Whom to trust..

[Corvus]

I have been brought up Roman Catholic. Formerly, this meant I shouldn't read the bible, and instead rely on priests to interpret it for me. My question is;

Do you think its best that laymen have so much access to the bible, instead of relying on professionals to interpret it?

The reason I feel that laymen shouldn't have access to the bible is because they're more likely to misinterpret the meaning of the words, or pay more attention to the wrong parts that have since become antiquated. Where a biblical scholar might understand the historical significance of a passage, a laymen won't.

[Dilettante]

I think the problem lies in believing (as many Protestants seem to believe) that you can read the Bible without footnotes. All is interpretation, and, as otseng wrote, there is nothing wrong with this (and it's inevitable anyway). As long as you know what kind of text you are reading, what the intended audience was, what genre it belongs to, and what the author's basic intention was, your interpretation won't be too far off the mark.
Literalism runs the risk of making the Bible a sort of paper-and-ink idol. You can fail to see the forest for the trees, and you can fail to grasp the spirit of a book if you are striving to follow the letter too closely.

[mrmufin]

This post is off topic, but intentionally so... because this is where I noticed that the "Posted" times in this thread seem curiously inconsistent. Is this just my session with the server?

For example, juber3's "Posted" time for the last message appears as "Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2004 9:45 am." Otseng's posted time for his last message in this thread appears as: Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2004 3:17 pm which, by all the clocks at the mufin residence, won't occur until another 34 hours and fifteen minutes.

Hmmmmm....

Regards,
mrmufin

[ENIGMA]

This post is off topic, but intentionally so... because this is where I noticed that the "Posted" times in this thread seem curiously inconsistent. Is this just my session with the server?

For example, juber3's "Posted" time for the last message appears as "Posted: Wed Apr 14, 2004 9:45 am." Otseng's posted time for his last message in this thread appears as: Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2004 3:17 pm which, by all the clocks at the mufin residence, won't occur until another 34 hours and fifteen minutes.

Hmmmmm....

Regards,
mrmufin

Dude, It's 2005. This discussion was apparently just built on top of a really old thread.

[mrmufin]

D'OH!

Dude, It's 2005. This discussion was apparently just built on top of a really old thread.

Thank you, ENIGMA, for pointing out my overt and off-topic dumbness. I'll spend the rest of this evening standing on a pedestal in my striped blazer, plaid trousers and paisely tie so that everyone can point and snicker and have a good laugh on me.

Regards,
mrmufin (who'll try harder in the future to not post anything until he's had his second cup of coffee and checks the calender)

[MagusYanam]

Thank you, ENIGMA, for pointing out my overt and off-topic dumbness. I'll spend the rest of this evening standing on a pedestal in my striped blazer, plaid trousers and paisely tie so that everyone can point and snicker and have a good laugh on me.

No, no need. Especially since according to your profile you're not scheduled to join this forum yet for another four months.

Seriously though, it's fine. I mean, who hasn't once in a while made a mistake as to what year it was? I know I have, especially around January 'cause I'm so used to writing '2004' or whatnot on papers and forms.

[unprofitable servant]

Do you think its best that laymen have so much access to the bible, instead of relying on professionals to interpret it?

I believe it is more dangerous in the hands of only a certain group or professionals. I believe that the bible being put in the hands of laymen was Gods way of keeping us from going totally away from the path in Christ.

When the Bible was in the hands of the professionals murder was done in the name of Christ because there were none to see that those men were wrong.

My wife says to me "The Bible is a very powerful book." Isn't there a saying "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely"

In the times of the dark ages those who interpreted the scripture exclusively got away with many things because the bible was only in the hands of a select few.

quote]I have been brought up Roman Catholic. Formerly, this meant I shouldn't read the bible, and instead rely on priests to interpret it for me.

So now you read the bible when you were trained not too. May I ask what made you change from relying on the priest to opening the bible and reading for yourself?

[Corvus]

quote]I have been brought up Roman Catholic. Formerly, this meant I shouldn't read the bible, and instead rely on priests to interpret it for me.

So now you read the bible when you were trained not too.

As far as I know, most catholics these days do read the bible, which is what I meant by "formerly". But it should be noted, though I was brought up catholic, I was not trained to do anything. My upbringing involved solely those Catholic rituals that have become so ingrained into Italian culture that their significance may largely be lost on those persons going through them. This is what happened to me.

May I ask what made you change from relying on the priest to opening the bible and reading for yourself?

Since I had never really relied on a priest initially, and I have never really been a Christian, I cannot answer this question. I do occasionally read the bible now, but I read it as a sequence of tales in a historical and cultural setting, usually with some kind of significant point to be expressed, though I believe something like Aesop's Fables is more appropriate for ethical and behavioural instruction, since it speaks to one from outside of cultural boundaries. Aesop is more universal, I would say. I do not believe the bible is history, since history is never quite so sententious.

[RevJP]

I believe it is more dangerous in the hands of only a certain group or professionals. I believe that the bible being put in the hands of laymen was Gods way of keeping us from going totally away from the path in Christ.

Good point.

It is interesting that Christ came and spoke to 'real' people. He pulled together a group of guys out of everyday life and trained them, he spoke to the multitudes-He didn't go to the priests and rulers and say "here is my message, disseminate it to your subjects..."

That is the case for the bible today, His word is in the hands of the people, not the puppet masters.