-Removed-"This is exactly what I'm getting at with this thread."
Me too!
"Something that is Literal is NOT the same as something that allegorical, metaphorical, figurative or parable."
Of course the Bible is full of allegories, metaphors, idioms, parables, hyperbolic statements and a whole bunch of other grammar stuff, and it's all literally true. 😕
"For example the tree of life. I believe the tree of life is god himself, manifested as Jesus Christ. The tree of knowledge is symbolic of our choosing self will and disobedience. It is a spiritual condition."
It's ok to try and understand the spiritual meaning of a verse or a passage, but I get a bit nervous when we depart from the exact narrative. Nowhere in scripture is God likened unto a tree. Doing so is called, to my way of thinking, spiritualizing the text.
"The truth is the same even if the trees are not literal trees."
The truth will never change. Everything in the genesis account is real and literal. The heavens, the earth, the sun, moon and stars, even the trees, the creeping things and all the animals. All brought into existence from out of nothing and nowhere in six literal days.
There's nothing in the narrative of the text to indicate otherwise.
Originally posted by @josephw"Of course the Bible is full of allegories, metaphors, idioms, parables, hyperbolic statements and a whole bunch of other grammar stuff, and it's all literally true."
[b]"This is exactly what I'm getting at with this thread."
Me too!
"Something that is Literal is NOT the same as something that allegorical, metaphorical, figurative or parable."
Of course the Bible is full of allegories, metaphors, idioms, parables, hyperbolic statements and a whole bunch of other grammar stuff, and it's all literally t ...[text shortened]... here in six literal days.
There's nothing in the narrative of the text to indicate otherwise.[/b]
A metaphor by its very nature is not meant to be literal. (Hence it being a metaphor!)
Dictionary definition:
'a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.'
Originally posted by @sonshipOf a truth!
There are things in the Bible only symbolic.
There are things in the Bible actual with symbolic meaning too.
And there are simply historical and actual matters in the record of the Bible.
The skill of determining which is which is not gained easily. And one should not expect to master this discrimination quickly.
Good students of the Bible can make ...[text shortened]... after years of experience and study may alter their previous opinions or emphasize differently.
-Removed-And you decipher the scriptures and give a wink and a nod of approval to same sex relationships.
I find anything you say about the meaning of scripture, whether literal or otherwise, hard to believe. You're a liberal minded person that bends and twists the scriptures to suit your own particular interpretation to fit your own world view.
-Removed-The Bible says what it means and means what it says. I learned a long time ago not to overlay my understanding of what I think it means, allowing Gods Word itself to teach me what it means.
God's Word isn't a man made document. I'm not arguing with it, nor am I going to assert my own ideas about what I think it means by what it says. The Bible instructs and I listen. The Bible teaches and I learn. The Bible guides and I follow. The Bible corrects and I humble myself under its authority.
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Originally posted by @ghost-of-a-dukeDuh!
"Of course the Bible is full of allegories, metaphors, idioms, parables, hyperbolic statements and a whole bunch of other grammar stuff, and it's all literally true."
A metaphor by its very nature is not meant to be literal. (Hence it being a metaphor!)
Dictionary definition:
'a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.'
And like divegeester you think the tree of life is a metaphor for something else.
Who or what told you that?
Originally posted by @josephwLook at you sir, back peddling from your statement that metaphors and the like are "all literally true."
Duh!
And like divegeester you think the tree of life is a metaphor for something else.
Who or what told you that?
Do you not accept the dictionary definition of metaphor, that it is 'applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable?'
If you accept the bible contains metaphor then you are simultaneously accepting there are parts of the bible that are not meant to be taken literally. You get that right? - And it's common sense that tells me things like the tree of life fall in to the metaphor category and were intended to be taken as such.
Originally posted by @fabianfnasThe one day that I go to church is Saturday. Late afternoon. Not every single week, admittedly. But mostly.
Everytime I think "Perhaps it wouldn't be bad to go to church one day?"