MM William
THere's yet another way of looking at this. There are levels of observation
based upon where one stands. What do I mean by this. Lets take something as
simple as 1+1=1. Is it true or false? And then again, 1+1=10. Is this true
or false. In one sense only one of these can be true. In another they both
are. In yet another they can be both false. Now the first you'd recognise as
decimal (denary or base 10) and will be true for most. The second is binary
(base 2) in which only the digits 0 and one exist and so numbers recycle
much quicker. Here when ya add 1 to 1 you cannot get 2 in much the same way
there is no digit for 10 in the decimal system. So you recycle the digits.
It's much the same sort of thing with the symbolism of lets say the bible,
harry potter, etc. What is seen will depend upon where you stand. Do you
look at in in denary or binary so to speak?
MP
Penn
"William" <telige@mail.clara.fl.com> wrote in message
news:4069faad.30000602@news-text.blueyonder.co.uk...
On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 10:51:17 -0800, penitent leper
<bastaschs@peak.org> wrote:
On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 09:16:46 -0800, "Biff" <nospam@aol.com> wrote:
Ok, we already know by archeological evidence that at the time of the
supposed Exodus Egypt was peaceful, not anything like the Bible claims
but
if it *were* true then I have a few questions for Christians:
You're making the fundamentalist mistake of identifying factualness
with truthfulness. The Exodus and other biblical stories do not need
to be historically and factually accurate in order for them to be
powerfully true.
You mean the way that Harry Potter is powerfully true?
Your "questions for Christians" are only applicable to that noisy
minority of Christians who are biblical literalists. Educated
Christians take these narratives seriously, but not literally, viewing
them as teaching devices, parables, metaphors, and allegories.
If they are not literally true then they can be mean whatever you
like. That's the beauty of fiction - it doesn't have to relate to
reality.
Unfortunately you seem to have bought into fundamentalism's claim that
the stories need to be literally historical and factual in order to be
true.
Is there any bit of the bible which has to be taken as literally true?
If there is, then why should that be taken as literally true and not
another bit?
William
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