Today in my Birth of Christianity class, we were discussing who had "ownership" of the scripture in the ancient Hebrew Bible - the Jews or the Christians? Touchy subject, to be sure. Debate grew in the classroom. Some admitted that they were the Jewish people's writings first, and so must be theirs. Others suggested that they became the Christians' as the Christians used and reinterpreted them. I, now known as the class heretic, offered something outside of the box.
The way I see it, they were both the Jewish people's scriptures and the Christians, and at the same time, neither of theirs. Each group laid claim to them (and later, Muslims), and so they each have ownership to their own interpretations, but the only one who knows the actual meaning of the scriptures would be the author - or authors. My professor assumed that I was making a religious argument, that I was looking at this from a theological perspective. I would suggest that he was, not I.
image found on Thumb Press |
). I was trying to look at this problem academically, including all possibilities. For example, whoever wrote the Book of Job had a reason for writing it down. Because we do not have an explicit explanation from the author as to why s/he wrote it down and what it meant, we are left to conjecture and interpretation, which is done with our own personal understandings (bias). The same goes for every other piece of Scripture.
I'll give an example as to how the interpretation that we find may have nothing to do with the meaning of the writing that the author intended. I submit a poem of my own:
The Vanishing
It creeps in
at night
during your sleeping rest.
It strolls
through the corridors
in and out
of rooms.
The paths it takes
are none
to be seen.
It caresses your
thoughts
as shadows disappear.
It steals your
valuable
possessions of time.
It has no
regret
of all damage it causes,
and no
punishment
can it be given,
since its
silence
is that of no virtue,
no seizure,
no hope.
I know what I wrote about. I know the meaning I intended. My challenge to you is to come up with what you believe it is about - your interpretation - and write it below in the comments. I have a link that I will post in response to your comment that will reveal my intended meaning. The challenge is to see if your interpretation is right or wrong when compared to my intended meaning.The goal I seek is whether or not I am right or wrong in my thinking about this.
I look forward to your comments and interpretations!
As a new visitor, I have found your blog to be insightful and worth reading. I hope others appreciate what you do.
ReplyDeleteAs for the challenge at hand, is it still running? Regardless, I have come up with a few interpretations of my own with regard to the poem.
Perhaps your poem refers to robbers? Or murderers? Or ghosts? Or jinn? Or nightmares?
I would have listed my reasons for these interpretations were it not for the lack of time.
But I have to admit that the stanza “It caresses your thoughts as shadows disappear” left me confounded and posed difficulties to my interpretations. On the other hand, I am probably being too literal-minded.
I look forward to finding out the intended meaning behind the poem.
I wish I could reply to you personally, as I don't want to give the answer away, as I'd like to see what others think. However, I will give the answer and hope that others will leave there first impressions in the comments still.
DeleteThe poem is about Alzheimers,the disastrous disease that took my beloved grandmother from me and a surrogate grandfather as well. I wrote it during my time helping care take for my surrogate grandfather, years before my grandmother succumbed to it.
I also wanted to thank you for your kind words regarding my writings, you've given me some gusto to continue on!
Delete