Religion

FBaggins

(27,807 posts)

7. Reductio ad absurdum

Mon Dec 17, 2018, 04:04 PM

Dec 2018

The bible isn't a single book (actually... the name makes that clear), and different pieces have different proportions of readers believing that they are metaphor/inspired.

Some of the books are clearly historical, others are poetry. Some pieces of other books are considered by some to be allegorical, but that's entirely different from saying that they are "fiction". Comparisons to Tolkien/Rowling books are laughable of course - particularly in the case of Tolkien (as is an implication that metaphor and "God's own truth" are the only options on that spectrum).

Of course... Guinness ranks it as the #1 selling nonfiction book of all time. So there that.

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If the Bible is primarily metaphorical or allegorical, it's a work of fiction. [View all] MineralMan Dec 2018 OP

keep swinging away don Fullduplexxx Dec 2018 #1

Don? MineralMan Dec 2018 #2

+1000 demosincebirth Dec 2018 #5

I think the whole question was best examined in this (admittedly fictitious) scene: DFW Dec 2018 #3

Very good, indeed! MineralMan Dec 2018 #4

My absolute most favorite scene in the entire series of West Wing!!!! nt AZ8theist Dec 2018 #16

I have many DFW Dec 2018 #17

I have many as well, ... AZ8theist Dec 2018 #20

I think CJ and the General is a little better, but this is close :) /nt LongtimeAZDem Dec 2018 #29

IMO it's for sure some of it was LSD inspired and/or written by psychos. And then there are the RKP5637 Dec 2018 #6

Reductio ad absurdum FBaggins Dec 2018 #7

So which one(s) don't include hocus pocus? Major Nikon Dec 2018 #10

An excellent question. MineralMan Dec 2018 #12

Or... Major Nikon Dec 2018 #15

Well, I saw a talking mule on TV. MineralMan Dec 2018 #23

Might be from the other side of the gene pool tho Major Nikon Dec 2018 #24

Which ones are "clearly historical"? Act_of_Reparation Dec 2018 #11

Another excellent question. MineralMan Dec 2018 #13

The point you're missing... FBaggins Dec 2018 #38

Oh, my... MineralMan Dec 2018 #39

Yes, explain to us dummies what history is. Act_of_Reparation Dec 2018 #40

What's absurd is any claim that any part of the Bible MineralMan Dec 2018 #14

Ah, c'mon, Mineral!! AZ8theist Dec 2018 #18

Well, there's that. MineralMan Dec 2018 #22

While they have found towns mentioned in the bible, Nantucket also exists, LakeSuperiorView Dec 2018 #21

Jesus metaphored over the Sea of Galilee, which does exist Major Nikon Dec 2018 #25

What, no cream cheese? LakeSuperiorView Dec 2018 #27

There had to be metaphorical condiments to go with the metaphorical lox. Major Nikon Dec 2018 #30

The schmear goes without saying. MineralMan Dec 2018 #33

I already dispute the "nonfiction" classification DFW Dec 2018 #19

Easier to pretend talking snakes, donkeys, and bushes are real Major Nikon Dec 2018 #28

History? edhopper Dec 2018 #31

There you have it. Fiction guarded WhiteTara Dec 2018 #8

More analogous to the Iliad & the Odyssey, IMO, but certainly you are correct. malchickiwick Dec 2018 #9

historical fiction... handmade34 Dec 2018 #26

God did not write edhopper Dec 2018 #32

Thank goodness. God spoke Elizabethan English. MineralMan Dec 2018 #34

And it was after the great vowel shift. edhopper Dec 2018 #35

Food for thought? guillaumeb Dec 2018 #36

Nothing wrong with leftovers. MineralMan Dec 2018 #37