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Opinion
 

Letters to the Editor

Biblical defense

To the editor:

I read the column "Bible not to be taken so literally" (Opinion, Wednesday) with great interest. There were some excellent points about biblical interpretation. The science of hermeneutics requires understanding the context of the message as well as the type of language employed in the book. Thus, regulations for women's dress, for example, probably applied to that time and not the current time. Also, the author makes an interesting point about the vagaries of language. Idioms of Greek and Hebrew may prove difficult to translate into English or the hundreds of other languages the Bible has been translated into.

That being said, I think that your opinions are perhaps not as well informed as you think. The last written books were probably written by the Apostle John at the close of the first century. These books were written by a close companion of Jesus. With regard to numerous revisions, textual evidence from documents such as the Dead Sea scrolls indicates virtually no change in the texts across hundreds of years.

The books of the Bible were chosen by scholars who debated their inclusion or exclusion over many years. Nevertheless, while we cannot be certain that their choice was perfect, we can have reasonable confidence.

Which parts of the Bible would you throw out? Do you have a problem with the Ten Commandments? Which one? What about the extensions to the Ten Commandments Jesus gave in his Sermon on the Mount? Perhaps like the Sadducees in Jesus' time, Kelsch simply denies the possibility of the supernatural.

The tolerance taught in the Bible is the foundation for your freedom to express yourself in this country. In fact, religious persecution of Christians drove people to our continent. Yet Kelsch seems to minimize the very source of those freedoms in the article when she minimizes the importance of the Bible.

Should you really want to learn about the Bible and evidence, I recommend the exhaustive books Evidence that Demands a Verdict I and II by Josh McDowell. 

David Epstein
staff, Measurement and 
Evaluation Center

To the editor:

Regarding Emily Kelsch's article, "Bible not to be taken so literally", (Opinion, Wednesday) I would ask the author what right she has to attack a tradition that has dated thousands of years? I understand her point that the Bible may contain several translation issues -- it is one of the oldest pieces of literature on the face of the planet, after all -- but consider some of the facts pointed out by Lee Strobel in his book, The Case for Christ. For example, translating ancient texts can be like a game of telephone: by the end of the list, what you have is radically different from what began. However, studies show the Bible is approximately 99.9 percent accurate from the original manuscripts despite countless translations over centuries. Compare that with Homer or Plato, and you get a much lower score for accuracy.

I'm sorry the girl from your high school was too conservative for your liking, but that doesn't give you any right to attempt to discredit those of us who believe the Bible. What saddens me most is not the author's article; she has a right to her opinion, after all, but that The Daily Cougar did not run any kind of counter-argument against it. Funny how something as fleeting as politics has such a balanced section in The Daily Cougar, but not something as central to many student's lives as their religion. In serving such a diverse campus, the Cougar needs to take better steps in representing as many views on a topic as possible.

Ashley Mills
freshman, graphic communication

Letters to the editor are welcome from all members of the UH community and should focus on issues, not personalities. Letters must be typed and must include the author's name, telephone number and affiliation with the University. Anonymous letters will not be published. Letters are subject to editing for clarity, language and space. Letters may be delivered in person to Room 151, Communication; e-mailed to dclettrs@mail.uh.edu ; or faxed to (713) 743-5384.