Philosophical Debate on the Bible and Divinity

[koriani]

IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE THERE ARE MANY MANSIONS

What do these words mean to you? What if the commonly accepted explanation, that this verse refers to the different degrees of glory of the Blessed in heaven, isn't correct?

Of course, the whole Bible is open to a wide range of differing opinions and interpretations. I am by no means an expert of course, but how much of an expert can one be thousands of years after the fact and having to rely on hearsay? We can expostulate many theories but we will NEVER know the truth.

Even those of the Christian faiths differ widely in their interpretations as evidenced by the many factions such as Catholic, Baptist, Protestant, etc. How can one little book cause such division?

Instead of seeing the Bible as holding one Truth only, maybe we should open our minds to see the many Truths (and falsities) which are represented therein. One cannot, in good conscious, hold the Bible as infallible.

First of all, it's not even complete. Over the centuries, stories which were oral in their initial tradition, were written down, "improved upon" or translated incorrectly, or left out completely depending upon the whim and expertise of the person copying/translating. Even back then, the translation of certain words varied depending on one's school of thought.

Secondly, a lot of the verbiage used in the Bible now has different meaning. Archaic words, whose definition has changed over the years, meant something completely different back then. For example: the word virgin, which in our time means someone who has never had sex, used to mean one who was not married regardless of their sexual activity.

There seems to be a lot of controversy regarding changing these archaic words to make reading the Bible easier. But in a modern translation, the whole meaning of the Bible would be changed. Those of a more literary bent might have less trouble understanding the out-dated usage of words in the Bible, but what of those who aren't as literate?

So, what does IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE THERE ARE MANY MANSIONS mean to me? My interpretation is that there are many sects, many beliefs, that still hold to the core of Divine Truth. There is more than one way to honor the Creator and many names by which the Creator is known.

They call It God, someone else calls it Allah, yet another names it Yahweh (sp?)...I happen to call it Goddess/God, Inanna, Quan Yin, Laksmi, Curnunnos, Herne, Pan...whatever strikes me at the time. A name is only a name and cannot restrict the Divine into a certain category or definition.

The essence of Divinity remains the same no matter what we call It and It has many roles...protector, avenger, warrior, muse, creator, destroyer, etc. The Divine is a paradox of creative and destructive forces, a balance of Yin and Yang, order and chaos in energetic motion. The Divine is all things to all people, therefore no one definition, description, or interpretation is fully, singly, all-encompassingly the Truth.

In order to find our personal Divine Truth, we must look within instead of without. The spark of the Divine is within us all as beings who have been touched by Divine energy during creation. Whether one believes God created us from the dust of the Earth or we evolved over centuries, the one thing both of these theories must take into account is that we were, in fact, created at some point.

If we evolved from the tiniest one-celled organism or suddenly appeared one day, we were touched by the hand of the Divine. He/She either placed that one-celled organism there in the explosion of life created by the Big Bang, or molded us with His/Her own hands. Either way, we are infused with the Energy of Creation.

We are all one and only our mind's inability to completely encompass abstract considerations, in fact it's difficulty to even communicate with it's own higher cognitive functions (or higher self), inhibits humanity from acknowledging this fact. We are self absorbed, individuals who have yet to ascend (or transcend) our own ego to the next level...Enlightenment.

Enlightenment would allow us to know the Oneness that we all share, the singularity of purpose which we have all forgotten over the years. To become more and better than what we are today, to reach for the Divine within, to become one with the Divine...those should be our ultimate goals.

[McCulloch]

As the title is "Personal Philosophical Ramblings on the Bible and Divinity" and there is no clear question for debate, this has been moved to Random Ramblings.

[koriani]

Oh, and I thought I was debating the philosophical meaning of the phrase: In My Father's House There Are Many Mansions.

I guess I was wrong...

[McCulloch]

In Koriani's post there are many questions :

• What do these words mean to you?
• What if the commonly accepted explanation, that this verse refers to the different degrees of glory of the Blessed in heaven, isn't correct?
• how much of an expert can one be thousands of years after the fact and having to rely on hearsay?
• How can one little book cause such division?
• Those of a more literary bent might have less trouble understanding the out-dated usage of words in the Bible, but what of those who aren't as literate?
• So, what does IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE THERE ARE MANY MANSIONS mean to me?

But there appears to be no clear focus for debate. "What do these words mean to you?" seems to me to be a request for opinion and interpretation than a question for debate.

I think that you are on to something here but I think that the question should be a bit more focussed.

[koriani]

Ah, I see what you mean. I'll try to clean it up a bit.... 8)