> If we don't start with some anchoring in what the human writers
>intended then we open up texts to all sorts of guesses about what the text
>"really" means and start reading into it our own meanings - which we will of
>course think are what God really meant.
Although I agree that the original understanding of the author is extremely
important to understanding the text, there seem to be exceptions. A few
texts explicitly assert that those present at the time did not understand,
such as John 11:50 or 12:16. In the former, even the speaker was unaware
of the full import of his words. By the time he wrote, John had figured
out the importance of these. However, OT prophecy of NT or eschatological
events certainly could have been beyond the understanding of the author.
David C.
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