25-08-2005 23:39									#31
	Inflate your Upload Space

quote: Originally posted by Boris Godunov Since the Bible depicts a personal god, it's rather natural that those who read it and believed in it would therefore believe in a personal god, I'd think.

Lurianic mysticism, which isnt Einsteins pantheism, but sure isnt a conventional "personal god" view, is at least 500 years old, and has a very strong tradition of bibilical interpretation. There are MANY different schools of biblical interpretation, including allegorical ones at least 2000 years old (Philo of Alexandria). Its not possible to say therefore, that the bible depicts a personal God. The bible says "God said X" but that could easily mean that someone received some insight or inspiration from a broad force behind the universe. After all the bible says lots of things about God that sound anthropomorphic, yet Maimonides, 900 years ago, told us that ANY anthropomorphism about God is idolatry, and thus a capital crime under Jewish law. He taught us too be very careful about how we describe God, and generally to use negative terms (God is NOT limited) rather than positive descriptors. Mystics adopted this, and gave it twists in a very different direction from the ratonalist Maimonides.

Which is why all this talking about God like shes an old man with a beard, the common coin of Christian fundies and their detractors, is so profoundly irrelevant.