The Philosophy of Faith vs Understanding

[James_S_Saint]

I hope that I am not being too offensive in the following.

I believe that it is an error to rely solely on Faith as a means to “retain the legion” (religion). Protestants often argue that if Understanding is given authority, then Faith will be lost. I agree that if one were to attempt to rely totally on ones own understanding, without Faith that there are others who understand far more, one would fall away and into a pit of solitude and despair. But I do not agree that there is any need to go to either extreme.

Faith in mysterious forces yields a great deal of both good and bad. Understanding in merely what one has directly seen also yields both good and bad. A compromise of seeking understanding with the understanding that faith should be maintained as the understanding is being developed, yields the most good and minimizes the bad.

The Catholic has for a very long time, rightfully preached that the Bible cannot be merely perused so as to gain understanding of what it is saying. Such ancient texts require serious study and “study” means far more than merely memorizing. Most people are not qualified to gain real understanding from such documents even though they might gain inspiration. But inspiration from misunderstanding is dangerous and truly “wicked” in that it serves as a “wick” to flames of luminous chaos and deception.

With that in mind, I would like to offer the following quotes from other threads;

As far as misconceptions, try an experiment by taking a spare Bible and throughout Genesis, mark out the words for God (Lord, All-mighty,…) and then write above each mark the word Reality. In addition accept for a moment that a great deal of metaphor is being used even if you don’t have the key to translate them. See if the book seems to be making more sense even though not yet perfect sense.

More over and regardless of the outcome of your experiment, consider the exact same questions you raise concerning God and punishment, but again replace your word “God” with the word “Reality” and re-read your own questions.

But in the above, do not confuse “Reality” with “Nature”. Nature does not typically include the realms of the Divine such as perfect geometric shapes or principles that govern nature.

Let me show you a VERY short list of some of the things you have to learn in order to make proper sense out of the Bible. Realize that you are criticizing a 3000 year old text from a very different culture written for their people in their language so as to help those people to continue in their own journey in life (it wasn’t written to you).

If you are going to investigate metaphor possibilities, there is a formula to ensure your final success so that you don’t get the wrong translation;

1. Consistency - the same metaphor exchange must apply throughout (when metaphors are used).
2. Completeness - the end result of the translation must constitute a complete (whole) thought or story.
3. Relevance - the end result must be worthy of the writing, not merely a trivial story of no real significance.

Follow those rules and you will discover the real “code” within the Bible and a great many other Scriptures at the same time as they all use pretty much the same basic metaphors. Those basic metaphors are usually used in common dreams as well. The particular metaphors were not merely randomly chosen. They make serious sense once you discover them.

A few to consider just to get you started (although these can be worded slightly differently);
God == Reality/Truth (more than merely Nature)
Angel == An idea/concept
Spirit == Inner motion, energy
Soul == The fundamental essence of what something/one is
Divine == Principles that govern reality
Supernatural == Divine (“above” nature)
Day == a time when people are far less confused
Night == a time when chaos and confusion/doubt/blindness rule
Water/Sea == Issues or concerns of life
River == A great flow of issues
Heart == Source of emotions/desires/inspirations(issues, concerns)
Blood == Issues of the heart, strong deep passion
Bread == Knowledge to feed the mind
Staff == Rules to keep one “upright” and guard against predators
Seed == A thought that can germinate into many more processes
Tree == Categorized growth process from a seed thought
Fruit == What is yielded as useful from a tree
Ghost == Spirit host of a body
Body == Physical form of the entity
Bone == Framework
Flesh == Subtle life of the body
Wine == Intoxicating “water”/issues/concerns
Mule/*** == Stubbornness
Horse == A cause to carry a man (a purpose and method)
Death == death of the spirit/incentive/inspiration
Life == Active pursuit of survival and joy (eternal joy == Heaven)
Mountain == A great pile of understanding
Urn == A group category for issues
Love == The desire to support/maintain or make healthy/pure/joyous
Ahdam == The first governance of Mankind (from the Logic)
Eve == The accompanying governance of Mankind more sympathetic, persuadable, and caring (from the Love)
Evening == Lowering and softening from the height
Leavened == Softened and evened
Unleavened == Hard, dry, not made palatable or fluffed up with hot air
El == “First Logic Cause” (not first temporal cause)
Eloha == Cause of spirit
Elohim == The sum of all spirit
YHWH == the One who/that is the Whole
Yahway == the agreeable (non-conflicting) way
Allah == the sum total that is All spirit.
Je-hov-ah == “The-Whole-Spirit”
Holy Spirit == the spirit represented by the whole.
Holy Trinity == The Impetus cause (Father), the balance of the whole (Holy Spirit), The harmony of the whole (Son)

Those are just a few off of the top to get you started. There is a LOT more to learn.

[Constructive] Comments?

 

[James_S_Saint]

I meant to include that “one must have Understanding in what one is to have Faith in” else he faithfully follows the wrong path.