Subjective or Objective Truth on a deserted island

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Angainor

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Wilson is stranded on a deserted island. He has never heard of Christ, Christianity, or the Pope.

A New American Standard Bible washes ashore. He opens the Bible to John 3:16. Wilson interprets this passage.

This is the sum total (no more, no less) of Wilson’s interpretation of John 3:16:For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Is Wilson’s interpretation:
 
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Angainor:
Wilson is stranded on a deserted island. He has never heard of Christ, Christianity, or the Pope.

A New American Standard Bible washes ashore. He opens the Bible to John 3:16. Wilson interprets this passage.

This is the sum total (no more, no less) of Wilson’s interpretation of John 3:16:For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Is Wilson’s interpretation:
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How old was Wilson when he was stranded there? With a name like Wilson it is unlikley that he would not have heard of Christianity!
 
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Angainor:
Wilson is stranded on a deserted island. He has never heard of Christ, Christianity, or the Pope.

A New American Standard Bible washes ashore. He opens the Bible to John 3:16. Wilson interprets this passage.

This is the sum total (no more, no less) of Wilson’s interpretation of John 3:16:For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Is Wilson’s interpretation:
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This is bogus, your assuming Wilson is Protestant. Nobody who has never heard of the Bible is going to pick a random “verse” as if a verse means anything to them, rather he would read long sections and form a conclusion.
 
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Angainor:
Wilson is stranded on a deserted island. He has never heard of Christ, Christianity, or the Pope.

A New American Standard Bible washes ashore. He opens the Bible to John 3:16. Wilson interprets this passage.

This is the sum total (no more, no less) of Wilson’s interpretation of John 3:16:For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Is Wilson’s interpretation:
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I would say that Wilson is a poor or lazy or ignorant interpreter, because he isn’t interpreting–he’s reading this in isolation without context or background. Any rational being, even with Wilson’s remarkably impoverished educational background would not leave it at that but immediately would start asking questions: Who, or what do we mean by God? Who was this “only begotten son”? What does it mean by “begotten” What does it mean by “believe”?
 
Having not heard of Christ or Christianity he’d probably use the pages to start cooking fires. If he did read it and start believing it he would no doubt end up adopting a hundred ancient and modern heresies as his very own, for that is the inevitable fate of those who try and understand scripture outside the light of the Church.
 
Catholic Dude:
This is bogus, your assuming Wilson is Protestant. Nobody who has never heard of the Bible is going to pick a random “verse” as if a verse means anything to them, rather he would read long sections and form a conclusion.
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We can assume he will begin the process of reading long sections of the Bible to gain a more complete understanding.

In the meantime, Wilson has interpreted John 3:16 to mean:
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
 
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VociMike:
If he did read it and start believing it he would no doubt end up adopting a hundred ancient and modern heresies as his very own, for that is the inevitable fate of those who try and understand scripture outside the light of the Church.
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Maybe sometime in the future he will, who knows?

In the meantime, Wilson has interpreted John 3:16 to mean (no more, no less): For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Is this interpretation Subjective Truth, Objective Truth, or False?
 
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thistle:
With a name like Wilson it is unlikley that he would not have heard of Christianity!
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Wasn’t Wilson the name of the volleyball on that Tom Hanks movie about being stranded on a desert island?
 
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Fidelis:
I would say that Wilson is a poor or lazy or ignorant interpreter, because he isn’t interpreting–he’s reading this in isolation without context or background. Any rational being, even with Wilson’s remarkably impoverished educational background would not leave it at that but immediately would start asking questions: Who, or what do we mean by God? Who was this “only begotten son”? What does it mean by “begotten” What does it mean by “believe”?
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No doubt he would start asking more questions.

But before he begins, Wilson has interpreted John 3:16 to mean (no more, no less):
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Is this interpretation Subjective Truth, Objective Truth, or False?
 
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VociMike:
Having not heard of Christ or Christianity he’d probably use the pages to start cooking fires. If he did read it and start believing it he would no doubt end up adopting a hundred ancient and modern heresies as his very own, for that is the inevitable fate of those who try and understand scripture outside the light of the Church.
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:rotfl:
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Eden:
Wasn’t Wilson the name of the volleyball on that Tom Hanks movie about being stranded on a desert island?
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:rotfl:
 
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Angainor:
Maybe sometime in the future he will, who knows.

In the meantime, Wilson has interpreted John 3:16 to mean (no more, no less):
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Is this interpretation Subjective Truth, Objective Truth, or False?
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Most certainly false. He undoubtedly would think it means he will live forever the human life he has now, with the human body he has now, on the planet earth. He probably has no idea what “God” even means. He certainly doesn’t know what “believes in Him” means.
 
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Angainor:
We can assume he will begin the process of reading long sections of the Bible to gain a more complete understanding.

In the meantime, Wilson has interpreted John 3:16 to mean:For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
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What do you mean “Wilson has interpreted John 3:16 to mean ___” Wilson has done nothing more than cite the passage he has given NO interpretation.
 
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Angainor:
Maybe sometime in the future he will, who knows?

In the meantime, Wilson has interpreted John 3:16 to mean (no more, no less):For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Is this interpretation Subjective Truth, Objective Truth, or False?
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At this point Wilson would have to ask himself… what does belief entail? From finishing the very same chapter he might get some glimpses in his search:
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him.
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Which ties in belief with obedience to God. At this point he would need to scan the totality of Scripture to see best what it is to be obedient to God.
 
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VociMike:
Most certainly false.
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For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Is False??? Most certainly???
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VociMike:
He undoubtedly would think it means he will live forever the human life he has now, with the human body he has now, on the planet earth. He probably has no idea what “God” even means. He certainly doesn’t know what “believes in Him” means.
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You are putting thoughts into his head. I said he interpreted John 3:16 to mean (no more, no less):

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
 
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RobNY:
At this point Wilson would have to ask himself… what does belief entail? From finishing the very same chapter he might get some glimpses in his search:

Which ties in belief with obedience to God. At this point he would need to scan the totality of Scripture to see best what it is to be obedient to God.
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Sure, at this point Wilson could start asking himself lots of things.

But before that,

Wilson has interpreted John 3:16 to mean (no more, no less):
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Is this interpretation Subjective Truth, Objective Truth, or False?
 
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Angainor:
Sure, at this point Wilson could start asking himself lots of things.

But before that,

Wilson has interpreted John 3:16 to mean (no more, no less): For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Is this interpretation Subjective Truth, Objective Truth, or False?
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I see no interpretation, I see merely a regurgitation of the text. Perhaps we can see what Wilson thinks it means, in his own words?
 
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Angainor:
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Is False??? Most certainly???You are putting thoughts into his head. I said he interpreted John 3:16 to mean (no more, no less):

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
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That’s pretty funny! I thought “interpretation” was rather connected with “thoughts in [one’s] head”. I thought, in other words, that words have meanings, and that the goal of reading (as of listening) is to convert words on the page to “thoughts in [one’s] head”.
 
There are so many assumptions on this to render the question almost unanswerable. Firstly, we have to assume that the stranded man can read, that the bible which appears is written in his language, that he understands the concept of God and that the first verse he turns to is John 3:16 so that he has not been “tainted” by perceptions of other passages. You would also have to assume that he knew this is not a novel.

And of course you have to assume Wilson is not a volleyball. I hope you have a sense of humor, Angainor. 😃
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Angainor:
Wilson is stranded on a deserted island.
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Here is Wilson stranded on a deserted island:

http://cjonline.com/images/010801/new.castaway.jpg
 
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RobNY:
I see no interpretation, I see merely a regurgitation of the text. Perhaps we can see what Wilson thinks it means, in his own words?
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That is what Wilson thinks John 3:16 means. “Putting it in his own words” would simply be rephrasing the same concept.
 
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