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Our role(s) as Christians on Atheist Forums
#57
RE: Our role(s) as Christians on Atheist Forums
This is a question that sets my hermeneutic apart from the more conservative/traditional positions of modern Evangelicals and other groups similarly inclined to see the Bible as a literal document to be accepted primarily on a superficial level.

Their position, as I understand it, is that unless everything contained in the biblical canon is completely true in every respect then we cannot trust it. In other words, if we cannot rely on Scripture to accurately convey natural truths how can we rely on the historicity of Gospel accounts or even the spiritual truths conveyed by Jesus or Paul when they makes reference to Old Testament stories. Such stories include Jonah being swallowed by and emerging from a big fish after 3 days and Adam & Eve as the original parents bringing on the Fall from Grace by their personal actions?

That’s a good question but one I consider beyond the scope of the question. At the same time, it is interesting to note how literalists either 1) strain credulity by trying to resolve apparent internal contradiction in text, 20 rationalize scientifically inaccurate details, 3) embrace patently absurd notions, such as God talking to a snake, or 4) walk back from their literalist position by acknowledging different genres presented by the 66 books of the canon and the need to carefully discern when a passage should be taken figuratively.

But the question hinges on the nature and purpose of the biblical texts. Since both literalist and non-literalist Christians accept its authority, we must look first to Holy Scripture to see what it says.

“Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old: Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God. That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments: - Psalm 78:1-7 (my emphasis)

To me the Psalmist’s position is unequivocal. Not only does he simply assert that the ancient narratives are couched in parable, allusion and allegory, the psalm continues to give specific examples and tells us which stories those are. They include the plagues of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, and manna falling from Heaven. It is clear the God’s purpose for these “dark sayings of old” is not to simply convey momentous historical events; but rather, to produce spiritual changes in those who hear them, i.e. to put our hope in God, to see the work of His Providence in all things, and to guide us into following Him.

This is confirmed by Paul in the New Testament:

“…we speak of the mysterious and hidden wisdom of God, which He destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it. For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Rather, as it is written: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.,’ But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of man except his own spirit within him? So too, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. – 1 Cor 2: 7-13 (my emphasis)

The message of Paul is also unequivocal. Natural facts and historical details from a superficial reading of the texts have little value compared to the “deep things of God” and the truths “revealed to us by the Spirit.” Look how many times he uses the word “Spirit” In other words, it doesn’t matter if the writers thought the sky was an azure dome or rabbits chew the cud, or they thought the value of pi was 3. That kind of knowledge does not save. The Bible is a spiritual guidebook, not science textbook. The depth and richness of its uniquely spiritual wisdom is what sets it apart from all the books based on "the spirit of the world" and testifies to its divinity.

This is also the way to approach the most baffling of all texts, Revelation.

“I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance that are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and my testimony about Jesus. On the Lord’s day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, saying, “Write in a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.” – Revelation 1:9-11

I would ask all my brothers and sisters in Christ to search out every instance of someone being “in the Spirit” What other purpose is there for being “in the Spirit” than to discern movements and shifts in the spiritual dimensions of our personal lives and social history?
<insert profound quote here>
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RE: Our role(s) as Christians on Atheist Forums - by Neo-Scholastic - May 18, 2018 at 12:38 pm



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