[biblewonk]

Of course, making "your own" of a text without consulting its caretaker is kinda you guys's schtick.

The fact that words actually mean things allows us to read a document and take it at face value instead of going to some decoder ring(pope/church) that redefines everything that has just been said. It's not like the bible was written by Bill Clinton.

[SoothingDave]

The fact that words actually mean things allows us to read a document and take it at face value instead of going to some decoder ring(pope/church) that redefines everything that has just been said.

LOL. If only you did take it at face value. Instead you read your own bises into it, taking the overriding theme the author carefully contructs as a lens to understand the text, and discarding it because of your own prejudices against Catholics.

That's not taking the text at face value at all. That's deciding someone is saying something, no matter what he says, and discarding his attempt to add context as "disclaimer" that are not genuine.

No wonder you are so confused, if you think that is taking a text at face value.

SD