Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Reading the Bible
I always hear friends and family discuss their faith, and how they dont have to go to church or read the bible to have faith, or I hear the opposite about how they go every sunday and even weekdays and are very educated in scripture. So its kind of funny to hear that due to the difficulty of interpreting the bible, the Church did not want common people to read the bible because it would lead to error. I wonder how the church knew that St. Jerome had it correct, was this person not biased and put everything as it should be in the bible or did this person put what he thinks should be in the bible. Very complicated, but I guess if you have something you believe in and to a certain degree and you have the power to make the rules, you'll do whatever i takes to protect that belief.
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I had some of those same thoughts. Not to say that St. Jerome was bad person or was out to leave the people in the dark. But any translation is doomed to have errors simply because every language has words or phrases that do not translate completely or clearly. Not to mention those reading it. How many of us have misread a letter because when we read something we take it in based on our own book learning and/or life's experiences. Without being about to read it on our own and then discuss it with other people to get further insight, we are all doomed to misinterpret even simple things. So to be religious or politically lead by only a few privileged was an open invitation to reform.
This weeks reading shows us that, beliefs, again whether political or religious, are a personal thing. And while it is necessary for some to be outwardly active in their worship, others can worship privately and be just as inspired and devoted. What thought moves one person to action does not necessarily move another, which all leads back to weeks reading and the varied reaction by commoners and nobility to the religious reforms.
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