From: doug@uuisis.isis.org (Doug Thompson)
Subject: Re: Proof: God wrote the Bible
Organization: International Shared Information Service (Ottawa)
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 92 03:04:11 GMT


>>Divine inspiration is what the bible claims of itself.  When the bible 
>>>claims  that "all scripture is inspired" (theopneustos-literally God breathed) 
>>>it is claiming *what is written* is true.
>>
>>Nonsense.  It is claiming that what is written is inspired.  The same claim
>>was made by Milton of 'Paradise Lost'.  The same claim, using the exact
>>same greek word, was made of the Iliad of Homer; any Hellene who on this
>>basis asserted that, say, the 'Catalogue of Ships' was literal truth
>>would have been laughed out of the agora.
>>
>>"inspired" doesn't mean "literal": poetry is inspired; drama is inspired -
>>and so on for the rest of the Nine.  Scripture itself tells you as much:
>>"for the letter killeth; but the spirit giveth life".
>
>It is not nonsense.  It is painted on just about every page of the bible.
>Even the verse 2Tim3:16 in which says that "all scripture is inspired",
>continues on and says it is useful for *correcting*.  How can it correct
>if it is not the truth?  

>The bible does not claim some sort of "poetic" inspiration, or enthusiasm,
>or 'uplifting'.  It claims it can teach, rebuke, and correct.

Nathan rebuked King David with a story that was completely fictitious in
its literal details, but 'true' in its moral content.  That story was
about a rich man taking a lamb from the children of a poor man.  It is
clear in the text that the prophet made up the story.  When the King
announces that he will punish the rich man and asks who he is, Nathan
tells David "It's you".  David understood the connection to his affair
with Bathsheba, and the murder of her husband.  etc. 

>continues on and says it is useful for *correcting*.  How can it correct
>if it is not the truth?  

Elementary sir! The 'inspired prophet' Nathan corrects and rebukes the
King through a story which he made up. 

Jesus told many parables the overt content of which was not directly
'true' or connected to actual historical events. "A woman loses a coin .
. ." Well, we all know that the *meaning* of the story is a higher meaning
and Jesus is not giving us 'facts' about a particular historical person
and event in relaying that story even though the overt content of the
text is a report of a person losing some money.

A great deal of what the Bible reports Jesus to have said consists of
parables.  The literal truth of the parables, i.e.  "Who lost the coin,
what was her name and address? On what date did she lose the coin? What
was the value of the coin? Where did she lose it?" is wholly irrelevant. 
To even ask that question when trying to understand that parable is to
*completely* miss the point and almost guarantee misunderstanding. 

Now if we recognize that a great deal of what Jesus is reported to have
said is *not* to be taken literally but must be understood
metaphorically how can we leap to the assertion that the Bible itself
*is* to be taken literally and must not be interpreted metaphorically?

So I would ask that you stop and think about 'truth' and get the notion
out of your head that it has anything to do with 'accurate reports of
facts'. It will help if you read the gospels with the question "who was
the first person to discover the empty tomb after the resurrection?" You
will find that there is more than one answer. Obviously enough that kind
of question can only have one 'true' answer.

The point is that this isn't a sensible question to ask of a document
like the Bible. If you ask such dumb questions you won't find good
answers. :-).

=Doug

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