{"id":26,"date":"2008-10-27T16:51:01","date_gmt":"2008-10-27T21:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/axxess.org\/?p=26"},"modified":"2015-02-16T14:50:46","modified_gmt":"2015-02-16T19:50:46","slug":"a-dual-reading-of-acts-8-this-is-a-repost-from-the-discussion-board-at-theoozecom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.axxess.org\/?p=26","title":{"rendered":"A Dual Reading of Acts 8 – this is a re-post from a discussion board at theooze.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is a post from a discussion board on theooze<\/a> many years ago.\u00c2\u00a0Rob sets out to mock emergent ideas about truth, certainty and the Bible…I thought it was necessary to respond with my own thoughts on the matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

By Rob Woodrum<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

WARNING; long post ahead, laced with extreme sarcasm, my own personal frustrations and my attempt at venting them through the use of satire. This just seems the simplest way of expressing my own struggle to understand.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Heat waves rippled the horizon as the sun pressed its heat against the desert terrain. The tall dark man wiped a bead of perspiration from the side of his face, seemingly oblivious to the extreme temperature. It was hot, even in the shade of the large umbrella that had been stretched over his chariot. <\/span><\/p>\n

For the third time that morning, the man had summoned his driver to pull to the side of the road, so he could concentrate on what he was reading. He moved the scroll back and forth as his eyes regained their focus, and began again to trace the Greek letters scrawled across the surface of the papyrus. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Who are you?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he whispered to himself, hoarsely.<\/span><\/p>\n

With a start, he suddenly realized someone was standing beside his chariot.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Do you understand what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re reading?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d asked the stranger. He was dressed in commoner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clothes. This was unusual behavior for a man in low position, and the dark man was intrigued.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153How can I, unless someone explains it to me? Why don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you come up here and enlighten me?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said the dark man with an inviting wave from his hand. He held out the papyrus for the stranger to see for himself, and with a grin, inquired, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Whom is the prophet talking about? Himself, or someone else?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Whoa, hold on there bub,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the stranger said, pushing the papyrus aside, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s get some things established first. I need to know what kind of epistemology you hold to!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pistol\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6what?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the dark man shook his head slowly, not understanding.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re asking me to give you an answer, but if I do, I would be asserting that as a universal truth! How I read this bit of papyrus may be completely different from how YOU read this. Who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to say who is right? The REAL issue is, we just don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know for sure!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What are you talking about? I was just wondering who the prophet is\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

The stranger cut him off.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Listen, first you need to examine what you hold to as true, and how you came to assess it as such! What are the community agreements that formulate your worldview? Mine are probably completely different from yours\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6and that is completely acceptable!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The stranger\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voice began to rise with excitement. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You see,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the stranger continued, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I have a specific paradigm that was handed to me by my cultural upbringing, and it colors everything I view as being true. If I were to impose my preconceived evaluations of truth on this portion of papyrus, I would be asserting my view as something that must be universally agreed upon!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153So\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talking about the universe?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the dark man hesitantly ventured to ask. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Huh? NO!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said the stranger, rolling his eyes and vigorously shaking his head. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you get it? By asking me for an answer, you are falling prey to the lure of rationalism, which suggests there IS an ANSWER, instead of a process of discovery. And even there, this can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be achieved on an individual basis, so what really needs to happen is we, you and I, need to recognize ourselves as community and find our agreement on what we perceive as a working \u00e2\u20ac\u02dctruth\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. The stranger made quotation signs with his hand as he finished his words.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a eunuch\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6in case you had some ideas here\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the dark man was beginning to edge away from the stranger.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ok, look\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6you asked me a question, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcwhat is this papyrus talking about\u00e2\u20ac\u2122; and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m telling you that I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t answer that with any certainty, I can only give you my evaluation, but a different evaluation may be just as valid. My evaluation of this is based on the assumptions of those who went before me and who influenced my community worldview. So, in essence, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m doing something BETTER than answering your question, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m giving you permission to NOT KNOW! I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know, and now you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know, and we can have harmony in our mutual inability to really know anything for sure, and God is pleased with that\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.well, at least I think He is, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really say that for sure, can I?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Look, I gotta\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 get going now\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said the dark man, his eyes darting in the direction of the chariot driver.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hold on bub,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the stranger said, grabbing the dark man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shoulders, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just getting started here! Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s consider for a moment that truth emerges from cultural perception\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

The dark man shrugged off the stranger\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hands. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No, really, I have to go\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.I just was wondering if you knew the answer to my question, it didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to get into all this other\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Aha! There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the REAL issue, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re afraid to be challenged by a new way of evaluating truth! You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re afraid of the chaos that could result from deconstructing a foundationalist approach to reasoning. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just arrogance, man!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The stranger\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face was turning red.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Let go of me, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m seriously going to hurt you if you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the dark man warned.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh, I see, if I think outside of the box, and challenge you to do the same, you feel so threatened that you need to black-ball me, or discriminate against me. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just the reactionary attitude inherent in the\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

With one quick movement, the dark man signaled his driver to go ahead, and he deftly pushed the stranger out of his chariot at same time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Go, go, go!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said the dark man, as he watched the stranger tumble in the dust behind him. He still had the papyrus gripped tightly in his right hand. Looking at it for a moment, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tender page crumpled from the struggle, he sighed. Without looking back, he tossed it from his moving chariot, and went on his way back to Ethiopia.<\/span><\/p>\n

sigh.<\/span><\/p>\n

My\u00c2\u00a0response: <\/span>by Brad Cecil <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Heat waves rippled the horizon as the sun pressed its heat against the desert terrain, an oasis appeared in the distance. The tall dark man wiped a bead of perspiration from the side of his face, and instructed his driver to head toward the oasis, but after a few miles it became apparent they had experienced the dreaded desert illusion \u00e2\u20ac\u201c there was no water \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it just appeared that way.<\/span><\/p>\n

For the third time that morning, the man had summoned his driver to pull to the side of the road, so he could concentrate on what he was reading. He moved the scroll back and forth as his eyes regained their focus, and began again to trace the Greek letters scrawled across the surface of the papyrus. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Who are you?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he whispered to himself, hoarsely.<\/span><\/p>\n

With a start, he suddenly realized someone was standing beside his chariot.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Do you understand what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re reading?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d asked the stranger. He was dressed in commoner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clothes. This was unusual behavior for a man in low position, and the dark man was intrigued.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153How can I, unless someone explains it to me? Why don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you come up here and enlighten me?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said the dark man with an inviting wave from his hand. He held out the papyrus for the stranger to see for himself, and with a grin, inquired, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Whom is the prophet talking about? Himself, or someone else?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Whoa, hold on there bub,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the stranger said, pushing the papyrus aside, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s get some things established first. Do you believe that this Papyrus is the Word of God?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the dark man shook his head slowly, not understanding. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think this was written by a man named Isaiah – is that what you are asking?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Before we go any further with this conversation \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6you must believe that this papyrus is the Word of God, because if you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe this we could be reading from just any piece of literature and that would only contain ideas, this papyrus is different – it is the Word of God and contains absolute truth.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What are you talking about? I am almost certain a guy named Isaiah wrote this\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

The stranger cut him off.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153No, Isaiah did not write this, God wrote this. God wrote through Isaiah. Isaiah did not even know what he was writing about.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Wait, are you sure?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the dark man hesitantly ventured to ask. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What do you mean he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand what he was writing? How is that possible?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153God dictated these words to Isaiah. Isaiah was just the transcriber. One of the problems may be that you are reading from the Greek, you must examine the words in Hebrew, these are the actual Words God used and by reading in the Hebrew you will be able to understand the very words God used and the truth of this papyrus.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Wait are you saying that if I study this in Hebrew I can understand perfectly what God was saying?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yes, if you know Hebrew you can understand with absolute certainty what God was trying to convey.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153OK, I am not sure about this being the actual words from God, but for discussion sake lets say you are correct. What is this passage talking about\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is taking about Jesus\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the stranger said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is clearly a pre-incarnate messianic prophecy\u00e2\u20ac\u0153<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pre in car what?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said the dark man.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153A pre-incarnate messianic prophecy, this passage is obviously about Jesus.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Said the stranger<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But, how could this be about Jesus when Isaiah lived hundreds of year before this person you speak was even born?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

The stranger responded: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Remember Isaiah didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t write this\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oh yea, God did\u00e2\u20ac\u009d finished the dark man \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am sorry this gets a little confusing.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t worry\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, said the stranger \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I can teach you to see many writings in this same way and also how to recognize all the false writings that claim to come from God but don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t – it gets easier as I teach you what to look for\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That must have been weird for Isaiah to write stuff he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand, maybe there are several ways to interpret this passage?<\/span><\/p>\n

The Stranger responded: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153No there is only one correct interpretation, but if this helps you- there are many ways to apply this papyrus passage.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Wow\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said the dark man\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Just one correct interpretation \u00e2\u20ac\u201c how do you know if you have interpreted the passage correctly?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153That is easy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said the stranger \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is authorial intent\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6you find the correct interpretation by simply asking what did God mean? The answer is the obvious answer. Always remember God says what he means and means what he says.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Could the passage have a dual meaning, maybe even contradictory meanings?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d asked the dark man.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153No because that would violate the law of non-contradiction and everyone knows God would not do something illogical.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Wow this is great – you mean I can understand communication from God in a complete way and be absolutely certain that I am correct in my interpretation because God is logical, he never contradicts, the obvious meaning is the most likely and He even uses our language and concepts?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d asked the Ethiopian<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t that Great?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d asked the Stranger<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yes, it is\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said the Ethiopian \u00e2\u20ac\u0153God isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a Mystery at all!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Ethiopian went with the Stranger to the land of Evangelapolis to learn how to see the whole world through this unique perspective and they both lived happily in the land where Man is big and God is small, there are no contradictions, paradoxes or mysteries, everything is easy and just as it seems and all the people sing happy songs.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is a post from a discussion board on theooze many years ago.\u00c2\u00a0Rob sets out to mock emergent ideas about truth, certainty and the Bible…I thought it was necessary to respond with my own thoughts on the matter. By Rob Woodrum WARNING; long post ahead, laced with extreme sarcasm, my own personal frustrations and my … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “A Dual Reading of Acts 8 – this is a re-post from a discussion board at theooze.com”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,3,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-emergent","category-theology","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.axxess.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.axxess.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.axxess.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.axxess.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.axxess.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.axxess.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.axxess.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.axxess.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.axxess.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}