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analog · 09-07-2004, 10:22 AM

It's a book of lessons, of morality, of doing what is right in the face of wrong. It is about being tested by evil and overcoming it, using storytelling to convey the ways and means.

Some people, unfortunately, think it's a fucking Encyclopedia and quote it/reference it in much the same way. "Well, it's in the bible, so it happened" is bullshit by the very nature of what the Bible is supposed to be: A collection of teachings, a guide, not manual, on how to live a good life in general, and also in the eyes of God.

Symbolism is used for two reasons:

1. Much of what was written at the time was written in styles like our metaphors, symbolism, etc. in english. Keep in mind these were NOT written in english, however, so "metaphor" is not a correct term, but close enough to get the point across.

2. Nearly every religion that's been around a while attributed events it could not reconcile with current knowledge to the acts of God(s) (read: greeks and romans and polytheism in general). Such as Genesis, and Adam and Eve, which are simply explanations of how we came to be. They are stories meant to convey that God put us here, it is through Him that we were created, etc... not necessarily that it took Him 7 days to make all of existence, or that we all come from only 2 people. The people who wrote the Bible had no idea about monkeys (or whatever) being linked to us in ancestry (as far as we can prove to a point).

Bottom line: It is not meant to be taken LITERALLY, but many people treat is though it were a book of facts.

09-07-2004, 10:22 AM	#7 (permalink)
analog Banned	It's a book of lessons, of morality, of doing what is right in the face of wrong. It is about being tested by evil and overcoming it, using storytelling to convey the ways and means. Some people, unfortunately, think it's a fucking Encyclopedia and quote it/reference it in much the same way. "Well, it's in the bible, so it happened" is bullshit by the very nature of what the Bible is supposed to be: A collection of teachings, a guide, not manual, on how to live a good life in general, and also in the eyes of God. Symbolism is used for two reasons: 1. Much of what was written at the time was written in styles like our metaphors, symbolism, etc. in english. Keep in mind these were NOT written in english, however, so "metaphor" is not a correct term, but close enough to get the point across. 2. Nearly every religion that's been around a while attributed events it could not reconcile with current knowledge to the acts of God(s) (read: greeks and romans and polytheism in general). Such as Genesis, and Adam and Eve, which are simply explanations of how we came to be. They are stories meant to convey that God put us here, it is through Him that we were created, etc... not necessarily that it took Him 7 days to make all of existence, or that we all come from only 2 people. The people who wrote the Bible had no idea about monkeys (or whatever) being linked to us in ancestry (as far as we can prove to a point). Bottom line: It is not meant to be taken LITERALLY, but many people treat is though it were a book of facts.