asaris

You realize, don't you, that that doesn't prove that 2+2=4, since a proof must be universally valid... (And yes, I know I'm being a little silly with this.)

Analog: I agree with you to the extent that I think that much of the Bible isn't meant to be taken literally. But I think some of it is. How much? Well, while I'm here: I have serious doubts about the historicity of anything before Abraham. I guess I probably believe some of it is historically true, but I just don't really care much. I suspect that most of the rest of the history, up through I or II Kings or so, is probably based on real history (there was someone like Moses, and like Abraham, and like David), but was embellished by later traditions, etc. Jonah and Job read more like fables to me than as an attempt at a real history. Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiates, Song of Songs -- well, I don't even know what it would mean to take these literally. Most of the rest of the history of the OT I would say happened, but I wouldn't be shocked if there was some embellishment. My faith doesn't exactly depend on Nehemiah actually rebuidling the walls of Jerusalem or anything like that. The problem occurs when you reason "Some of the Bible shouldn't be taken literally, therefore none of it should." That argument is just as valid as its opposite "Some of the Bible should be taken literally, therefore all of it should be taken literally."

What's important, on my view, is to note the literary style of each section. Much of Genesis reads like myth to me; Kings and Chronicles read much more like a, well, chronicle of the kings of Israel/Judah. And the gospels read like eyewitness accounts of the life of Jesus. So we should look at them in this way; the Christian belief, that the entire Bible is inspired, means only that everything in it is in for a reason, not that everything is literally true.

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"Die Deutschen meinen, daß die Kraft sich in Härte und Grausamkeit offenbaren müsse, sie unterwerfen sich dann gerne und mit Bewunderung:[...]. Daß es Kraft giebt in der Milde und Stille, das glauben sie nicht leicht."

"The Germans believe that power must reveal itself in hardness and cruelty and then submit themselves gladly and with admiration[...]. They do not believe readily that there is power in meekness and calm."

-- Friedrich Nietzsche