Subject: Re: Music, religion, etc.
AntiUtopia@aol.com
Date: Tue Jan 18 2000 - 07:29:11 EST
In a message dated 1/17/00 10:42:26 PM Eastern Standard Time,
jjv@caesun.msd.ray.com writes:
<< Now, if you wanted to make an internal claim about the bible, one that
can be verified withing the bible, that would be worth talking about
(kinda like verifying if the USS Enterprise Spaceship has 3 transport pads
by looking at the blueprints) I can enterain that. But if you want to
make external claims, I'll have no part of that.
If you want to talk about what we talk about when we talk about
religion that would be fun too. We could investigate the different types
of arguments waged by each side and what they're really trying to say.
-jay
>>
Like I said, you're closed to even the possibility :) Too bad your universe
is so small. What is "proof" purely depends on what you're open to. If you
were open to proof, it may present itself. You never know :).
Your statements about God reveal a very shallow understanding of Christology,
but that's ok. You need to know, though, how little you know.
I would say the only way to examine some of the internal claims of the
Gospels would be to compare them to semitic and hellenist myth accounts, and
then compare them to contemporary historical accounts (contemporary for first
century AD). I think I would be arguing that the writers were largely using
the conventions of historical accounts (the opening of John 1 would be the
main exception), and affirm from this that the writers themselves believed
they were writing history, and expected their audience to read them the same
way.
>From here I would argue to the external. I would say that there's a real
problem in denying the historicity in that the ethical system presented is
unrivaled in western thought, and that the type of people that would
consciously record a false history (liars) or unconsciously (stupid and
superstitious) seems an odd context for such an elevated moral teaching.
But none of this would be conclusive -- at best it would demonstrate that
there is a reasonable argument to be made on both sides. Which one you chose
would be more a matter of personal choice than a really reasoned decision.
Jim
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