Re: [asa] A parable of three investors

Glenn wrote:

> I would ask, when faced with a choice, one interpretation makes the Bible
> capable of matching archaeological and scientific reality and the other
> demonstrably makes the Bible false, why on earth do we WANT to chose the one
> which makes it factually false? Do we like investing in theories which
> makes it false? I suspect we too often do. For the life of me, I can't
> figure out why. If one applies such a strategy to life (like investing
> where bad decisions lead immediately to great pain), one will lose money.
> Maybe we don't have any real skin in the game (there is that word 'real'
> again)
>

I imagine this is falling on your favorite topic of Gen 1-11. :-)

If we can find a way to reconcile Biblical accounts, descriptions
etc. with historical or archeological data, then yes, that is
certainly easier. Nevertheless, even given we could reconcile everything and
feel quite satisfied at what we see, the choice of discussion material, the
delivery,
the purpose, and the style are all part of the issue too. It is important to
know
the intent of the author, and for those of us who believe in God, indeed God,
in
the production and survival of any of these rare writings of antiquity.

I find in these writings more than one dimensional. They could be just
simply
journalistic accounts of events from occurred in antiquity, and certainly,
given that being their sole purpose, it would be nice to find some evidence
for the facts that these accounts purport. However, I sense there is a much
deeper poetic side to much of this writing that was somehow survived long.

I don't argue with the value of "facts"in my reading of creation accounts.
Nevertheless, the accounts seem to have their main purpose on getting
us to recognize that all is the work of a creator --- regardless of whether
of whether life emerged from a bubbling pond of chemicals or by the first
investor's belief in a dramatic "poof" (just push the "on" switch: off
switch?
Oh!). So certainly, there is value to trying to see if there is some way to
reconcile what we know with what is written.

On the issue of Adam and Eve, the Garden, sin & death, Cain & Abel, Noah
and the tower of Babel, I never had much attachment to those as being
real accounts. If any of them are, fine, it's interesting, but if they are
_mere
stories_, I would lose no sleep over it. They speak loudly to me about my
own
nature, my sinful nature, and my arrogance to make their point very clear.
Even if the accounts are historical, and maybe they are, I would be just as
satisfied that it was some Neanderthal who took the Lord's name in vain
after stubbing his toe. We're all "Neanderthals" from time to time. It
happened
somewhere, and to get stuck on the details, in many ways, misses the real
point
of these writings in our spiritual life.

> I just find it so difficult to understand why people prefer the Bible to be
> false to having at least a hope that it contains some history--real history.
> As I said to Iain in the discussion about Yeled in Chapter 5. Atheists too
> want the Bible to be false. For us to play their game is insanity. Like
> Henry or Bob
>

I don't like your attribution that we "prefer the Bible to be false".
The Bible is a book. The way I came to God was because God was
gracious enough to try to reach me, a sinner, and I must find a
way to understand more about this. So the bible is an important
guide to me, but at the end of the day, it is a book. The best
I can do is try to glean out what the book is trying to tell me.

Why are we surprised that atheists ignore and disparage such
writing? Israel's kings ignored scripture when it was fresh; long
before it was compiled in a printed bible and long before there was
any systematic form of science we know today. Warnings about
judgment were read out loud, sliced off, and tossed in the
fire. How is that any different from what we see today?
The heavens and the earth speak to the glory of God, but
somehow, one still needs eyes to see and ears to hear.

I don't deny the value of facts, but I think there is a lot
more going on in these matters than facts: no matter how
many, how accurate, how predictable, or how far reaching
they may (or may not) be, as it were.

Spiritual matters are not things we can control.

By Grace we proceed,
Wayne

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Received on Sun Oct 29 16:26:26 2006