Like the word spirit? Which simply means "invisible to the naked eye, or without material form". And can refer to many things. Like forces at work, as well as many different forms of Life that exist on multi-dimensional levels?
2007-12-22 08:30:16 · 19 answers · asked by THE NEXT LEVEL 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Yep; words are arbitrary. Not only can they have more than one meaning, but what they mean specifically to us can be different than how other people take them.
2007-12-22 08:38:46 · answer #1 · answered by MSB 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Since you are asking this question in the Religion and Spirituality section, I assume you are talking about words in the Christian Bible.
People give many different meanings to biblical words. Nevertheless, we can discern the original intent by studying the Bible's passages in context, knowing something of the literary context and the culture and language usage.
It is not enough to know how a word is defined by a dictionary; we must also study the context to see what meaning was being conveyed. A person's attitude can change a truthful saying into a sarcastic, untrue remark, with eyes rolling, so knowing the definition of the word is not enough.
2007-12-22 17:57:49 · answer #2 · answered by Steve Husting 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Michael Foucault had that same kind of concept; he theorized that no one can ever use a word in a "pure" form because every word that has ever been spoken/written/typed etc. carried with it the meanings and connotations of all its previous uses.
2007-12-22 16:35:33 · answer #3 · answered by ultraviolet1127 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes. I did know that. Did you know, that technically because we all have different imagoes that come to mind with different words, and because our experiences change the meanings of words, we never tell a whole truth?
2007-12-22 17:04:57 · answer #4 · answered by The Pope 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes. Hence the reason when I have scriptural discussions, I tend to make us have a "definition" session...a time to figure out what key words mean to each participant.
2007-12-22 16:34:28 · answer #5 · answered by LDS~Tenshi~ 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
more importantly it's not what you say, it;s "how" you say it!! (lol..)joke!
But seriously, I agree, I think fprexample many words have changed meaning. Also, some wordss that were commonly used before no longer are & many that are now would not had made sense 100 years ago such as intenet! ;)
2007-12-23 14:47:44 · answer #6 · answered by glgl 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Clearly. Many words even in the KJV do not mean what they meant when the work was new.
2007-12-22 16:34:08 · answer #7 · answered by hasse_john 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Some words do have many meanings. But insanity is consistent.
2007-12-22 16:33:36 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
No. Christians believe that they understand exactly what the bible means, even though it is a poor quality translation written millennia ago.
2007-12-22 17:39:03 · answer #9 · answered by Fred 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Yes I agree with you but what is your question and why does it find place in Religion & Spirituality?
2007-12-22 19:44:23 · answer #10 · answered by uppaluri k 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋