Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 06/09/2005 14:19, George F Somsel wrote:

> On Tue, 06 Sep 2005 12:42:55 +0100 Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
> writes:
>  
>
> > I was also referring to the mainstream in ancient Judaism, or 
> > perhaps 
> > more accurately mainstream Israelite religion, as represented by the 
> >
> > biblical authors. I would be interested to see examples of biblical 
> >
> > authors attributing body parts to God which cannot be understood as 
> >
> > metaphor. This might end up as a more illuminating discussion than 
> > the 
> > one about qualifications.
> > --
> > Peter Kirk
> > peter AT qaya.org (personal)
> > peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
> > http://www.qaya.org/
> >    
> __________
>
> I choose to respond to this post rather than to your retort to Kevin's
> reply since you here clearly state your requirements for considering the
> opposing view as proven.  
>
> I think we are all aware that there is absolutely no description of the
> divine being which cannot be understood metaphorically if one chooses to
> do so.  Therefore, it seems to me that you have ended the discussion by
> precluding any contrary evidence.  Whatever may be stated will simply be
> attributed to metaphorical usage.  I suggest therefore that we drop the
> matter.
>  

Yes, George, you are correct. All language can be metaphorical, and it 
is hard if not impossible to prove that a particular instance is not. I 
am not sure that Kevin could in principle prove his assertion. That 
makes his argument baseless speculation. On the other hand, it may be 
that he can find ways to back up his assertion, so I want to give him 
the opportunity to do that. But he certainly needs to give better 
arguments than "the Ancient mind did not think so abstractly... they 
were incapable of it".

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/



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