The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #142452   Message #3312972
Posted By: DMcG
24-Feb-12 - 06:57 PM
Thread Name: BS: Young Earth Creationism Eureka!
Subject: RE: BS: Young Earth Creationism Eureka!
which was written (put pen to paper) by men, but written by God because He gave them the words to write

Ok. Let's assume consider that a little. The words were written (in many cases) in an ancient form of Hebrew, which is distinct from modern Hebrew. The only way anyone now knows what it says, is because that's what their teachers said the words meant, and so on through teacher after teacher.   You can only learn ancient Hebrew in that fashion, based on what your tutors understand by those words. Then because of transcription errors and damage - why did God allow that to happen to his words? - you get the 'lion' effect, which I'm sure you remember that one from a few hundred posts ago? So even where the words were accurately written down, our ability to understand it is severely impaired, and where the text isn't accurate or is damaged there is much guesswork. Yes, there are specialist scholars. No, they can't achieve perfection.

If you doubt that - and I am sure you do! - you can see the same effect if you try to read some English from let's say 10th century: it isn't easy and there's a heck of a lot of guesswork for all kinds of reasons, including changes in the meanings of words.

ANY text, including this one, has to be interpreted by the reader: the idea that the meaning of any writer is perfectly captured by a series of sqiggles without the reader bringing their own interpretation as part of the transmission of the underlying idea is simplistic in the extreme.