(March 10, 2015 at 1:43 pm)FatAndFaithless Wrote: How do you go about proving that something in the bible is a metaphor or to be taken literally?
Sometimes, you don't. However, most of the metaphors in the Bible do have some kind of precedent establishing them as such.
For instance, the lake of fire spoken of in Revelation is often cited by "Christians" as proof that the "unsaved" are going to burn forever. This is an obvious fallacy, according to precedent.
For one, John the Baptist baptized people into the same body of water, that being the Jordan River, but he spoke of the one to come (Jesus) who would baptize with fire, which subsequent verses tell us is the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
The lake of fire is a body of fire like the Jordan was a body of water, into which those who do not receive the Holy Spirit in this life are baptized. It's a perfectly obvious metaphor when you understand all of the many verses that refer to God and His Spirit as being like fire.
There are plenty of metaphors, particularly in the New Testament, that are exemplified in the Old Testament. It takes a good deal of familiarity with both to be able to make the connections, but they are definitely there.
