Jim Cobabe wrote:
> Not really anything new here. Just more evil detractors continuing the > attempt to dilute and de-emphasise sacred doctrines of the Church, so > that it becomes indistinguishable from other corrupt sects. It is Not to disagree with you in principle, but just to pick a nit: it's the "so-called intellectual" crowd, and I quote Pres. Packer on this deliberately, for there are people -- and I count myself amongst them -- who are quite able to accept the details of secular history but put them into their proper perspective and not miss the forest for the trees. We have a cultural problem here, and this time it is not US vs. everyone else, as I suspect some here see my worldview as bifurcating ;-) but rather a modern west liberal democratic intellectual tradition which is neo-hellenistic, versus sacred history, which is semitic in nature. The neo-hellenistic approach is analytical, which means to tease apart concepts for their constituent meanings, whereas what I call the semitic approach is synthetic, which means to see out of the parts a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. Some of us appreciate art, so to speak, and others specialize in jig-saw puzzles. The so-called New Mormon historians are jig-saw puzzle addicts. I prefer art, myself. > > becoming quite respectable in the intellectual crowd to maintain that > the Book of Mormon has origins in the 19th century, was somehow composed > and fabricated by Joseph Smith, and is not the historical record it > claims to be. This particular school of self-appointed apologists argue > that it doesn't make any difference to their religious understanding, > since, like the Bible, the story is simply figurative. > "Simply figurate" is not really their error, in my opinion. There are meanings in scripture which are difficult to get at which transcend a literalistic reading. Ironically, that is what the new historians do: they read a sacred history as if it were a secular history, and in doing so they destroy the thing they profess to study. > [and again, I emphasize, I am not arguing your point; I am trying to bolster it and to enlarge upon it] -- Marc A. Schindler Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland “Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time he will pick himself up and continue on” – Winston Churchill Note: This communication represents the informal personal views of the author solely; its contents do not necessarily reflect those of the author’s employer, nor those of any organization with which the author may be associated. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ==^^=============================================================== This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aaP9AU.bWix1n.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^^===============================================================
