Ambiguous Reading is Fundamental
December 6, 2016
G.D.O'Bradovich III
ARIF
Ambiguity creates uncertainty and is to be avoided in clear writing. Uncertainty in certain writings create confusion in the minds of the majority of readers, hence, ambiguity is avoided in modern writing. However, in the minds of youths who like to think, ambiguity is the catalyst for further thinking, reasoning and, hopefully, discovery.
Orthodox icons, ancient and modern, depict the Nativity in a cave. Hence, there is no uncertainty in Orthodox tradition that Jesus was born in a manger and that manger was located in a cave. From ancient images to modern protestant pictures, Jesus is always shown with long hair. Interestingly, one rare point of agreement between Orthodoxy and Protestantism is how Jesus is rendered, although Saint Paul writes that long hair is proper for women, but not for men. In this example, tradition is more influential than Saint Paul, as most people imagine Jesus with long hair. We note that Saint Paul's opinion creates uncertainty as to how to correctly depict Jesus in the mind of the reader.
The New Testament states that Jesus was raised, but not born, in Nazareth, hence Jesus is called a Nazarene. The Bible also describes prohibitions when one takes the Nazarene vow, one of which is not cutting one’s hair. In the book of Acts, Saint Paul undertakes the Nazarene vow, so he could not be ignorant of this prohibition. Therefore, the Bible creates ambiguity regarding why Jesus is called a Nazarene- was he from the city of Nazareth or was he under certain Old Testament obligations?
Tradition relates that Saint James was a lifelong Nazarene and Saint Paul relates that he met Saint James, who knew Jesus for at least three years, if not his entire life, so it is unlikely that Saint Paul did not have an informed opinion on Jesus’ appearance.
Ambiguity is frequently found in translations. In the King James’ Bible, Strong’s number G863 [aphiemi] is translated as leave (52 times), forgive (47 times) and remit, whereas G1805 [exagorazo] is translated as redeem four times. Clearly, in the English language, there is a difference in understanding between forgiving sins and remitting sins that is not found in the Greek verb.
We suggest that it could be understood that in confession, Roman Catholic priests do not forgive sins, but remit sins, that is, the priest sends the sins away-the sins leave the person. Certain Protestants suggest that only Jesus can forgive sins, but their commentary allows the possibility that the Roman Church does, in fact, understand what it teaches, that sins are not forgiven by the priest in persona Christi, but are sent away or leave.
The easiest recognizable example of ambiguity is the explicit contradiction. Implicit contradictions occur from either improper reasoning or holding one or more premises that are untrue. In our example, we have several opinions that may be false; two of these assumption are that Jesus had long hair and Saint Paul was unaware of Jesus’ hair. If we assume, firstly, traditions regarding Jesus’ hair are correct and, secondly, Saint Paul knew Jesus was under the Nazarene vow, then we have a contradiction and, if both premises are true, then we have only one recourse to explain Saint Paul's initially perplexing opinion on men wearing their hair long: allegory.
Saint Paul, himself, suggests that the story of Hagar and Sarah is an allegory of the majority under the law contrasted with minority who have grace. If Saint Paul is writing allegorically about hair length, then it is necessary to understand what is meant by the terms “women” and “men”. The only method to correctly understand this allegory is to research all instances of man and woman in the writings of Saint Paul. This line of inquiry may lead the researcher to study other uses of opposites in Saint Paul's epistles, such as Jew and Gentile, and Greek and barbarian. Unfortunately, this endeavor is beyond the scope of this essay.
Explicit writing is similar to vulgar humour, in that it is available to everyone. Allegory, like irony, is subtle, and can only be understood and enjoyed by those select young men with certain refinements, such as being reserved or cautious. Any exegesis on an allegory can never be proved correct or shown to the most likely or acceptable explanation, regardless of the evidence.
Allegory breeds ambiguity.
We suggest that the uncertain conclusions that result from allegorical interpretations of text is the most convincing explanation as to why one invariably finds this method in the alleged writings of the Church Fathers when they comment on the Biblical text.
For if the writings attributed to the Church Fathers had the goal of clarification, then these books would have been written clearly and concisely, rather than being ambiguous and verbose.
Although writing is a form of communication, and the purpose of communication seems to the transfer of something, whether facts or ideas, rather than nothing; ambiguous writing can accomplish more than communication, as it entices certain readers to go beyond, well beyond, the explicit text.
We conclude that ambiguity is a writing style that will always be fashionable or desirable to a targeted and select audience. Although the heading of “Young men who like to think” will never be found in the stacks of bookstores or libraries, nonetheless, the Gentle Reader can locate such materials. As the Master says: “Seek and you will find.”
Orthodox icons, ancient and modern, depict the Nativity in a cave. Hence, there is no uncertainty in Orthodox tradition that Jesus was born in a manger and that manger was located in a cave. From ancient images to modern protestant pictures, Jesus is always shown with long hair. Interestingly, one rare point of agreement between Orthodoxy and Protestantism is how Jesus is rendered, although Saint Paul writes that long hair is proper for women, but not for men. In this example, tradition is more influential than Saint Paul, as most people imagine Jesus with long hair. We note that Saint Paul's opinion creates uncertainty as to how to correctly depict Jesus in the mind of the reader.
The New Testament states that Jesus was raised, but not born, in Nazareth, hence Jesus is called a Nazarene. The Bible also describes prohibitions when one takes the Nazarene vow, one of which is not cutting one’s hair. In the book of Acts, Saint Paul undertakes the Nazarene vow, so he could not be ignorant of this prohibition. Therefore, the Bible creates ambiguity regarding why Jesus is called a Nazarene- was he from the city of Nazareth or was he under certain Old Testament obligations?
Tradition relates that Saint James was a lifelong Nazarene and Saint Paul relates that he met Saint James, who knew Jesus for at least three years, if not his entire life, so it is unlikely that Saint Paul did not have an informed opinion on Jesus’ appearance.
Ambiguity is frequently found in translations. In the King James’ Bible, Strong’s number G863 [aphiemi] is translated as leave (52 times), forgive (47 times) and remit, whereas G1805 [exagorazo] is translated as redeem four times. Clearly, in the English language, there is a difference in understanding between forgiving sins and remitting sins that is not found in the Greek verb.
We suggest that it could be understood that in confession, Roman Catholic priests do not forgive sins, but remit sins, that is, the priest sends the sins away-the sins leave the person. Certain Protestants suggest that only Jesus can forgive sins, but their commentary allows the possibility that the Roman Church does, in fact, understand what it teaches, that sins are not forgiven by the priest in persona Christi, but are sent away or leave.
The easiest recognizable example of ambiguity is the explicit contradiction. Implicit contradictions occur from either improper reasoning or holding one or more premises that are untrue. In our example, we have several opinions that may be false; two of these assumption are that Jesus had long hair and Saint Paul was unaware of Jesus’ hair. If we assume, firstly, traditions regarding Jesus’ hair are correct and, secondly, Saint Paul knew Jesus was under the Nazarene vow, then we have a contradiction and, if both premises are true, then we have only one recourse to explain Saint Paul's initially perplexing opinion on men wearing their hair long: allegory.
Saint Paul, himself, suggests that the story of Hagar and Sarah is an allegory of the majority under the law contrasted with minority who have grace. If Saint Paul is writing allegorically about hair length, then it is necessary to understand what is meant by the terms “women” and “men”. The only method to correctly understand this allegory is to research all instances of man and woman in the writings of Saint Paul. This line of inquiry may lead the researcher to study other uses of opposites in Saint Paul's epistles, such as Jew and Gentile, and Greek and barbarian. Unfortunately, this endeavor is beyond the scope of this essay.
Explicit writing is similar to vulgar humour, in that it is available to everyone. Allegory, like irony, is subtle, and can only be understood and enjoyed by those select young men with certain refinements, such as being reserved or cautious. Any exegesis on an allegory can never be proved correct or shown to the most likely or acceptable explanation, regardless of the evidence.
Allegory breeds ambiguity.
We suggest that the uncertain conclusions that result from allegorical interpretations of text is the most convincing explanation as to why one invariably finds this method in the alleged writings of the Church Fathers when they comment on the Biblical text.
For if the writings attributed to the Church Fathers had the goal of clarification, then these books would have been written clearly and concisely, rather than being ambiguous and verbose.
Although writing is a form of communication, and the purpose of communication seems to the transfer of something, whether facts or ideas, rather than nothing; ambiguous writing can accomplish more than communication, as it entices certain readers to go beyond, well beyond, the explicit text.
We conclude that ambiguity is a writing style that will always be fashionable or desirable to a targeted and select audience. Although the heading of “Young men who like to think” will never be found in the stacks of bookstores or libraries, nonetheless, the Gentle Reader can locate such materials. As the Master says: “Seek and you will find.”