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Ah. Now that might have been (indeed it is) supplementary to the Bible literalism Poll. Indeed I thought it was I looked in to say "sorry...I talked of Bible -literalism..." Now Genesis literalism focuses the question. Unlike the Assyrian seige or the Maccabean revolt or the Babylonian exile, did the events of Genesis happen at all?
You needn't add Exodus since I don't now credit that it happened in ANY form (Once I did) but most Christians (and Jews and Muslims) do, I suppose.
There may be a mixed bag there. Do I think that there was a man named Noah who saw a massive flood? Yes. Do I think the entire planet flooded? Probably not. Do I believe that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the rest were real people? Yes. I do think that Genesis gives only a poor summary of their lives and experiences though. I think there is significant use of metaphor in Genesis and in most scripture.
I should probably clarify my "no" vote. I don't believe the stories in the Old Testament were simply made up. I do believe there was a man by the name of Adam, who disobeyed God and was cast out of his beautiful and safe home. If he had not existed and had not done something that caused him to "fall," there would have been no need for a Savior, who came in the form of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Thus, I believe certain elements of the story to be based in fact. That does not mean that I believe in a literal six-day creation that took place 6000 years ago. It does not mean that I believe God literally took a bone out of Adam to create Eve. It does not mean that I believe that there was no life on earth prior to Adam and Eve.
Do I believe the story of Noah? Again, I believe there was a man by that name and that through his obedience to God in building a boat to escape a great deluge, I don't believe for one minute that he was able to round up two of every kind of animal in the entire world to take with him. He likely did take a few of the animals that he could, but the simple logistics of the story the way it is told in Genesis is enough to make it evident to me that it is not literally accurate. Did the water cover the whole earth? It probably seemed to Noah as if it did, but personally, I doubt very seriously that he was right. In many respects, I see much of what we have in the Bible as allegorical and not to be taken literally.
None of this means I don't find value in the Old Testament. I believe it has some worthwhile lessons to teach us. We just need to use our brains in understanding them.
Literal. Jesus & the Apostles referred back to the events and the people in Genesis.
I find it puzzling that people think Jesus's references to Jewish scripture means an automatic leap to "it must therefore be factual."
I think probably EVERYONE agrees that the story of Job didn't actually happen, that all scholars in all denominations no matter how literal they may take most of the Bible know that this was a story written by Jewish sages to illustrate that bad things happen to good people and God does what he will because he is God.
So, if we therefore use Job as an example to someone in the modern day who is suffering, does that turn Job's story into an actual event? Of course not.
What about other tales as illustrations?
If we use Gone With The Wind as an example of why you should not let the hunger for money make you toss aside love and emotional connections, it doesn't make GWTW real, but it illustrates a point even though we know Scarlett O'Hara is a fictional character.
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