Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2003 23:28:37 +0200 From: Dag-Erling Smorgrav <des@ofug.org> To: JacobRhoden <jrhoden@unimelb.edu.au> Cc: Bill Moran <wmoran@potentialtech.com> Subject: Re: FreeBSD logo... Message-ID: <xzp8yu0gayi.fsf@flood.ping.uio.no> In-Reply-To: <200304170955.05600.jrhoden@unimelb.edu.au> (JacobRhoden's message of "Thu, 17 Apr 2003 09:55:05 %2B1000") References: <20030416104202.7271aed3.flynn@energyhq.homeip.net> <200304161124.59443.a.carter@intrasoft.lu> <200304170955.05600.jrhoden@unimelb.edu.au>
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JacobRhoden <jrhoden@unimelb.edu.au> writes: > It's ironic that it would be Christians who complain about the logo, > biblically speaking, there is no such thing as a 'demon'. The bible talks > about Angels, fallen angels (of which satan is one). The image of a 'devel', > the image which cartoons tend to use to represent satan, is the typical red > horned beast, which is actually from greek/hellanistic mythology. No, the modern images of hell and the devil are mostly derived Dante Alighieri's _Divine Comedy_ (ca. 1320). Traditionally, horns have been a symbol of wisdom, and you will find that the foreheads of various saints depicted on the walls of gothic churches throughout Europe are adorned with short horns. One should also note that it is very dangerous to put too much faith in the *details* of the Bible unless one has read the original text (hebrew or greek depending on which part one is reading). So many errors in translation have been made over the years that one can't even trust a modern translation because the translator's choices in cases where the original text is ambiguous or unclear are irrevocably biased by prior knowledge of earlier translations, not to mention lack of understanding of the cultural context in which these now-dead languages existed, and the subtle ways in which the Bible has influenced our cultures and languages through two millenia of Christianity. Few people nowadays realize (unless they're reading Luke 2, 7) that a crib is actually a manger or a stall in a stable; most people think it means a child's cot. Even fewer people realize that in those days herdsmen would stable their herd in their own house, with the humans sleeping on a mezzanine where they would benefit from the heat given off by the animals below them. But "there was no place for them on the upper floor" just doesn't sound right, does it? DES -- Dag-Erling Smorgrav - des@ofug.org
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