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Originally Posted by NeitherFirstnorLast
Mike, on this I will agree that we all read the Word with some interpretation - HOWEVER: The point I was making was that the Orthodox church frowns upon the personal ownership of Bibles, because (I understand) their belief is that only a member of their Clergy has the authority to interpret the Word. That's VERY different from what you're talking about.
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Oh, I understand the point quite well. And it is well made.
And at some level, we always are accepting someone's interpretation, even when we try to avoid it. We are influenced by certain people more than others. We tend to flock with our own "birds."
But when we completely relinquish the right to even question how they came to a particular conclusion, or to even question the validity of assumptions used in getting there, then we have a problem.
And Houston, we have a problem. Some groups more than others.
And on the other hand, you should hear some of the things my son told me he heard in seminary. These are all honorable men and women who diligently teach theology to the students. And all are proponents of people having and using the Bible. But they also will admit that one of the most troublesome problems today is the Bible being generally available to everybody. The number of ways we can go wrong reading it is exponentially multiplied since the printing press and broader literacy.
So, at some level, ceding some of our autonomy to those who truly study and labor in the word is probably a good thing. And it is no small thing to try to discern what kinds of people is it reasonable to cede it to. But unless we are going to become full-time Bible scholars on our own, we need teachers that we can trust.
But what I suggest is reasonable and even consistent with the notion of there being teachers of the Word, I agree that having a population that is completely relying on you for any knowledge is a scary thing. And there was t time when much of the population had no choice in the matter. But we do have a choice. And we should choose to be active participants in the process, not just dormant followers.