Why read the Bible literally: take two

That's called a boo boo on my part. I need an answer to Message 248 which is my answer to your message 246.

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"The average man does not know what to do with this life, yet wants another one which lasts forever." --Anatole France

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I felt message 232 was my answer re. why take the Flood literally.

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Except that Message 232 was off topic. I'm not discussing whether one should take the flood as a literal happening. I am discussing the written story and the process by which you determine that what is written is to be taken as an actual happening or not, just as you do in anything else you read supposedly.You still haven't helped me to understand your criteria for determining that the story of Noah and the flood is to be read literally as an event that happened as written. Help me to see that you use that same criteria in reading other writings, such as the one I provided, as you do the stories in the Bible.

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"The average man does not know what to do with this life, yet wants another one which lasts forever." --Anatole France

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Well, I have the same view of the Flood as the NT writers did. Christ likens the unexpectedness of His Second Coming to the days before the Flood, when people went about life's normal activities totally unaware that judgment was imminent (Mt. 24).
Peter, in an extended analogy, portrays salvation by likening it to the Flood (1 Peter 3).

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Using the story to illustrate their point doesn't automatically mean they took the story as an actual happening as written. It is a story within their culture.Just as when I say someone is being a Scrooge, it doesn't mean I accept the Dicken's Christmas Carol as an event that happened as written.The book of Job is a dramatic poem and yet in the book of James it speaks of the endurance of Job. That doesn't mean the author is saying that he feels the story of Job was an actual happening as written.So far you still haven't shown me how you discern as to whether an author is making the reference as an illustration or actually feels the event was real.

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"The average man does not know what to do with this life, yet wants another one which lasts forever." --Anatole France

I find it fascinating that Steve8 assumes that I start with an assumption that the flood didn't happen. Unfortunately his assumption fails since I grew up in the Christian Church. I accepted it as true. It wasn't until I started studying the Bible that the story lost ground.

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so here's the question. when the hebrew word for "country" is used to describe what got flooded, what context makes you think it was global? what translators say? what you've heard about the story in church? or something in the text? because i don't see any literal indication in the text.

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Thank you for comfirming my thoughts that the words didn't really present a global flood.Good to see you are enjoying your Hebrew classes. I wish I was better with languages.I'm disappointed that this thread will end before Steve8 actually deals with the process of how he comprehends the flood story.Take care

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"The average man does not know what to do with this life, yet wants another one which lasts forever." --Anatole France

The flood story reminds me of a Bill Cosby story about his wife or his mother. A comment she made to one of their children."I brought you into this world and I can take you out."I think that sums up the flood story.

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"The average man does not know what to do with this life, yet wants another one which lasts forever." --Anatole France