Garden of Eden was a setup...

[Thackerie]

And this is sourced from ... ? Or is it just an opinion.

Genesis 2

16 The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;
17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."

It's not an opinion, its spelled out in the Bible. You'd have to read the Bible cover to cover to even begin to grasp what the Lord is trying to convey in his Love letter to His Creation (mankind). Even then most will not be able to see it for themselves, unless they humble themselves before God and ask for wisdom.
So no not my opinion in the least. It comes from Gods wisdom which He gives to those that ask.

I did read the bible cover to cover. Twice. I also studied its history. That's why I'm an atheist.

[FatAndFaithless]

Ah, good, that part was easy.

Now, what system do you use to approach each passage in order to determine if it was a metaphor or a literal representation of events?

When the words "<this> is like <that>" show up, Jesus is telling us He's about to drop a parable on the disciples (the believer).
Like when "Galileo dropped the apple"
B-Boys lyric so don't bother correcting me on that....just thought it was funny.

The parallels part you have to study the Bible and read it or certain parts over and over before God reveals the connection. Except for when it's clearly spelled out like the Jonah parallel.

The metaphor thing is a lot more complicated for me and requires study and reference from those Bible scholars that are way smarter and more educated than I am on dissecting the Word,(one end of the spectrum), the other end being simply obvious, like the God is my fortress metaphor. And in some cases I just pray about it and let God show me.

Much like flying in IMC where I can't see squat, but I trust my instruments and and keep going (keep reading the Word and ask God for wisdom) and eventually I arrive at my destination.

How would you justify your opinion on a metaphor vs literalism to someone who holds the opposite view? Say, someone who actually believes there was a guy alive inside a whale for three days?

[ChristIsLord]

When the words "<this> is like <that>" show up, Jesus is telling us He's about to drop a parable on the disciples (the believer).
Like when "Galileo dropped the apple"
B-Boys lyric so don't bother correcting me on that....just thought it was funny.

The parallels part you have to study the Bible and read it or certain parts over and over before God reveals the connection. Except for when it's clearly spelled out like the Jonah parallel.

The metaphor thing is a lot more complicated for me and requires study and reference from those Bible scholars that are way smarter and more educated than I am on dissecting the Word,(one end of the spectrum), the other end being simply obvious, like the God is my fortress metaphor. And in some cases I just pray about it and let God show me.

Much like flying in IMC where I can't see squat, but I trust my instruments and and keep going (keep reading the Word and ask God for wisdom) and eventually I arrive at my destination.

How would you justify your opinion on a metaphor vs literalism to someone who holds the opposite view? Say, someone who actually believes there was a guy alive inside a whale for three days?

I don't have all the answers, but Jesus talks about Jonah's 3 days in the belly of the whale and I trust what Jesus is validating by referencing it. about it.

[FatAndFaithless]

That..wasn't exactly an answer to my question. What tools do you have to demonstrate you are correct about a passage being a metaphor, to someone who believes it to be ltieral.

[ChristIsLord]

It's not an opinion, its spelled out in the Bible. You'd have to read the Bible cover to cover to even begin to grasp what the Lord is trying to convey in his Love letter to His Creation (mankind). Even then most will not be able to see it for themselves, unless they humble themselves before God and ask for wisdom.
So no not my opinion in the least. It comes from Gods wisdom which He gives to those that ask.

I did read the bible cover to cover. Twice. I also studied its history. That's why I'm an atheist.

But did you bow down in humility before the Lord as Saviour and ask him for forgiveness first and then wisdom?

[FatAndFaithless]

Why would I bow down to something I don't believe exists?

[Chad32]

I did read the bible cover to cover. Twice. I also studied its history. That's why I'm an atheist.

But did you bow down in humility before the Lord as Saviour and ask him for forgiveness first and then wisdom?

That's not the reaction I have when someone has done something wrong. When you think someone has done something horrible, you don't bow your head and beg their forgiveness for not understanding why they did it.

[Thackerie]

I did read the bible cover to cover. Twice. I also studied its history. That's why I'm an atheist.

But did you bow down in humility before the Lord as Saviour and ask him for forgiveness first and then wisdom?

Yes. I. Did. -- The first time. But, eventually, I realized that 20+ years of bowing got me no response other than imaginary ones. So I took off the Jesus-blinders and read and studied the damn thing objectively for a change. You should try it.

[ChristIsLord]

But did you bow down in humility before the Lord as Saviour and ask him for forgiveness first and then wisdom?

That's not the reaction I have when someone has done something wrong. When you think someone has done something horrible, you don't bow your head and beg their forgiveness for not understanding why they did it.

So after reading the Bible twice and studying the history behind it you arrived at being an Atheist, right?
I'm confused as to whom is did something wrong that precludes you from bowing down to that someone?

[FatAndFaithless]

ChristIsLord, perhaps its because we don't feel the same need to reconcile nonsensical ideas with our own logic and experience of reality. Why on earth anyone feels obligated to give special treatment to anything the Bible says is beyond me, besides being told from an early age to do just that.