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>> “To be rigidly certain of an interpretation of something written thousands of years ago...” <<
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Those that speak of “interpretation” blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
The word of God tells us that it is to be read, not interpreted. The Holy Spirit (if he is with you) interprets as the word is read.
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Gotta agree again.
“Those that speak of “interpretation” blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
The word of God tells us that it is to be read, not interpreted. The Holy Spirit (if he is with you) interprets as the word is read.”
This is fundamentalism. It is an intellectual position shared by the Wahabbis - that scripture is divinely protected from alteration, and that every word is literally true. It is an act of faith, in defiance of easily demonstrable facts. It can lead to extreme conclusions, when logic and judgement are suspended, or deemed to be overridden by divine authority.
There are conflicts in scripture. There are varied versions. There are non-literal allegorical statements in scripture, like the parables told by Jesus. Translations between languages are less 100% accurate (Aramaic to Hebrew to Greek to Latin to English). There are timelines (like the flood) which don’t hold up to archeological evidence. Councils of people selected what was to be included and excluded. Meanings and usage change over time. If I were to note in my journal in 1970 that someone was cool, by 2570 a reader might think it miraculous that their body temperature was abnormally low.
You (anyone) must interpret words to comprehend their meaning. If you insist that you absolutely understand the scripture correctly, you are claiming to know God’s mind - quite a bit of hubris in that.
What if that bit about scripture is to be read, rather than interpreted, was added by a doctrinaire cleric hundreds of years after Christ, who was in tiff arguing with someone over meaning, and wanted to shut down debate? It is a circular argument to say that you must accept the absolute authority of a document, based on the document itself. So if that one element is not valid, than the whole fundamentalist approach to forming conclusions from scripture (AKA interpretation) would be without basis.
Ultimately, if your conclusions (interpretations) are not based sound judgement rooted in consistent morality, you can arrive at many harmful conlusions