Re: Latter-(day) Re: Inflecting Jesus Christ (was: Never violate a universal ...)

David Barrow wrote:

>  From Longmans Dictionary of Contemporary English
>
> latter: n the latter (formal) the second of two people or things just
> mentioned
>
> latter adj (only before a noun)1 being the second of two people or
> things , or the last in a list just mentioned. 2 The latter part of a
> period of  time  is nearest  to  the  end  of  it.
>
> latter-day adj (only before a noun) eg a latter-day Robin Hood.
> something or someone that exists now but  is  like  a famous person  or
> thing  that  existed  in  the  past.
>
> So,  'latter-day'  is  a compound adjective with a different meaning to
> 'latter'.  I suppose Latter-Day Saints comes from them being likened in
> some way to those of Jesus' time, what do the Mormons here say?   And
> maybe the German and Dutch speakers can say how the above definition
> fits in with their translation of the term
>
> NB change of subject line ;-)
>
> David Barrow
Your conclusion that 'Latter-Day Saints' are likened to the saints of
Jesus' time is correct. But the idea that 'latter-days' (from the German
translation) refers to the final days before the Second Coming of Jesus
Christ is also correct, as I mentioned in my earlier post.

That a word, phrase, or story can have multiple meanings is nothing new
in the gospel. Christ Himself taught in parables, which have different
layers of meaning--from that of a simple story using everyday
occurrences to deep spiritual meaning--depending on the spiritual
preparedness of the hearer.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

--
=============
James Worlton
          "Time flies like an arrow.
           Fruit flies like a banana."
                           --Unknown

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