Is it possible that the Old Testament is really.....?

Question

.....a historical collection of "life lessons" recorded by very intelligent people over the ages who just did not have the where-with-all to know the causes of the natural or social phenomena they lived or experienced? Isn't the real story behind Adam and Eve simply that our ancient ancestors understood that because humans had weaknesses life would not always be a 'Garden of Eden'? Forget the snakes and the fig leaves. That's just the storyline to convey the real message. Or Noah really experienced a bad earthquake / tidal wave flood and happened to be near his boat? There weren't many meteorologists or seismotologists then, so they ascribed this incredible unknown force to God. The lesson being that when it hits the fan, the prepared (righteous) will survive (be saved). Is it possible to take the literal reading out of the equation, pay attention to the lessons, still believe in God, and still be a ________? What faith would that be?

well, it would be seismology, that's fer sure.

gee, I make mistakes correcting mistakes. Seismologists practice seismology.

Jereme K -- your reference to Timothy is interesting. God is very inspirational and that is how these very good life lessons evolved -- good people long ago were able to see "truths" about life in their mortal experiences. I think the question then is if the recordation of the experiences was embellished to draw the connection to God? Or did these things really happen as literally stated in the Bible? Either way isn't the underlying message for believers of God is the same?

thankyou, Jerome, for the followup

Answer 1

I guess you will be finding out for sure very soon. I think we are all in for a very big surprise!

Answer 2

The thing about Noah is that it had never rained before the flood. The first time it rained was when God flooded the earth. That's why people had no idea what Noah was doing and laughed at him. Noah was just being faithful and trusting God.

Also, the Bible states in Timothy that all scripture was inspired by the Holy Spirit. It wasn't just man writing life's lessons down; although the bible DOES teach a great deal on life's lessons.

UPDATE TO RESPONSE:

Yes, these recordings were to draw a connection to God. The Bible is full of both literal and non-literal happenings. A lot of the things that happened in the Bible are historical; ie the flood; kings ruling; wars; deaths; etc. The Bible was written to man from God so we can have a relationship with him and by reading the Bible we know how God is. His character, thoughts and feelings.

Answer 3

I don't know what faith it would be but I do agree with you. People take the bible way to literally and that's where many problems arise. My personal belief is that the bible is really just a book of long metaphors. The stories are more about teaching lessons than history.

Answer 4

Excellent point! It makes sense. The Bible may have been meant as a guide, not to be taken literally for every word, but over the centuries it has become an "infallible" source of word-for-word rules.

Answer 5

Fully Realized Human Being (Insan Kamil)

Islam - Sufism

Answer 6

I wouldn't have a problem with that, but most Christians have to take it literally.

Answer 7

That is MUCH more believable to me.

Answer 8

Nah.

Answer 9

no one should even consider read or discuss about old testament, the book itself contain words of satan.

Answer 10

No.