The first is the view of a fundamentalist. They believe that the story was written from the exact words of God and the writer could not possibly have made a mistake as he was writing from the exact words of God. They also believe that if there are any other versions of the story then they are wrong. This view is similar to that of the Muslim’s as they believe that the Qur’an is the exact words of god and any translation or altered story is wrong. In the situation of the healing of the blind man a fundamentalist would say that the story is in the bible so it must be exactly write. They would also say that Jesus has healing powers and can heal our spiritual and physical blindness.
The second view is a conservative view. They believe that the writer was inspires by God. They would have been deeply religious and had a vast understanding of God. Therefore, the story is the word of god but through them. This means that it is the way they recorded God’s word, however people who hold this view are not concerned when the stories occasionally contradict themselves. This is because they believe there is always an explanation for this as the meaning of the story is trying to be put across. For example, if they were to interpret the same story, they would say that there are other, similar accounts of people being healed so it probably did happen. They would also say that Jesus healed the man using supernatural forces that are to advanced for us to understand yet. They would also say the story may have some kind of spiritual meaning, but this is secondary to the fact that Jesus has these powers.
The final view is that of a liberal. Someone with a liberal view is inspired by things in and around him, for example his family or nature. Whatever it is, they believe it is the work of God. They also have a very deep understanding of God and believe they know things others don’t and believe they have certain insights into human life. They were inspired by God rather than the word of God so it is possible that some of the facts were mistaken. If someone with this view were to interpret the story then they would say that Jesus may have used paranormal powers but this is irrelevant. They believe that Jesus intended the story to have a meaning. They would say that the true meaning of this story is that Jesus has the power t o heal all of us spiritually and rid us of our selfishness and greed. They also believed that we are influenced to be like that from birth but Jesus has the power to heal us from this. The real miracle in their eyes is this.
I would take the view of a liberal, when interpreting texts from the bible. The reason for this is that I believe Jesus intended for the stories to be interpreted and for the true meaning of the story to be understood. I also believe that he is trying to show people that there is a deeper meaning to things, and some things may need greater studying and understanding rather than just reading. I also believe that the bible is intended so people can go to greater depths and prove that they understand the meaning of the stories as anybody can just read the text. Finally, in this story, I believe that Jesus was trying to show people that anyone can be religious if they are caring towards others rather than being selfish and greedy, and he can help them to do this.
By Anthony Saladas
