Did God say it, or did you say it?

It's not a matter of believing what God said, it's a matter of trying to understand how or what Moses (or whomever the author was) was trying to convey.I assume you agree that the bible often uses allegory and imagery to convey a point that was never intended to be literal.Or should we expect you to start telling mountains to the throw themselves in to the oceans based on Jesus' instructions?Besides we don't know if God said anything. Just because someone claims to be speaking on behalf of God, I assume you don't always believe that lest you think suicide bombers are spot on.Taking the authority of the bible on account of itself is obviously circular, so these are valid questions.

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"Political correctness is tyranny with manners." -- Charlton Heston

Is it really so critical either way? Will it destroy one's faith whether or not it's literal or figurative?

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"Political correctness is tyranny with manners." -- Charlton Heston

Have you ever wondered at what point the author was given this special revelation? The Genesis narrative never explains how the author, presumed to be Moses, knows what he does in order to even claim it derives from God.

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"Political correctness is tyranny with manners." -- Charlton Heston

Because if you don't write clearly then no one knows what you're talking about. Allegedly.... You can't trust a murderer who buries his victims in sand. So then parables should be taken literally? Apparently no one has, including Jesus, so don't feel bad Why not? I think if people heard God they'd tend to believe. I never said otherwise. Saying the bible has authority because the bible says it has authority is circular.

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"Political correctness is tyranny with manners." -- Charlton Heston

I know what you are saying, and to a degree you are right. Occasionally, Yom is an unspecified amount of time, but more generally it is meant as a literal day, i.e. Yom Kippur.That the author of Genesis goes out of his way to use wording like, It was day, it was night, the first day. It was day, it was night, the 2nd day, etc, etc, only lends credence to the position that he was illustrating literal days here.From a literary standpoint, I think that is what the message is trying to convey. From scientific standpoint, I highly doubt it!

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"Political correctness is tyranny with manners." -- Charlton Heston

Precisely. There is no way of knowing the authors intent without the author's direct input; and quite frankly, he's dead, whomever that may be. We're all just making educated guesses.How are we even supposed to know it was written by a guy named Moses? Tradition claims it was written by Moses. It certainly could have been, but we don't really know that. We're taught that.

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"Political correctness is tyranny with manners." -- Charlton Heston