coatta@cs.ubc.ca (Terry Coatta) (12/07/89)
Dave Mielke writes: > I would like to suggest a slight rewording of this as none of us dare > trust his own mind when it comes to knowing what exactly is true... > We should always test everything that we are told, and even > everything that we come up with in our own minds, by checking to see if > it is consistent with what God has told us in the Bible. This type of argument appears to contain the implicit assumption that our minds are not involved in the process of reading and interpreting scripture. I am forced to assume this since the first sentence warns me not to trust my mind while the second suggests that I may securely refer to scripture in order to verify that my mind has not been deceived. Clearly, it is possible for God to directly place the meaning of scripture in our minds, but it seems to me to render scripture somewhat pointless. Why not have done with it, and simply place the appropriate meaning in our mind? Further, I see Dave's postings making scriptural arguments for this or that position and I am lead to wonder: Why bother? The arguments will not affect anyone's understanding of scripture, as only God can place its meaning directly in our mind, and once that meaning is there, what need have we of the arguments. Terry Coatta Dept. of Computer Science, UBC, Vancouver BC, Canada coatta@cs.ubc.ca `What I lack in intelligence, I more than compensate for with stupidity'