(May 4, 2013 at 10:51 pm)Undeceived Wrote: I'm looking for a work of fiction/allegory intended to be a work of fiction/allegory but interpreted by others to be fact. This is to back up Lord Privy Seal's argument that the Gospels are misinterpreted fiction/allegory. I am challenging any proponents of the argument to show that such a work is possible-- by providing examples.
As you claim to be a believer the work is the entire orthodox bible as well as all the apocrypha and any similar text of the time frame such as Solomon's control of demons. So we have yours as what you want an equivalent to.
As I posted the Aeneid REPLACED Romulus and Remus and became the believed true origin story of the Romans. Was I not clear? Google it.
Far from your time frame the Iliad, very fictional, became the standard for the ideal Greek as though it were true. Behavior was judged by the standards and virtues of the people in the poem.
There are dozens of stories about the American revolution and the frontier. The more fictional the more Americans try to live up to them and take them as the ideal image of an American. You can find this in every country.
For you specifically we know all the stories of Christian martyrs in Rome are bullshit. We know the myth was invented in the 5th c. AD and embellished thereafter. We know even the Catholic church has admitted that the official list of martyrs is like all there ever were. Yet millions of Christians have been inspired to imitate such behavior even though it was rare and often misrepresented because they believe ALL Christians were like that. As do you.
