
The Social Reality Behind Ancient Religious Texts Whether taking into account the social reality of the word 'knowledge', through the method of pragmatics, attributes something to its meaning that lexical semantics alone cannot?- The Book of Daniel- The Apocalypse of Adam- The Book of Proverbs- The book of IsaiahIntroduction, Pragmatics, Context, MeaningReligious texts are essential for understanding the social reality of communities in ancient times. Textual sources and archeological excavations are the only means in providing access to these ancient religious communities. However a problem occurs when one wishes to understand the social reality of a community through a textual study. In order to interpret an ancient text in an accurate manner one needs to understand the corresponding social reality. It too is thus the object of one's research. But it is difficult to grasp the social reality through a text, because texts do not clearly describe these aspects. The author's motive to write a particular text is often not to describe their social reality, but lies in other reasons such as the promotion of his religious worldview. In addition and unfortunately, excavations cannot complement this lack of knowledge sufficiently. Thus, we find ourselves in a difficult position. In order to understand a text in an accurate and satisfying way, we need to take into account its social reality. But the only way to come to understand the social reality at the time of the texts birth is through the text. To meet this problem, it is important to search for methods that bring more clarity to both text and social reality. According to Peter Cotterell and James Turner the social reality in which a text was written can be found inside a text.1 To reveal the social reality behind a text, for purposes of understanding a text as good as possible, the method of pragmatics is first choice. I am of the opinion that pragmatics can be of assistance in both the search for the social reality be
Page Count:
230
Publication Date:
2018-09-05
Publisher:
Independently Published
ISBN-10:
1720087016
ISBN-13:
9781720087014
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