(February 28, 2016 at 12:20 pm)Rhythm Wrote: Then you were done a disservice. The catechism is clear.
If the Catechism says a Catholic is to believe in all the OT stories literally, then why not copy and paste it here?
I searched Catholic Answers for this so I could show it to you guys and put the issue to rest. Peggy Frye talks about it here, using the story of Jonah and the whale as an example: http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.ph...+the+whale
Quote:The Catholic Church is silent on the proper interpretation of many biblical passages, readers being allowed to accept one of several understandings. Take, as an example, Jonah’s escapade at sea, which readers often find disturbing. Ronald Knox said “no defender of the sense of Scripture ever pretended, surely, that this was a natural event. If it happened, it was certainly a miracle; and not to my mind a more startling miracle than the raising of Lazarus, in which I take off the story of Jonah is the element of the grotesque which is present in it.” (Ronald Knox and Arnold Lunn, Difficulties (London: Eyre& Spottiswoode, 1951), 109.)
The most common interpretation nowadays, and one that is held by indubitably orthodox exegetes, is that the story of the prophet being swallowed and then disgorged by a “great fish” is merely didactic fiction, a grand tale told to establish a religious point. Catholics are perfectly free to take this or a more literal view…
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
-walsh
-walsh