Posted: Apr 25, 2017 2:07 pm
Alan B wrote:Oh dear! Prayer v meditation!
Is there a word in Aramaic (I presume that this was the language that Jesus spoke & wrote) for meditate as opposed to pray? If there isn’t, then his use of the word ‘pray’ could also mean ‘meditate’.
There are two basic meanings for ‘to meditate’:
1. To empty the mind of thoughts as a religious or spiritual exercise.
2. To engage in deep or serious reflection about a subject matter.
If there is no word for ‘meditate’ as in definition ‘1’, then Jesus would use the word ‘pray’, thereby setting the scene for generations to come since subsequent translators couldn’t discern the difference. If there is a word in Aramaic implying definition ‘2’, it would not have been used in the context of ‘to pray’.
I would suggest that it is possible that the concept of ‘to meditate’ – definition ‘1’ – may not have been recognised as a discrete activity as we do today (in the ‘Eastern religious’ sense).
To argue that some ‘learned body’ has stated that ‘to pray’ is the same as ‘to meditate’ is an ‘Argument from Authority’ and exposes the misconceptions forced upon us by religions and their interpretation of ‘to pray’.
There's nothing wrong with argument from authority if that authority has the appropriate expertise for the subject at hand. We rely on expert opinions all the time. We all can't be experts in ancient languages, etc. etc..