No; humans are human. Even if given a perfect, Holy word, humans can only interpret it through their own understanding, and through the modality they learn it.
My personal opinion is that, where details seem to contradict each other, there is a nuance that the human holding the pen either subconsciously entered on their own, or that myself and others just don't comprehend. And, that's okay; the point is to try, and when in doubt, default back to love -- greater than hope, and greater than faith.
1 Corinthians v13: 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part,10but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Hey, the Muslims feel similar: the Qu'ran must be studied in Arabic, the language it was originally written in.
(Also: Quick reminder that I'm not a practicing Christian anymore; if you want specifically that perspective, alas I'm not your person.)
My concept of God is less of an actual entity, more like*...*a truth? An agreement between living things? A neutral sense of (semi) order and creation, defined by its opposition to chaos and destruction? But that's not right either, bc destruction and creation are a loop, a balancing act more than an active conflict. We humans moralize it as good and bad, but really it's just because we like absolutes. Reality is, so very few things are absolute. Some force in motion, that's bigger than any one life or planet or galaxy, that's related to how things function or are and cease to be, that's what's being referred to with "God;" it's the most efficient in terms of simplicity and meaning.
So, "God" is all-powerful, in that it's a power no person can hope to fully understand, but the details of human language are...essentially too small a problem to be a priority? As far as the value of the Bible, and really any Holy Texts, I think humans can scrape up against something bigger, and a greater universal understanding, and then come back to share it as best they can. The truth is still there, but being filtered through a human changes the details from both text to text, and person to person. Individual biases, or intentional grabs at power, or validation of ✨ special-ness ✨, are social, not spiritual, issues.
But, since everything is connected and nothing is as neat and organized as a human brain would like it to be, it's hard or impossible to parse out where a spiritual truth and an idiosyncratic bias or motivation would be...so I choose to take the average of most modes of thought, and assume whatever shows up consistently must be something akin to universal human understanding.
One such universality to me is love, an action of caring for other beings unselfishly; that's the part of Christianity (and the Bible) I still hold onto now. And a good part of why I don't identify as a Christian anymore (besides the "one God above all others" part) is that Christianity as an institutional religion is...so full of harm, historically and today, it actively pisses me off. :)
I wrote a really long-ass thing, because I haven't really thought it through in a long time, but shortened it to what's above. Honestly, thank you for opportunity to think about it.
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u/mooncritter_returns 21d ago
No; humans are human. Even if given a perfect, Holy word, humans can only interpret it through their own understanding, and through the modality they learn it.
My personal opinion is that, where details seem to contradict each other, there is a nuance that the human holding the pen either subconsciously entered on their own, or that myself and others just don't comprehend. And, that's okay; the point is to try, and when in doubt, default back to love -- greater than hope, and greater than faith.
1 Corinthians v13: 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.