How is God described in your religion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bible scholar: how do we determine what is literal truth and what is a parable in the bible?

Such a great question! Can I recommend an excellent book on that subject? "Marcus Borg's Bible Overview- Reading the Bible (again) for the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously but not Literally"

Borg is a very well-known, well-respected Biblical scholar. His book does a great job explaining exactly what you asked. The answer is that you have to read the Bible with a clear understand of time, history, politics, culture, author, target audience, translation, and so many other factors. It's a fascinating book. Another good one is "Who Wrote the Bible" by Richard Friedman. It's a little more technical and harder to read.

Neither of these books claim that the Bible is divinely inspired. In fact no scholarly work would make such a claim

I agree. I didn't mean to imply that they did. The question was "how do we determine what is literal truth and what is parable in the Bible". I was responding to that. Borg's book does an excellent job of responding to that question.

Whether or not it is "divinely inspired" is a different issue, and a deeply personal one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bible scholar: how do we determine what is literal truth and what is a parable in the bible?

Such a great question! Can I recommend an excellent book on that subject? "Marcus Borg's Bible Overview- Reading the Bible (again) for the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously but not Literally"

Borg is a very well-known, well-respected Biblical scholar. His book does a great job explaining exactly what you asked. The answer is that you have to read the Bible with a clear understand of time, history, politics, culture, author, target audience, translation, and so many other factors. It's a fascinating book. Another good one is "Who Wrote the Bible" by Richard Friedman. It's a little more technical and harder to read.

Neither of these books claim that the Bible is divinely inspired. In fact no scholarly work would make such a claim

I agree. I didn't mean to imply that they did. The question was "how do we determine what is literal truth and what is parable in the Bible". I was responding to that. Borg's book does an excellent job of responding to that question.

Whether or not it is "divinely inspired" is a different issue, and a deeply personal one.

To be a bit more precise, whether one believes it is divinely inspired is personal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don't rely on religion. Don't rely on other peoples description. And don't create him in your image. Read the word and see how he describes himself.

"The Word" is nothing but a collection of stories describing MAN'S response to HIS experience with God. Important? Yes. Inspiring? Of course! Relevant? Absolutely! Sacred? Yes, but only because we made it so.

I love the Bible and consider myself a Bible scholar. It's rich and beautiful and Divenly inspired exactly as it is. You don't need to turn it into something else.

NP- I feel the exact same way. Thank you for posting those book recommendations; I plan to check them out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bible scholar: how do we determine what is literal truth and what is a parable in the bible?

Such a great question! Can I recommend an excellent book on that subject? "Marcus Borg's Bible Overview- Reading the Bible (again) for the First Time: Taking the Bible Seriously but not Literally"

Borg is a very well-known, well-respected Biblical scholar. His book does a great job explaining exactly what you asked. The answer is that you have to read the Bible with a clear understand of time, history, politics, culture, author, target audience, translation, and so many other factors. It's a fascinating book. Another good one is "Who Wrote the Bible" by Richard Friedman. It's a little more technical and harder to read.

Neither of these books claim that the Bible is divinely inspired. In fact no scholarly work would make such a claim

I agree. I didn't mean to imply that they did. The question was "how do we determine what is literal truth and what is parable in the Bible". I was responding to that. Borg's book does an excellent job of responding to that question.

Whether or not it is "divinely inspired" is a different issue, and a deeply personal one.

To be a bit more precise, whether one believes it is divinely inspired is personal.

Perhaps, but some religions require belief in the Bible's divinity -- under threat of eternal hell.