(December 2, 2022 at 2:51 pm)Belacqua Wrote: Anyway, it's not true to say that we read Genesis in EXACTLY the same way we read Hesiod or Shakespeare -- for aesthetic pleasure and the introduction of memorable images. Obviously, just the fact that so many people take the Bible more seriously affects our reaction to it.
But since the arts in general deal with non-science issues that are important to life, Genesis is more like art than it is like science. It provides images and symbols, sometimes in narrative form, which enrich our thinking about our lives and the issues in our lives.
In the 19th-century belief in the existence of fairies was widespread; does that widespread belief impact or shape your views regarding fairies?