some religious circles, this assumption is not considered appropriate. Instead, it is believed that a person must first have particular qualifications (such as humility), before they can hope to understand scriptures.
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That's a logical fallacy: Argumentum ad Verecundiam (Appeal to Authority). ANYONE can make an argument. It's the argument that's in question, not the person who proposed it.
 
Pineal said:
Oh, well, historians, social scientists, biologists...I know this was a player response, but I realized someone might think it was an exception. Most academics seem to be allowed to study what they love even if it would be gauche to put it in those terms, certainly in print.
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It was a joke that can go both ways.
Literary scholars indeed do not count - the hours they spend with a beloved text. :eek:
 
Michael said:
That's a logical fallacy: Argumentum ad Verecundiam (Appeal to Authority). ANYONE can make an argument. It's the argument that's in question, not the person who proposed it.
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No, in the case of religious knowledge, the personal qualifications of the person making an argument, do matter. This is because of the topic of religious knowledge (ie. what the true self is and how it relates to God and everyone and everything else).
 
Pineal said:
Who can say who can read the Bible?
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My thread is more introspection-directed, actually.
Hence the OP question:

On the grounds of what do some people think they can read scriptures and evaluate them?
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To me, it doesn't go without saying that I can sit down with a book of scripture and think I can have a meaningful reading experience - and this due to my own possible failings and lack of qualities.
 
Signal said:
No, in the case of religious knowledge, the personal qualifications of the person making an argument, do matter. This is because of the topic of religious knowledge (ie. what the true self is and how it relates to God and everyone and everything else).
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You're going to have to qualify "Religious Knowledge" and how this differs from all other forms of "Knowledge".
 
@Michael --

One exists and the other doesn't. That's about the only difference that I can think of.
 
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