I am not jar. I am not privy to the thoughts of jar, so I cannot reply for him, but I thought I might provide a bit of defense here.
But who argues with you on that? You seem to go out of your way to pick a fight with someone who believes in the Trinity. But I think we all agree that God came to us lowly, as a man.
I do not think that he was "picking a fight" with anyone. Asking a question of someone, regardless of beliefs is not tantamount to "picking a fight." Of course, we cannot decipher anyone's intention (regrdless of use of smilies), but asking a question should not be equated with picking a fight, especially if it simply a question (of evidence in jar's case).
believe that Scripture must be read as literature. In other words, if we are to interpret the Bible literally, we have to interpret it as literature, while paying close attention to genre and figures of speech. Most scripture is particular to this because the Bible is a historical narrative that is interlaced with symbolism.
Contrastly, if we were to reduce the Bible to a mere allegory that conveys only abstract ideas without any correlation to history, then we would couldn't derive any actual meaning from it. It would be so open to interpretation that we could conceivably think that Genesis 1 is actually talking about poker-playing chickens.
For me, what is most amazing about scripture is that it speaks about actual events in human history, but there is almost always an underlying message just below the surface. The significance of the story is not always found in the story itself, though it is factual. The real treasure lies within the integrated message system devised by God for the purpose of mankind. In this way, much, if not most of the Bible is homily. God is providing for us a sermon intended to edify the believer or to bring about repentance to the unbeliever.
Yes, there are components of history scattered throughout the Bible. It is the oral (mostly) history of the Jewish people reflecting the origin of their beliefs and subsequently a semi-historical account of someone who believed he was the Jewish Messiah.
Besides all of that, I can use
Aesop's Fables, Greek myths,Babylonian myths, Chinese myths, Ainu myths, !Kung myths, aboriginal Australian and New Zealand myths, Norse myths and North and South American myths regarding morals and history. Why should the Bible's stories regarding a particular peoples' culture during a particular time influence my own life today any more than these other stories that regard the respect of elders, the creation of the world, the importance of self-preservation as a group, the importance of sharing, the... etc?
I do recognize the impact that Judeo-Christian thought has had on the development of Western culture, but where did Judeo-Christian thought have its own influence? I propose, not your god.
There are many events that transcend culture and time. For example, a quote from
Ancient Greece:
"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers." - Socrates
So is Judeo-Christian morality derived from God or derived from experience?
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