[Buddha-l] it's not about belief

[Stanley J. Ziobro II]

On Wed, 4 Jan 2006, Richard P. Hayes wrote:

> On Wed, 2006-01-04 at 08:11 -0500, Stanley J. Ziobro II wrote:
>
> > The Gospels are immediately placed under a hermeneutic of suspicion
> > because they are accepted by a faith community
>
> The "hermeneutics of suspicion" of Paul Ricoeur was meant to liberate
> communities from the self-deception involved in editing and interpreting
> texts in a way that serves the powerful at the expense of the weak. It
> is not so much that the gospels themselves are immediately placed under
> a hermeneutics of suspicion, but that one should be suspicious of
> interpretations of the gospels that serve the interests of power
> structures (such as, oh, the Catholic Church and various Eastern
> Orthodox churches).

Richard,

The issue, as I've understood it, is that a priest in Viterbo Italy is not
required to appear in court to attest to the existence of Jesus.  In the
article where this was related the Gospels were deemed unworthy of
consideration as a viable source for Jesus' existence, because they are
scriptures for a faith community.  What you've related above is true, but
beside the point.

Regards,

Stan Ziobro