Why would God use metaphors?

Question

So let's look at my last question. Pretty much all the answers that Christians provided were that the whole eye thing is a metaphor by Jesus. But truly, would it be efficient to communicate using metaphors? God knows that man is errant, and makes mistakes. Considering that at that day and age, the whole "eye for eye" justice was taken seriously, it's quite possible that people could mistake Jesus' words, and think he was being literal. Why would God risk it? Being omniscient, he could figure out a way to say what he wanted to say without invoking the use of metaphor.

In addition, even if you can tell it's a metaphor, people are going to disagree about what exactly what God/Jesus is using the metaphor to say. For example, on that very question, there are a couple disagreements on what exactly the metaphor is supposed to mean. So, why would God use metaphors?

Previous question; http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AlQHSLFyqpEps0eHRvsNCKrsy6IX?qid=20070609001001AAScHIX

crystallinectar- So, when I have a book that is my message to mankind, I should put in metaphors that can be interpreted by different people different ways? Got it! You also didn't address my point about it being taken literally by mistake... why would God take that risk?

neo- I'm just interested to see what exactly the Christian response is. I might learn something myself as well.

Senses Fail- So if God is such a mystery, then how do you know he wants us to obey him and be loving?

Donald- I agree with you, but this message was addressed to mostly Christians- people who believe that God used metaphors in holy texts.

Jammy- Like with Donald, I pretty much agree with you as well. This was addressed towards Christians.

x2000: Don't forget the book of Revelations. Somebody had to be on something to come up with that!

bonsai bobby- But what about the confusion from the people who can see?

thundercatt9- Ermm... ok, so God used metaphors for that purpose? But that doesn't explain the possibility of misunderstanding and misinterpretation. In addition, it means that people, disagree on what the metaphor represents, which causes confusion.

Ed- Weren't the scrolls you speak of written by men as well? So they should be corrupted too. If you believe we can't understand God, then why assume that he would reincarnate as Jesus Christ? The Bible was corrupted and misinterpreted by men, right? We can't understand God, right? So then, how can we know that God isn't evil?

I'm going to nitpit and point out that not all religions pray, but that isn't really that important. If you don't want people asking questions, then why come to the "Religion & Spirituality" section? What else would people be asking questions about?

erina4holmes- Ok, please explain how that changes things please. " A simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson."- definition of a parable from dictionary.com

Answer 1

Because it took serious drugs to come up with some of these stories.

Person 1: So he is going flood the earth, what about the animals?
Person 2: *takes hit from bong* "Why don't you put all of them on a boat dude?"
Person 1: *takes bong* "Brilliant!"

Answer 2

We as mere mortals cannot understand God. The Bible was written by men, not God. Even the tablets handed down to Moses were broken.
Because people cannot understand God, they misinterpret the word of God as taught by Jesus Christ.
Because every religion claims to have a monopoly on prayer, the battle for who is right goes on. Even though all religions teach tolerance.
So stop asking for literal translations of something that happened in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, Two Thousand years ago.
Go to the Vatican and ask to see the scrolls for yourself.

Answer 3

True religious/spiritual teachings are all metaphorical and none of anything they say is meant to be taken literally ('rafts to get to the other shore'). Unfortunately, along the way, the metaphor is warped, the message is changed, the legends are built and all of this is taken literally. Even 'God' is a metaphor. Unfortunately, what we see in most religions is treating literally a deity that is a projection of people's thought systems.

Answer 4

The human mind is hard-wired to constantly move beyond itself as it makes sense of its experiences. The mind links the unfamiliar with the familiar to make sense of the unfamiliar. The transformation is not a total change of the meaning, but an expansion, a clarity, a move beyond what was known to something more. This pattern of metaphor mirrors the expansive nature of the universe. It helps one to realize that things are most often more than what they seem, or what we as humans can sense and know.

Update:

Jesus' teaching honestly can't be extolled for it's clarity. Jesus was often quite vague. What could possibly be the benefit of Jesus's hiddenness, intrigue, lack of clarity, metaphor, and answering questions with questions? Why risk being misunderstood--or not understood at all? I *think* it has to do with that we are growing and experiencing new things. Things are not what they seem at times and metaphors help us to relate to things as we are growing. God does not seem to be a "Wham, bam here's your answer' kind of being. It seems to be a more growing dynamic relational kind of thing. I mean really, how can one really know an infinite being with just words and concepts? Misunderstanding is inevitable!

Answer 5

Jesus often used metaphors to emphasize a point,such as the one presented in your previous post...he also spoke in parables which were confusing to those who were incapable of "hearing" and "seeing"(these are obvious metaphors as well)....but he used them to hide the truth for such as could not see.

Answer 6

all great writers use metaphors. (and god supposedly wrote the bible, which makes him a writer)

check out any great piece of literature. it should be abundant with metaphors. they allow for personal interpretation. without personal interpretation, literature is bland. if every single person interprets something the same way, then it would only speak to those who agree with those views. when interpretaton is allowed, it makes it personal and therefore understood by many, instead of a few.

edit: i don't believe in the bible, and i don't believe in god. i answered from a literary point of view, as per my expertise.

Answer 7

God doesn't use metaphors or write books, only men/women do. And even if God were to talk to a man, it would be grossly misinterpreted and misunderstood.

Answer 8

Because its a Metaphor and Metaphors are a Joke.

Answer 9

God is a mystery and no one should try to figure him out. God doesn't want us to hurt people he wants us to obey him and be loving. Maybe he wanted us to think instead of having the answer right there in front of us.

Answer 10

Not metaphors, parables. "He who hath ears to hear, let him hear."