RE: Literal and Not Literal
August 28, 2019 at 10:19 am
(This post was last modified: August 28, 2019 at 10:39 am by Anomalocaris.)
(August 28, 2019 at 10:12 am)Acrobat Wrote:(August 28, 2019 at 10:02 am)Anomalocaris Wrote: It is totally applicable to every other text. But texts of value present themselves truthfully as the work of men, where as “holy” text pretends otherwise. So the application shows which is the fraud, and which are not in this regard.
Few things here, I’m more than happy to concede that the Bible is a work of men, inspired by God, are the works of the communities and people around the various scriptures. The Bible doesn’t deny this.
But secondly even if we were to say that Bible was penned by God himself, the idea that God would be less ambiguous in his communication is false. Perhaps if all God wanted to share with us is some series of scientific and historic facts, about his engineering skills, and magical performances, so we can be astonished by his technical feats, that criticism might make sense.
If god came down, and put on a supernatural magical show, all we can do is clap, and then get on with our lives as we normally do. This seems to be the sort of God, many atheists appear to be on the look out for, a sky wizard so to say.
This is the only sort of god consistent with attributes ascribed to god to entice the gullible. You can’t have it both ways.
(August 28, 2019 at 10:12 am)Acrobat Wrote:(August 28, 2019 at 10:02 am)Anomalocaris Wrote: It is totally applicable to every other text. But texts of value present themselves truthfully as the work of men, where as “holy” text pretends otherwise. So the application shows which is the fraud, and which are not in this regard.
Few things here, I’m more than happy to concede that the Bible is a work of men, inspired by God, are the works of the communities and people around the various scriptures. The Bible doesn’t deny this.
But secondly even if we were to say that Bible was penned by God himself, the idea that God would be less ambiguous in his communication is false. Perhaps if all God wanted to share with us is some series of scientific and historic facts, about his engineering skills, and magical performances, so we can be astonished by his technical feats, that criticism might make sense.
If god came down, and put on a supernatural magical show, all we can do is clap, and then get on with our lives as we normally do. This seems to be the sort of God, many atheists appear to be on the look out for, a sky wizard so to say.
(August 28, 2019 at 10:05 am)Anomalocaris Wrote: If your standard of what is true is what fires the neurons in the reptilian parts of your brain, then perhaps you should go back to being a reptile.
The hierarchy of truth, is ordered by importance, and the highest of all truths are moral ones. And these are not reducible to scientific or historical truths about reality.
It could hardly be truth of any altitude if it is no truth at all, but mere fantasies concocted to justify a set of ad hoc heuristics which were implemented to achieve varied ends, some to sooth reptilian needs, some to enable more calculating ends only a portion of which can be passed off, not necessarily honestly, as honorable.
