From: Mark & Mary Markham (markhamm@jas-net.de)
Date: Tue Aug 04 1998 - 18:01:11 EDT
Ruben the only cure for misinterpretation is STUDY on the part of the
interpreter. Computers greatly aid the study process. The same people who
would miss the intended meaning prior to the computer advent will miss it
again now that it is here. The same careful expositors will continue to be
careful as well as more productive. I submit the rate of errors will not
incdrease because of the PC, rather it will increase because of the half
hearted approach taken to something as important as the Holy Scriptures.
That being said: How can we stem the flow of half hearted study?
Mark
-----Original Message-----
From: Ruben Gomez <rubeng@infotelecom.es>
To: Biblical Greek <b-greek@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Date: Tuesday, August 04, 1998 2:11 AM
Subject: Computers and misinterpretation of Scripture
>Dear b-greekers,
>
>Allow me to leave my lurking mode for a moment.
>
>Maurice A. O'Sullivan's signature included something that really caught my
>eye:
>
>>"With computers we can now misinterpret Scripture at speeds never before
>>possible"
>
>I don't know if that's an original quote or someone else's, but at any
>rate, it reminded me right away of a thread we had sometime ago, i.e. A
>little Greek is a dangerous thing. I have been thinking about this whole
>area of computer-assisted Bible study, and am well aware of the potential
>dangers and pitfalls associated with it. Well, okay, I must admit it's been
>one of my concerns in recent times...
>
>With all our present computer technology and user-friendly Bible software
>available in the market, I fear that misinterpretations will not only
>become more numerous, but also more frequent. Any comments on how this
>trend could be stopped or its effects reduced to a minimum? Who is to be
>blamed for it? Bible software companies? Incomplete and misleading manuals?
>Users? A school system that definitely does not equip students for
>classical studies in general, and linguistic and exegetical studies in
>particular? Sometimes I wonder whether we are placing an F-16 (a fighter
>plane) into the hands of teenagers? (metaphorically speaking, of course!).
>But, on the other hand, do we have any right to withhold knowledge and
>technical tools from the public arena and confine them to the academic
>establishment?
>
>For those interested in the subject, I think there are a few good links
>on-line worth checking out:
>
>
>http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~hahne/scbible1.htm
>
>http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~hahne/scbible2.htm
>
>http://www-writing.berkeley.edu/chorus/bible/essays/ntgram.html
>
>On a more general key I warmly recommend Barr's work, The Semantics of
>Biblical Language (a classic), and Carson's Exegetical Fallacies, as well
>as some of Moises Silva's books on Linguistics and Hermeneutics, to mention
>just a handful. I know these titles have been referred to a number of times
>before. But wouldn't you agree that their main theses and warnings are even
>more sorely needed now than when they were first written?
>
>Now back to lurking mode.
>
>Just my two cents (or should I say euros?),
>
>Ruben Gomez
>rubeng@infotelecom.es
>
>---
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