The critical study of biblical literature

[anthonychipoletti]

https://www.britannica.com/topic/biblic ... s#ref73487

The critical study of biblical literature: exegesis and hermeneutics

[Giulia]

Thanks for posting this interesting article, Tony. I am interested in hearing what Bible readers have to say.

As for me, I tend to feel that the Bible may actually have multiple layers of meaning and that we may access these as a spiritual gateway thanks to our own personal spiritual Guidance.

I can't believe that Scriptures, within whatever religion, might have been originally designed to disconnect humans from their Divine Source: however, since prophets, clairvoyants and the like are always filtering information through a human brain, and since the outcome has then been always passed on in different ways and through different languages and time periods, I am not surprised that the evil part of humanity has always used Scriptures as a weapon, rather than as an evidence of love and compassion.

[anthonychipoletti]

Giulia, when I was a child I read two complete editions of Encyclopedia Britannica which my parents bought for me. EB gave me stamps which could be redeemed to actually control their research teams to focus on a specific topic, as long as it was original research. I used my stamps to request a very detailed report on the Dead Sea Scrolls which had only recently been found and were not deeply researched yet.

I cannot remember the details of the report, however, I do remember experiencing what I believed to be miracles in my private life which were similar to biblical events. However, these were very simple and only witnessed by myself in private, since I believed that was the way I should experience them, by myself. So when my father, who often fished, would bring home a small amount of fish, I would multiply say 5 into 10.

At least I convinced myself that I did

[anthonychipoletti]

Giulia, to me, EVERY aspect of our ACTUAL existence is Divine Source, intangible spiritual awareness.

The slightest deviation from Absolute Goodness and Pure Lovingkindness DOES NOT ACTUALLY exist.

As soon as any observation becomes tangible, as atoms, molecules etc., it becomes absolute nonsense.

Our true existence is ALL and ONLY within Divine Presence, our best friend, who LOVES us unconditionally.

Everything in the nonsense world is conditional, temporal and cannot be anything which ACTUALLY exists.

Our ACTUAL existence is Divine Presence, which has always existed in Absolute Goodness and Pure Love.

Everything else is nonsense, it serves as a contrast to our actual existence, to allow us to learn Pure Love.

[Giulia]

Giulia, to me, EVERY aspect of our ACTUAL existence is Divine Source, intangible spiritual awareness.

The slightest deviation from Absolute Goodness and Pure Lovingkindness DOES NOT ACTUALLY exist.

As soon as any observation becomes tangible, as atoms, molecules etc., it becomes absolute nonsense.

Our true existence is ALL and ONLY within Divine Presence, our best friend, who LOVES us unconditionally.

Everything in the nonsense world is conditional, temporal and cannot be anything which ACTUALLY exists.

Our ACTUAL existence is Divine Presence, which has always existed in Absolute Goodness and Pure Love.

Everything else is nonsense, it serves as a contrast to our actual existence, to allow us to learn Pure Love.

Hello, Tony Once again I absolutely understand what you are saying, because your physical life actually started with a near-death experience and you had the privilege of storing this NDE through your physical memory. So, I guess I can understand your use of the term “nonsense”. On the other hand, I cannot avoid pointing out that, if the word “nonsense” were actually the most accurate term to be used to describe the physical existence we have in the here and now, this whole incarnation effort would be pointless and meaningless. No, I think this incarnation experience HAS A LOT OF SENSE, irrespective of when we get to find out.

[anthonychipoletti]

Giulia, I believe that ALL experiences, physical, spiritual or whatever, actually exist and have immense value, they are never 'true' or 'false' because they are unique individual interpretations. The basis for any experience is that it is an actual event which may or may not be shared or believed by anyone else, or it may be shared by any number of others.

My opinion is that experience of any kind, and its value, cannot be limited to atoms and molecules as science currently defines atoms and molecules which are not biology, so to speak, atoms and molecules are imaginary concepts which we can use to portray any experience, construct biological entities, and the entire set of knowledge in physical existence.

My opinion is that experiences and their value appear to be physical 'things' according to scientific materialism, and even to fundamental religionists, meaning that atoms and molecules are somehow creating our experiences. This is what my use of the term illusion refers to, that atoms and molecules are the basis for experiences which are actually intangible.

By intangible, I mean we cannot pick up our experiences and put them into a paper bag

[anthonychipoletti]

Giulia, as you probably know, I have been struggling to understand certainty, what makes us believe we are sure we know?

In the video above, Iain McGilchrist talks about left brain thinking being more certain of whatever it is we think we know.

Sorry to post videos before I understand this topic, however, you often see many points which I seem to miss or disregard.