What does this "as of the modern times" mean?

[Cap1034]

Everybody asks themselves this question of the old times as of the modern times; What is life?

What does it mean?

I place faith in the bible as in the real world.

What does it mean?

 

[Samuel Ezra]

Hi Cap1034,

The speaker here is comparing both times - the modern and the old.
So "as of the modern times" literally means
'like in modern times' or 'like the present day'.

It wouldn't be the most commonly used English though.

 

[Cap1034]

So it means "everybody asks themselves this question of the old times as if it were a question of the modern times?"

 

[Raymott]

I don't think a literate native speaker would come up with either of those sentences.
I don't see how asking "What is life?" needs to be done both of modern times as well as of old times. Wouldn't the answer be the same? I'm pretty sure the writer means something other than what they've written.
Where did these sentences come from?

 

[Rover_KE]

​[Closed thread re-opened to allow Cap to answer Raymott's question and explain why he/she disagreed.]

 

[Samuel Ezra]

Well yes, you could put it like that.
Or simply, that the question of 'what is life?' is still being asked today, just like it was in the past.

 

[Raymott]

​[Closed thread re-opened to allow Cap to answer Raymott's question and explain why he/she disagreed.]

Why are so many threads being closed in the first place?

 

[Raymott]

Or simply, that the question of 'what is life?' is still being asked today, just like it was in the past.

Yes, if you rearrange a few phrases and correct the sentence to mean that. And that is possibly the intended meaning. As it's written though, it doesn't mean that.
Compare:
1. "Everybody asks themselves this of Mary's great great grandmother as they do of Mary: How can she be so beautiful?" You could take the meaning as 2. "People used to ask the same thing of Mary's great great grandmother as they now do of Mary: How can she be so beautiful? But in that case, the sentence would be much better expressed if it said this. Sentence 2. could be further improved.

 

[Tdol]

I place faith in the bible as in the real world.

What does it mean?

I assume that this one means that the person trusts the Bible as much as they trust the reality around them, so it's a real text that can be depended on in the same way we trust the real world around us.

The intended meaning does not come across very clearly- both sentences would benefit from rewriting.

 

[Rover_KE]

Why are so many threads being closed in the first place?

I haven't noticed many being closed without a reason being given.

I place faith in the bible as in the real world.

Cap, please note that the Christian Bible is always capitalised.

Click here for usage of 'bible'.


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