Applying God's Word to Politics
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No no, the logic here, or lack thereof is that you can't comprehend that some languages don't have different meanings for a word depending on how it's used in context. Some languages have specific words and are not vague.
Also it's impossible for a gender neutral language like English to understand gender specific languages like Albanian or Italian.
Don't worry about these details major.
Also it's impossible for a gender neutral language like English to understand gender specific languages like Albanian or Italian.
Don't worry about these details major.
It was tough for me to learn Greek in my 3rd or 4th decade of English only. I will tell you a quick search in the Greek manuscripts shows different words for murder vs. kill and the Ex20 & Dt5 in the LXX both use the Greek normally translated as murder vs. kill. The Hebrew is too big a job for a tired brain.
I don't know Greek actually, despite being next door to them.
I know Italian but this highlights the differences in the culture we talked about earlier where two nations love and follow God but some things are molded according to their culture.
Another important point we need to highlight here is that besides translations which is a whole 'nother topic, is the point of trying to find verses which fit your ideology.
So the major over here, being an army guy, all gun-ho, is always looking for gun-ho lines.
Similarly the trans people look for verses to defend their ideology by pulling verses together to support them.
Both groups are wrong!
Take a look at this: https://freecomchurch.org/resources/transgender/biblical-support-for-transgender-identities/
When a casual observer looks at all that, they say "oh wow, this makes sense" which couldn't be farther from the truth!
This is what the major does too but i agree with him on many other things though.
I know Italian but this highlights the differences in the culture we talked about earlier where two nations love and follow God but some things are molded according to their culture.
Another important point we need to highlight here is that besides translations which is a whole 'nother topic, is the point of trying to find verses which fit your ideology.
So the major over here, being an army guy, all gun-ho, is always looking for gun-ho lines.
Similarly the trans people look for verses to defend their ideology by pulling verses together to support them.
Both groups are wrong!
Take a look at this: https://freecomchurch.org/resources/transgender/biblical-support-for-transgender-identities/
When a casual observer looks at all that, they say "oh wow, this makes sense" which couldn't be farther from the truth!
This is what the major does too but i agree with him on many other things though.
Cultures especially ancient ones are part of the translation and interpretation difficulties.
I recently listened to some series of lectures by secular (I believe) scholars of history around the beginning of the NC era and before. They also used the Bible for some of their research. I don't recall ever learning as much about the cultures of the time.
The first question I had for my Greek professor was what the problem is after 2,000 years. His answer was 'eisegesis.' The issue is just letting the Text say what it says - letting God speak for Himself - and accepting it. There of course is "harmonization" as @GWH speaks of. It is a lot of work as time has shown and searches around the globe are still going on for more information to help us.
I recently listened to some series of lectures by secular (I believe) scholars of history around the beginning of the NC era and before. They also used the Bible for some of their research. I don't recall ever learning as much about the cultures of the time.
The first question I had for my Greek professor was what the problem is after 2,000 years. His answer was 'eisegesis.' The issue is just letting the Text say what it says - letting God speak for Himself - and accepting it. There of course is "harmonization" as @GWH speaks of. It is a lot of work as time has shown and searches around the globe are still going on for more information to help us.
I have mentioned this before but "harmonization" in one part of the globe is seen as "odd" or even "offensive" in another part of the globe.
Because it would be impossible for me to translate one word in a language into another language without losing all the cultural meaning behind it.
An example i gave many months ago here is the name of a male child in Albanian.
Let's take the name "Ermal", which is a very common Albanian male name.
Word for word, it means "the smell of the mountain". What's the mountain smell like? Like the smell of pines with yellow flowers and running waters.
How can i translate this into English as the name of a male? It's impossible. The best i can do is translate it literally as "Ermal" or even give it a western name like "Edmond" to make it more comfortable for the English audience.
But if i translate it as "Edmond", the Albanian audience will be like "Bro, are you high? What's Edmond got to to with Ermal?"
This is why we have to be content with the major things in our faith and forgive and even joke about the rest.
The word "murder" doesn't exist in the Albanian language. It's "kill".
And it's "kill" because it's not supposed to express some sort of technicality to avoid you of guilt or responsibility.
No, you killed another guy, you took a human life. The lawyers will then do their job being lawyers but the moral implication is that you killed. You didn't "murder". There is no such thing in the culture.
Because it would be impossible for me to translate one word in a language into another language without losing all the cultural meaning behind it.
An example i gave many months ago here is the name of a male child in Albanian.
Let's take the name "Ermal", which is a very common Albanian male name.
Word for word, it means "the smell of the mountain". What's the mountain smell like? Like the smell of pines with yellow flowers and running waters.
How can i translate this into English as the name of a male? It's impossible. The best i can do is translate it literally as "Ermal" or even give it a western name like "Edmond" to make it more comfortable for the English audience.
But if i translate it as "Edmond", the Albanian audience will be like "Bro, are you high? What's Edmond got to to with Ermal?"
This is why we have to be content with the major things in our faith and forgive and even joke about the rest.
The word "murder" doesn't exist in the Albanian language. It's "kill".
And it's "kill" because it's not supposed to express some sort of technicality to avoid you of guilt or responsibility.
No, you killed another guy, you took a human life. The lawyers will then do their job being lawyers but the moral implication is that you killed. You didn't "murder". There is no such thing in the culture.
It sometimes can take a paragraph to translate a word in ancient Greek into English for clarity. The names issue in Hebrew is the same and a few times they get translations in the NC Writings.
Being content with the major things is relative though, because many have studied much more deeply, and that effort will continue.
Funny story, at least to me, I used to live in a place where chickens roamed freely everywhere. I could sit in one of my rooms while studying and see the young males - roosters - facing off in mock battle. At some point they'd launch at each other, basically do a chest bump, and walk away proudly as if they'd accomplished something. When I began looking at these forums all I could picture is that scene when reading many of the theological battles after having read for so many years the more educated doing the deeper exegetical battles.
Being content with the major things is relative though, because many have studied much more deeply, and that effort will continue.
Funny story, at least to me, I used to live in a place where chickens roamed freely everywhere. I could sit in one of my rooms while studying and see the young males - roosters - facing off in mock battle. At some point they'd launch at each other, basically do a chest bump, and walk away proudly as if they'd accomplished something. When I began looking at these forums all I could picture is that scene when reading many of the theological battles after having read for so many years the more educated doing the deeper exegetical battles.
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I guess the issue would be that the "killer's' lawyer will try to get him acquitted for some reason and that reason could in our language be the difference between killing and murder.
Must make it tough for Albanians to watch many American movies with many justified killings. But you must have the same concept. What would you call it?
Must make it tough for Albanians to watch many American movies with many justified killings. But you must have the same concept. What would you call it?
What? You want to force English concepts into other languages due to your army mentality?
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Yeah, that's in English bro.
What? You want to force English concepts into other languages due to your army mentality?
The person who killed will always have this "mark" in the culture as taking a human life, whether he's acquitted or not.
What? You want to force English concepts into other languages due to your army mentality?
The person who killed will always have this "mark" in the culture as taking a human life, whether he's acquitted or not.
Bro, they don't deny the difference but the word "murder" doesn't exist. It's "kill" and only "kill".
They're not going to say "we were saved from being murdered by a gun-welding psychopath when the hero from the police station arrived and saved us when he killed the murderer"
What they're going to say is: "We were saved from being killed by a gun-welding psychopath when the hero from the police station arrived and saved us by killing the killer".