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Old 18-04-2012, 11:35 AM
LIFE
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mind's Eye
But aren't those who think they have an iron clad case against the Bible and how it should or should not be read giving in to their own absolutist beliefs?

Not really, and I'll tell you why? Making a absolute positive statement is radically different from making an absolute negative statement. Deductive (eliminative) reasoning is predicated on the formation of decisive statements of negation.

An absolute statement about the inerrancy, literality, and "divine inspiration" of a particular religious book cannot be made identical to absolute statements to the contrary.

Example: If I happen to find some really large animal tracks in the woods- something completely unknown and unlike anything I've ever seen- negative statements about the identity of that animal can be decisively made, while positive statements cannot. For instance, I will know beyond any doubt that those tracks were not formed by a sparrow walking along the ground, a snake slithering, etc. In other words, I cannot tell you what that animal IS, but I can tell you what it IS NOT.

Similarly, if there is a "God", then I cannot make an absolute concretist statement about what "God" is, but this does not mean I cannot make statements about what "God" is not, or cannot be, for that matter. The two should not be confused. The inability to make a positive statement does not preclude the ability to make a negative statement. They are not direeclty correlative in this way. (see: apophatic/negative theology, which can be found in all spiritual traditions).

For instance, we may not be able to agree on what or if "God" exists, but we can almost certainly agree that it is not a gigantic pink elephant that lives in the clouds. Am I right? We can probably safely deduct that.

In the same way, I don't know what God is (or more specifically, what is represented by the term "God") but I do know that it is not the tribal diety that is described in the bible, interpreted in an orthodox manner through a literal reading. That much can be decisively said, in my opinion.
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