specifically not only in simple cases – like when Jesus said ‘you are the salt of the earth’
no one i know, thinks that Jesus mistook his disciples for for the mineral sodium chloride
in Matt 19:16 Jesus explains how to gain ‘eternal life’
should we take this literally as Dr Ehrman seems to think and understand the discussion by the preacher, Jesus, and the questioner a question how to remain immortal on earth ?
On the other hand see ** you do not have permission to see this link **
when the preacher, Billy Graham, states that “Christ now offers us the free gifts of forgiveness and ‘eternal life’.” if we follow Dr Ehrman’s way of thinking shouldn’t we understand Billy Graham to be implying that christians can be immortal?
In other words why should one believe one of the above two preachers is speaking figuratively and the other literally?
tompicard said
specifically not only in simple cases – like when Jesus said ‘you are the salt of the earth’no one i know, thinks that Jesus mistook his disciples for for the mineral sodium chloride
in Matt 19:16 Jesus explains how to gain ‘eternal life’
should we take this literally as Dr Ehrman seems to think and understand the discussion by the preacher, Jesus, and the questioner a question how to remain immortal on earth ?
On the other hand see ** you do not have permission to see this link **
when the preacher, Billy Graham, states that “Christ now offers us the free gifts of forgiveness and ‘eternal life’.” if we follow Dr Ehrman’s way of thinking shouldn’t we understand Billy Graham to be implying that christians can be immortal?
In other words why should one believe one of the above two preachers is speaking figuratively and the other literally?
I suppose that one first has to establish a plausible exposition of the systematic religious and social views of the individual writer. Next comes the problem of deciding which of a figuratively or a literal interpretation fits into those views.
Take the Bible literally wherever, whenever you can. After that, look at the figurative possibilities.
Immortal on earth? Not sure I see that. Our bodies decay and stop working. We can go on to live eternally in new eternal bodies.
Jesus knew before the questioner opened his mouth that he was not willing to be a disciple. The Christian life is a paradox. We give to get. We die to live. We obey to be free. We yield what we want and receive more than we could hope for in this life and in the one to come. We must love with every ounce of who we are and we can never be enough without God living in and through us.
Good question
Take the Bible literally wherever, whenever you can. After that, look at the figurative possibilities.
What about John the Baptist, who qualifies as a preacher? he said when describing the person coming after him ( the messiah ??) that
“His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
this is absolutely an instance where and when I can take john’s words literally i choose.
I can certainly imagine a wheat farmer holding a winnowing fan (whatever that is)l coming after John who owns a barn in which he only stores the salable product and the byproduct needs to be burned up. [Not sure exactly why John is bring this up , tho]
On the other hand I agree no one with any sense would take seriously a messiah coming or standing on a literal cloud !
How could a messiah standing on a cloud possibly initiate the Kingdom of God? doesn’t make any sense at all (to me)
but i wonder if i am just looking at these passages with my own preconceived biases
If you never read anything except the Bible and have no knowledge of literary techniques such as metaphor, simile or analogy then you’ll be hard pressed to read the Bible. What can he know of England who only England knows? But if you do make the effort to read widely and perceptively then you amass literary skills to bring to the Bible. You begin to hear voices- not imaginary sounds out of thin air – but the voices of the writers of these texts. It still takes study, but like the fat guy who starts exercising, it gets easier as you go and it becomes enjoyable rather than tedious. There are rewards.
So for example…
His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
This is an extended metaphor not a prediction of someone cleaning a barn. The Messiah will separate the good from the bad. He will protect the faithful folks and destroy the wicked. Remember who the audience was here. An agrarian image would make perfect sense to them.
Is this image to be taken literally or figuratively? Well it’s figurative in that it uses a metaphorical image to convey a truth but it’s also literal in that the prophet believed judgment was coming to the earth. The truth is that our ability to distinguish between “literal” and “figurative” is one of the aspects of modernity we do not share with the ancients. In other words, wrong question.
BDEhrman
FreedomBen
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