(July 12, 2015 at 1:54 pm)Randy Carson Wrote:(July 12, 2015 at 1:41 pm)Redbeard The Pink Wrote: If we're just ignoring what the text says and extrapolating hidden meanings from it, then it's no different from other literature and should be held in no higher regard.[/color]
We're not ignoring what the text says, we're considering what the author intended to convey.
If I say, "It is raining cats and dogs.", what am I trying to convey? That there are a lot of dead animals out on the lawn or that it is raining heavily?
And if the scriptures are inspired by God, then it IS different from other literature and held in higher regard even if the literary forms used to convey God's message is indistinguishable from other literary works.
Authorship matters.
When "considering what the author intended to convey", one needs to know something of the author and if that something is what is contained within the author's literature, it is invalid per 'circular reasoning'. Without this validation, it is no more than fiction and all views can be just as valid with the exception of "It is true", unless all can agree unanimously.
You make people miserable and there's nothing they can do about it, just like god.
-- Homer Simpson
God has no place within these walls, just as facts have no place within organized religion.
-- Superintendent Chalmers
Science is like a blabbermouth who ruins a movie by telling you how it ends. There are some things we don't want to know. Important things.
-- Ned Flanders
Once something's been approved by the government, it's no longer immoral.
-- The Rev Lovejoy
-- Homer Simpson
God has no place within these walls, just as facts have no place within organized religion.
-- Superintendent Chalmers
Science is like a blabbermouth who ruins a movie by telling you how it ends. There are some things we don't want to know. Important things.
-- Ned Flanders
Once something's been approved by the government, it's no longer immoral.
-- The Rev Lovejoy
