Welcome to EvC.
The owner of this board has a set of
rules he wishes members to abide by.
Rule #2 is "Please stay on topic for a thread. Open a new thread for new topics."
Admin can explain why he wants that rule.
quote:
Look I have stated I am new here, I have only posted one reply to a post in a thread I was interested in and when I made a point that either the member didn't have an answer to or could not refute a suggestion was made to close the thread on the basis that it was now "off topic". An Admin jumped in and closed it down. I read through the posts and though it wandered a bit here and there but I believe for the most part it was very much on topic.
The closing had nothing to do with you personally or Christian vs Non-Christian. I don't play favorites. I had posted several warnings in that thread concerning the topic. The opening post is always the guideline. Trust me, no one likes having their thread redirected by participants.
Opening Post
There are many occasions when reading through the threads here that I come across this sentence:
"Well that's obviously not to be taken literally - it was just a dream/song/interpretation that had at the time"
When reading the bible, what are the rules around what is to be taken literally, and what is not?
Are there any rules?
The thread,
Define literal vs non-literal., was about methods of interpretation, not about whether Jesus was real or not. That's more of an accuracy and inerrancy issue. Whether he was written as a literal person or not, was a stretch but if tied in with interpretation rules; it might have flown. I tried but they wouldn't go for it. The rule is, if you don't want to stay on topic, start a new thread. If someone wants to discuss an issue bad enough, they will start a new thread.
Were you interested in the post because of the opening post or because of the discussion around Paul's writings and whether Jesus was a real person or not?
Theodoric had already been warned that his line of discussion was off topic, so he would not have responded to
your post.
The discussion around Paul had nothing to do with the topic and I couldn't get participants to tie it back to the topic. The originator's request to close the thread confirmed that that line of discussion was off topic. Since earlier warnings and nudges hadn't worked, I felt closure was necessary to get everyone's attention.
My
Admin message gave people the opportunity to make a request to reopen the thread, but it still had to be on topic with the opening post. The discussion of Jesus wasn't.
If you want to start a new topic about whether the Gospels or Paul portray Jesus as a literal person, then go for it. There's nothing stopping you. I'm sure Theodoric will jump right in. Make your proposal in the
Proposed New Topics thread. I have no problem promoting such a topic if the OP is written well. Your OP is what helps Admins determine when someone is off topic.
If your topic is whether the Gospels or Paul portrayed Jesus as a literal person, then discussion of whether Jesus existed in real life is off topic because you specified how he was portrayed in the Gospels or Paul. This would be more of a Bible Study forum topic.
If your topic is whether Jesus existed in real life, then how he was portrayed in the Gospels and Paul is not necessarily off topic; but probably not concrete evidence. This would be an accuracy and inerrancy forum topic if you want evidence from outside the Bible, as well as Biblical evidence. It is a science forum so evidence outside the Bible is necessary. If you're not particular about the evidence, then the Bible Study forum is a good choice.
So the option is yours. Make a new thread if you wish to discuss the reality of Jesus (or how he was written) or ask for the old thread to be reopened if you wish to stay on topic with the opening post.