[KLUG Members] better to be a gatekeeper...

[bill]

On Thu, 2005-03-10 at 10:12, Eric Beversluis wrote:
> On Thu, 2005-03-10 at 09:10 -0500, Adam Tauno Williams wrote:
> > > Apropos "dwelling in the tents of wickedness," based on my past two days experience I could report to KLUG on the Mid-Atlantic Meeting of the American Academy of Religion and the Society for Biblical Literature. Adam, let me know if there are any dates open. 
> > 
> > If wickedness can somehow be related to Open Source, they I'm game!
> 
> In a way, sacred writings are the original open source project, at least
> if one doesn't accept some form of "divine dictation" theory of
> inspiration. 

Theopneustos guarantees the result not the process.  Even if it didn't,
the nature of revelation is the opposite of closed source: if it's
revealed it's open, even if the revealer is divine.

> As I understand it, most such texts evolved over time, with
> additions and improvements being accepted by the community if they
> "worked" (in an appropriately broad sense of "worked").

That's a common myth.  Texts have been generally accepted because they
"worked," to use your term, but not because they were improved, but
because they were so excellent to start with.  At least for the biblical
text, archeology continually uncovers older texts increasingly
validating the current readings as accurately portraying the original. 
Older manuscripts are almost always given greater weight than later ones
in textual analysis.  

> Scholarship also has tended to be "open source," at least till well into
> the age of capitalism. And even at its best today it's open source.
> 
> These relevancies are, of course, a stretch that probably precludes the
> topic from a KLUG meeting.  :)

Or a KLUG list. :-)

kind regards,

bill