(March 31, 2023 at 11:06 am)Ferrocyanide Wrote: What method do you and the various christian sects use to solve the textual ambiguities?
And if you have solved the textual ambiguities, then why haven’t you rewritten the Bible without those textual ambiguities?
The thread started by pointing out a possible contradiction regarding the age of Lamech. My take was basically, "whatever", because the OP approaches the text from a modern scientific worldview that would have been foreign to the people who wrote the OT, i.e. ancient scribes using ancient literary conventions. The ancient writers made reference to pre-Copernican cosmology (Job 38, for example). They crafted historical narratives to reveal the character of their subjects, not to present precise timelines (the Gospels are like that). They adapted the stories of adjacent cultures to make unique theological points (Gen. 1) and referenced popular works that did not make it into the canon (1 Jude). And with respect to the OP, they used numbers both quantitatively and qualitatively. To me, it is either misguided or disingenuous to criticize the bible for not being a science book or because it doesn't give perfect chronological accounts.
If someone says he or she loves another "with all my heart", we know what they mean even if it is not scientifically accurate. So for example, the point being made in Job 38 is not that God created a crystal dome supported by solid pillars; but rather, that YHVH God is the creator, not Baal, not Marduk, . We do not need God to tell us about cosmology because he gave us eyes and brains to figure that out ourselves. This is NOT to say that the works are ONLY allegorical, symbolic, esoteric, or poetic because that would also be filtering the texts to explain away "problem texts".
Be all that as it may, the simple answer to your question, "What method do you and various Christian sects use to resolve textual ambiguities" the simple answer is everyone makes informed guesses. For example, there are reasonable cases to made for eternal punishment, annihilation, and universal salvation. IMHO each of these is allowable and each has its merits. But those decisions are based on looking at the primary sources to see where phases repeat or echo in different books, etc. Those differences are not IMHO justification for division within the fellowship.
(March 31, 2023 at 11:06 am)Ferrocyanide Wrote: I think that was part of my question a while back but you did not answer:
Is there an Adam and Eve? Were they in the Garden of Eden? Was there a talking snake? Was there a tree of knowledge of good and evil and a tree of life?
Yes, yes, no, maybe, maybe.
<insert profound quote here>
