Kiddo
Furry Critter with Claws
- Joined
- Sep 25, 2007
- Messages
- 2,790
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- OMNi
No.
There may have been some drift across transcriptions and translations... the Septuagint and the Masoretic texts are not absolutely identical, it's true... but to say that "...the text has become hardly more than an empty vessel for anyone to fill in with whatever spiritual and political notions serve their purpose" is unsupportable.
It is true that various people have abused biblical texts in this fashion, but it is not true to say that the texts lend themselves to such abuse. In fact, to make the claim in itself might be evidence of an agenda.
Any text has the capacity to be interpreted in ways that suit political agendas. However, the Bible has proven to be exceptionally useful because it has contradictions within itself that allow people to grasp onto particular verses and justify their thoughts and actions. You can call it "abuse" but its been the fundamental nature of the scripture since its conception. It's the same with any major religious text. Fundamental Evangelical Christianity is practically a mirror to Fundamental Islam. Both interpret their respected texts in a way that suits their political agendas. Why would that clearly visible claim be evidence of an agenda?