Interpreting "Interpreting Interpreter"

The catch-all forum for general topics and debates. Minimal moderation. Rated PG to PG-13.
Post Reply
drumdude
God
Posts: 5212
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2020 5:29 am

Interpreting "Interpreting Interpreter"

Post by drumdude »

Kyler sometimes summarizes Interpreter articles for the layperson, in his series "Interpreting Interpreter."

https://interpreterfoundation.org/inter ... ous-sheep/

The TL:DR of this most recent article is basically, "Here's one dude's interpretation of John 10."

This line caught my interest:
Kyler wrote:Stenson’s article provides me with a solid reminder that scripture, like all literature, doesn’t necessarily have a single, binding interpretation.
It's interesting just how postmodern and relativist Mormon apologetics has become. It is out of necessity, of course. Interpretations of everything have to be completely amorphous, ambiguous, and ready to change at a moment's notice to fit whatever problem the Mormon apologist is trying to solve at the moment. Some interpretations have to be mutually contradictory, and deployed simultaneously in order to make Mormonism look better and win an argument.

I do, however, welcome this development. This is a sign of a religion that is growing up. Growing out of fundamentalism, literalism, and legalism. Judaism and Catholicism both allow for nearly endless personal interpretation of scripture. What theologians and apologists and preachers write and say about scripture is becoming less and less relevant, and one's own interpretation is becoming more and more important.

The roadblock, of course, is the hierarchy of the Mormon church and its leadership. They set clear, sometimes fundamentalist boundaries on what interpretations are valid or not. And they will excommunicate you for not staying within the lines. It will be interesting to see that dynamic between personal religious belief and Mormon leaders play out in the coming years.
User avatar
Morley
God
Posts: 1560
Joined: Wed Oct 28, 2020 6:17 pm
Location: detail from Alice Neel's 1980 self portrait

Re: Interpreting "Interpreting Interpreter"

Post by Morley »

drumdude wrote:
Sat Jul 16, 2022 2:18 am

This line caught my interest:
Kyler wrote:Stenson’s article provides me with a solid reminder that scripture, like all literature, doesn’t necessarily have a single, binding interpretation.
Seeing scripture as a subset of literature. Delicious. So many ramifications.
User avatar
Physics Guy
God
Posts: 1557
Joined: Tue Oct 27, 2020 7:40 am
Location: on the battlefield of life

Re: Interpreting "Interpreting Interpreter"

Post by Physics Guy »

This “death of the author” attitude to Scripture—that it has no authoritative interpretation but contains whatever a reader can find in it—is easier to take with Scriptures that are acknowledged to have a human transmission. The New Testament, for example, contains nothing dictated by Jesus, and no-one ever pretended it did. Even if people imagined that his verbatim words had been written down immediately by Matthew or someone, it always had to be recognized that they had been translated into Greek and that their selection and arrangement didn’t come from Jesus personally.

The divine inspiration of that kind of Scripture has to be somewhat abstract. Even if one considers God to have guided every stage of production of the text, it is still natural to recognize a range of degrees of inspiration, to look at the revelation as a picture from God within a frame made by humans. Wiggle room to decide which part is canvas and which part is frame is inherent.

That wiggle room is harder to find with a Scripture like the Quran, which is supposed to have been dictated syllable by syllable directly from God by an angel. It must be hard for the Book of Mormon as well.
I was a teenager before it was cool.
drumdude
God
Posts: 5212
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2020 5:29 am

Re: Interpreting "Interpreting Interpreter"

Post by drumdude »

Physics Guy wrote:
Sat Jul 16, 2022 2:39 pm
This “death of the author” attitude to Scripture—that it has no authoritative interpretation but contains whatever a reader can find in it—is easier to take with Scriptures that are acknowledged to have a human transmission. The New Testament, for example, contains nothing dictated by Jesus, and no-one ever pretended it did. Even if people imagined that his verbatim words had been written down immediately by Matthew or someone, it always had to be recognized that they had been translated into Greek and that their selection and arrangement didn’t come from Jesus personally.

The divine inspiration of that kind of Scripture has to be somewhat abstract. Even if one considers God to have guided every stage of production of the text, it is still natural to recognize a range of degrees of inspiration, to look at the revelation as a picture from God within a frame made by humans. Wiggle room to decide which part is canvas and which part is frame is inherent.

That wiggle room is harder to find with a Scripture like the Quran, which is supposed to have been dictated syllable by syllable directly from God by an angel. It must be hard for the Book of Mormon as well.
Excellent point.

Also worth noting that I can remember being told at church that the Book of Mormon was a perfect lens with which to view the New Testament such that the one and only one true interpretation could be known. The other churches were lost in a sea of confusion without that lens, it was claimed.
Philo Sofee
God
Posts: 5015
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2020 1:18 am

Re: Interpreting "Interpreting Interpreter"

Post by Philo Sofee »

drumdude
I can remember being told at church that the Book of Mormon was a perfect lens with which to view the New Testament such that the one and only one true interpretation could be known. The other churches were lost in a sea of confusion without that lens, it was claimed.
And they get offended for being called a cult and for advocating and using brainwash to convince followers they have revelations of truth... :roll: :lol:
drumdude
God
Posts: 5212
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2020 5:29 am

Re: Interpreting "Interpreting Interpreter"

Post by drumdude »

I’m looking forward to Mormonism live Wednesday which looks to cover exactly that topic.
Philo Sofee
God
Posts: 5015
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2020 1:18 am

Re: Interpreting "Interpreting Interpreter"

Post by Philo Sofee »

drumdude wrote:
Tue Aug 02, 2022 3:15 am
I’m looking forward to Mormonism live Wednesday which looks to cover exactly that topic.
Me too
Post Reply