Ask a Traditional Catholic

[Cato]

I'll accept undoctored video evidence of every second of your life and previous lives, to make it a little easier on you. It wouldn't cover telepathic contracts but it would be a start.

I understand the concept of taking one for the team, but isn't this a bit extreme? Seriously, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo was heinous enough, why sing up for this? You do understand that there'e not enough alcohol in the history of mankind to pull you through this, right?

[robvalue]

That's as maybe, but it's working! I've now got 70k from Christians who would rather pay up than admit this method of reasoning is invalid.

[Razzle]

Look at that Huggy!  You found an actual fact.   However, and this is my point, the medieval church included the unicorn in their bestiaries on the basis of that mistranslation.  It's only during more critical translations and readings during the Renaissance and later, that the unicorn was discarded.  Modern cirtical analysis shows the Bible to be anything but historically accurate or divinely inspired.   Why having accepted the unicorn mistranslation don't you apply your brain to the rest of the "holy" book?

It's not a mistraslation, it's a LATIN word not english. for instance the latin name for the Indian rhinoceros is "Rhinoceros Unicornis", there are other latin words found in the old testament e.g. "Lucifer".

Then why were unicorns, not rhinoceruses, depicted in Christian art? The Latin was clearly mistranslated into the English of the time.

[Cato]

That's as maybe, but it's working! I've now got 70k from Christians who would rather pay up than admit this method of reasoning is invalid.

Fucking hilarious. Imagine the coin Christ could spill if he got his mitts near this action.

[Longhorn]

Are you ignoring me, Randy?

I asked you a direct question and I'd appreciate an answer.

[Huggy Bear]

It's not a mistraslation, it's a LATIN word not english. for instance the latin name for the Indian rhinoceros is "Rhinoceros Unicornis", there are other latin words found in the old testament e.g. "Lucifer".

Then why were unicorns, not rhinoceruses, depicted in Christian art? The Latin was clearly mistranslated into the English of the time.

Why does the pope wear a Star-Trek hat.... *shrugs* who knows... To be honest I didn't realize unicorns were depicted in christian art. I would venture to guess that a medieval artist had no idea what a rhinoceros looked like.

[Razzle]

Then why were unicorns, not rhinoceruses, depicted in Christian art? The Latin was clearly mistranslated into the English of the time.

Why does the pope wear a Star-Trek hat.... *shrugs* who knows... To be honest I didn't realize unicorns were depicted in christian art. I would venture to guess that a medieval artist had no idea what a rhinoceros looked like.

That's right, they probably didn't know what a rhinoceros looked like. Even if they had done, they'd also have been wrong to translate it as "rhinoceros". My point is that due to ignorance, they interpreted the Latin "unicorn", translated from a Greek word meaning "one horn", to mean the mythological animal from India described by the Roman and Greek writers they were aware of. That's what the word "unicorn" meant in their minds. I would call that a mistranslation. There are many examples like this in the Bible, of a particular word being mistranslated from Latin or Greek into English for many years, and in turn being mistranslated for the non-English speaking people that were taught Christianity by English speakers. Most of these don't affect the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, and therefore most Christians (not all) are happy to accept that in those cases, the older translations and traditional interpretations were wrong. The bias comes in where those same Christians react highly dismissively to evidence that the doctrine of Mary's virginity also came about due to mistranslation.

[Huggy Bear]

Why does the pope wear a Star-Trek hat.... *shrugs* who knows... To be honest I didn't realize unicorns were depicted in christian art. I would venture to guess that a medieval artist had no idea what a rhinoceros looked like.

That's right, they probably didn't know what a rhinoceros looked like. Even if they had done, they'd also have been wrong to translate it as "rhinoceros". My point is that due to ignorance, they interpreted the Latin "unicorn", translated from a Greek word meaning "one horn", to mean the mythological animal from India described by the Roman and Greek writers they were aware of. That's what the word "unicorn" meant in their minds. I would call that a mistranslation. There are many examples like this in the Bible, of a particular word being mistranslated from Latin or Greek into English for many years, and in turn being mistranslated for the non-English speaking people that were taught Christianity by English speakers. Most of these don't affect the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, and therefore most Christians (not all) are happy to accept that in those cases, the older translations and traditional interpretations were wrong. The bias comes in where those same Christians react highly dismissively to evidence that the doctrine of Mary's virginity also came about due to mistranslation.

I wouldn't call it a mistranslation, English is just a nondescript language. For instance in Hebrew there are like four different words for "abomination" each for a different context, yet all four are translated into English as simply "abomination".

[Cato]

for instance the latin name for the Indian rhinoceros is "Rhinoceros Unicornis",...

This isn't accurate. Rhinoceros and unicornis are both latin words; however, Rhinoceros Unicornis is the scientific name for that species of rhinoceros.

Rhinoceros is the latin word for rhinoceros. I'm sure you'll find some way to be intellectually dishonest about this too.

[Jenny A]

To be honest I didn't realize unicorns were depicted in christian art. I would venture to guess that a medieval artist had no idea what a rhinoceros looked like.

It is always better to be honest. . .

But the Bestiaries were Christian works.  

A bestiary, or Bestiarum vocabulum is a compendium of beasts. Originating in the Ancient world, bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals, birds and even rocks. The natural history and illustration of each beast was usually accompanied by a moral lesson. This reflected the belief that the world itself was the Word of God, and that every living thing had its own special meaning. For example, the pelican, which was believed to tear open its breast to bring its young to life with its own blood, was a living representation of Jesus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestiary

And they almost invariably included unicorns. 

The unicorn is described variously as resembling a small goat, an ass, or a horse. It has a single horn in the middle of its head; the horn is usually depicted as straight and long, and often with a spiral groove running up it. The unicorn is fierce, strong and swift, and no hunter can catch it. To tame the beast so it can be captured, a virgin girl is placed in its path. The unicorn, seeing the maiden, comes to her and puts its head in her lap and falls asleep. The hunters can then easily capture or kill it. Some accounts say the girl must bare her breast and allow the unicorn to suckle. If the unicorn is captured, it is taken to the king's palace.

http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast140.htm

The moral or allegory was:

The unicorn signifies Christ, who was made incarnate in Mary's womb, was captured by the Jews, and was put to death. The unicorn's fierce wildness shows the inability of hell to hold Christ. The single horn represents the unity of God and Christ. The small size of the unicorn is a symbol of Christ's humility in becoming human.

It is nothing like the wild beast discribed in the OT.  The Hebrew does not really refer to unicorns.  Many Jewish Bible translations simply leave the Hebrew word untranslated because we don't actually know what animal, real or mythical it referred to. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articl...84-unicorn