Does quoting from holy books in archaic language give people a (false!) feeling of authority over others?

Question

Thanks, ALI, you're helping to prove my point! By the way, have you ever visited the planet Earth?

When people quote the bible or Koran at me, I cringe, because I know they are using that instead of thinking. But when someone quotes a great work of literature, such as Homer, Joyce, Dante etc, they are illustrating, knowing that all literature is fiction, only having poetic truth.

Nice one, angkt

Khaled, since you can;t spell vagina right, I'm a little worried about your arabic.

Answer 1

Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbour secretly. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Answer 2

I have heard plenty of people do the same with literature that they have memorized and don't try and understand. Whether they are in an archaic language or not (like Homer being in Greek) really has little to do with it. I think there are just a lot of people that memorize things and spout them out thinking it backs up what they are saying. At the same time there it is an effective tool to use other thoughts, be them biblical or literary to make ones point. Personally I am just as likely to quote modern culture as I am use, well the Bible in my case as a Christian. Well using quotations they don't understand may give some people a false sense of authority it also seems that going on Yahoo Answers and trying to demean people's beliefs gives others an equally false sense of authority.

Answer 3

It certainly can for some, but I think the feeling of comfort is probably more common.
Moving away from Latin for services in the Catholic church was controversial, even if it made the rites more comprehensible.

I used regularly to pass a London church which had a large sign saying "1662 used in all services". I never quite dared ask them whether this was because they considered the theology of Cranmer to be unsurpassed, or because it was more religious to address God in Jacobean English.

This involves the whole area of ritual, and the sense of cohesion and well-being that it can engender, independently of the language being fully understood.

No one seeking to communicate with modern folk should be using the King James Bible. The English language has moved on since then. (Unless, and only unless, there is something about the sense of the words that really cannot be put any other way. This I doubt.)

Answer 4

Hello,

In my opinion its not so much that quoting such texts gives them a feeling of authority, more a sense of superiority perhaps?. Why! because they are hoping that by quoting from their holli texts or sacred book/s you the unbeliever will heard or see their trueth.

**I have been exploring my own spirituality for the last 27years & I have yet to meet any fundamentalist, or religious, or holli person that could convince me that their views would change my life for the better or enrich my being. Thus I have come full circle & back to being an Atheist.

**Such fundamentalists or people of faith feel a strong need to convince themselves & others of their views. This tends to suggest that they dont feel secure at a deep level in their so called beliefs.

In other words they quote texts to convince others & themselves of what they are trying to believe in, even if they know its not based on anything real or anything that would stand up to logical analysis or scientific methods of research. i.e. show me the actual evdience for what you believe in then? Dont just tell me its true because its written in a book.

IR

Answer 5

If you ask a question on sport, would it not make more sense if i told you the rules using the rule book rather than me just ranting and raving about anything?

That way peoples Holy Books are simply rule books on how to lead a thier lives.

Answer 6

Yes and another way is to stand on a cake tin, to get the extra 5 inches of authority.

Answer 7

some times the translations do not give the meaning and in the ofitiol translations some times the persone who translate could hide somthings , i wander how moslems will translait this ( i coped that from quran sorat al tahreem التحريم 12 aya12 ) : وَمَرْيم ابْنَتَ عِمْرانَ الّتي أحصَنَت فَرْجَها فَنَفَخْنا فِيهِ
مِنْ رُوحِنا وَصَدَّقت بِكَلِماتِ رَبّها وَكُتُبهِ وَكانَتْ مِنَ الْقانِتين
it sayes that alla has blowed in marrys vgaina to berth jesuss
the polite translation for the world (فرج) (farj ) is vgaina , we cant say hear in the country i am in the world farj coz thats not polite

sorry for my bad english

Answer 8

Claiming arcane knowledge is an ancient - and pathetic - way of claiming power and/or prestige. Such pseuds are best ignored.

Answer 9

quoting from holy books in general seems to give ppl this sense of authority and superiority over others. in my opinion ppl should do their own thinking, and quote their own crap, then, only then they have all the right to have this false sense of "authority" over others, and maybe gain a little respect from ppl.

Answer 10

Yes. They like to tell you which paragraph and line it's on. I can do the same with the Playboy, Penthouse and Thomas the Tank at the same time. .