TE links

[Vance]

I would agree regarding the relying on any "gut" feeling, and this would also apply to any personal belief that a Scripture "clearly" or "obviously" says something. My reaction to Genesis is that it clearly and obviously is speaking to us non-literally, I get no feel of actual historicity at all. But I would not use that feeling as a conclusive basis for interpretation. It should be based on:

1. The cultural and historical analysis of writings from that time.
2. The theological implications of the various possible interpretations.
3. The impact of any external evidence which could give us some additional clues.
4. Most importantly, the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

 

[gluadys]

In this case my answer would be no. Even though there may be some "apparent" minor discrepencies between the orthodox translations, I find the essence of the message is conveyed intact more often than not. What I feel is most likely to influence a bias (including that of my own) is reliance upon commentaries to accept the meaning of a passage. While helpful, it seems unwise to favor one or the other to the exclusion of all else. The second pitfall and perhaps the most difficult one to manage or decipher is the "gut feeling" that something may or may not be right about a certain passage. Overreliance upon one's own understanding of what God should be saying based on one's own limited view of His plan and righteousness, seems to cloud the spiritual eyes from fully accepting what the Holy Spirit reveals to the reader. This does not preclude using some common sense in application of interpretation, but as I mentioned can become a stumbling block for many.

Thanks. Just checking since we do see that from some posters. I agree with all this, and also with Vance's post.

 

[theotherguy]

Ta for the links. Will read them at some stage. I don't know a word of hebrew or ancient Greek and I don't intend to start learning any time soon. As far as I'm concerned, a translation that is generally well regarded by people who know about this kind of thing, is good enough for me.