Theos-Talk Archives (April 2005 Message tt01501)

>No physical writing can be said to be timeless. That is nonsense Leon.
> When we consider, that the audience, language, the understanding of words
> and so on are changing,
> I think the reader will understand my point.
> Am I the only one here at Theos-talk who can see this?
I certainly understand you. Wasn't it one of the earliest versions of 
the Bible in English that said something close to:

"... and Joseph did not know Mary until after the Birth of Jesus."

I much prefer the more modern translations,

"... and Joseph did not have sex with Mary until after Jesus was born."

Physical writings are timeless only to those people who still understand 
the older grammar 100%. It's getting to the point that the average 
modern student cannot understand Shakespeare unless he has someone to 
help him understand it. A student who merely picks up the book and tries 
to read it without someone else present to explain the differences 
between that English and HIS English would probably abandon the book 
after a page or two (unless required to keep reading by a teacher).

Perhaps in much the same way that it is said that a reader cannot fully 
comprehend the Talmud unless he has a teacher to help him understand it. 
I'm sure that the Talmudist would say that the Talmud is timeless, even 
though the non-trained person would not be able to read it and get the 
same thing out of it as another person could. (Yes, a few years ago, I 
was fortunate enough to find a Talmud study group that allowed non-Jews 
(and parenthetically, also women) to participate. Unfortunately, it was 
so far away (two hour round trip), I had to stop after awhile.)

> It is not a true picture about what is going on, when one is reading 
a book.
> Depending on who you are, you are often using
> a) Your physical eye to read the book
> b) your emotional body while reading it
> c) your mental faculties and your intellect.
> d) and to some of us also higher levels of consciousness - ...
I fully agree that no book, by itself, can give us a true picture of 
what is inside the mind of the author, no matter how many times the 
reader reads the book. This is even true of the authors that the writer 
of the above claim that everyone should read (if that person makes such 
a claim, that is).

Every time I reread a book, I get something new out of it that I didn't 
get the first time. The first time I read the Chronicles of Narnia
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=recommendations&path=tg/stores/series/-/15/ref=pd_sr_ec_ser_b

I read it mainly for the enjoyment, though I did get some spiritual 
insights from it.

The second time I read it, I was more ready to understand and comprehend 
the spiritual aspects.

The third time I read the seven books, I became uncomfortable because I 
finally realized that one book may have been intended to show negative 
stereotypes of the Arabian people, though I might be wrong.

Here, if you are interested, are links to the seven books in the 
Chronicles of Narnia. Even though C.S.Lewis wrote the books for 
children, he also wrote them for adults to get more out of them.

1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0064409422/ref=nosim/recommendations
2. Prince Caspian
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0064471055/ref=nosim/recommendations
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0064471071/ref=nosim/recommendations
4. The Silver Chair
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0064471098/ref=nosim/recommendations
5. The Horse and His Boy
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0064471063/ref=nosim/recommendations
6. The Magician's Nephew (Creation?)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/0064471101/ref=nosim/recommendations
7. The Last Battle (Armageddon?)
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/asin/006447108X/ref=nosim/recommendations

#5 is now my least favorite book because of the aforementioned 
stereotyping, which may have been inadvertant on the part of Lewis. I've 
listed the books in the order I originally read them (the order they 
were written in). Some people suggest reading #6 first because it is 
first chronilogically, but I feel that #1 does a better job of 
introducing the land of Narnia to the reader). But I've read other 
people who claim that Lewis meant the books to be read in time sequence 
order. I don't believe it makes a difference, except that you should 
definitely read #7 last.
--
John, webmaster
www.GodLovesEveryone.org and www.MAZES.com

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