In something as important as the Bible should metaphors be allowed?

Question

I suspect that when Jesus said dead he meant dead. I suspect that any variation on that basic theme was added or subtracted to/from the Bible by born-again Christian types trying to make ends meet.

Answer 1

The canon of the Old Testament that Catholics use is based on the text used by Alexandrian Jews, a version known as the "Septuagint" and which came into being around 280 B.C. as a translation of then existing texts from Hebrew into Greek by 72 Jewish scribes (the Torah was translated first, around 300 B.C., and the rest of Tanach was translated afterward).

The Septuagint is the Old Testament referred to in the Didache or "Doctrine of the Apostles" (first century Christian writings) and by Origen, Irenaeus of Lyons, Hippolytus, Tertullian, Cyprian of Carthage, Justin Martyr, St. Augustine and the vast majority of early Christians who referenced Scripture in their writings. The Epistle of Pope Clement, written in the first century, refers to the Books Ecclesiasticus and Wisdom, analyzed the book of Judith, and quotes sections of the book of Esther that were removed from Protestant Bibles.


In the 16th c., Luther, reacting to serious abuses and clerical corruption in the Latin Church, to his own heretical theological vision (see articles on sola scriptura and sola fide), and, frankly, to his own inner demons, removed those books from the canon that lent support to orthodox doctrine, relegating them to an appendix. Removed in this way were books that supported such things as prayers for the dead (Tobit 12:12; 2 Maccabees 12:39-45), Purgatory (Wisdom 3:1-7), intercession of dead saints (2 Maccabees 15:14), and intercession of angels as intermediaries (Tobit 12:12-15). Ultimately, the "Reformers" decided to ignore the canon determined by the Christian Councils of Hippo and Carthage.

The Latin Church in no way ignored the post-Temple rabbincal texts. Some Old Testament translations of the canon used by the Latin Church were also based in part on rabbinical translations, for example St. Jerome's 5th c. Latin translation of the Bible called the Vulgate.

The "Masoretic texts" refers to translations of the Old Testament made by rabbis between the 6th and 10th centuries; the phrase doesn't refer to ancient texts in the Hebrew language. Some people think that the Masoretic texts are the "original texts" and that, simply because they are in Hebrew, they are superior.

Some Protestants claim that the "Apocrypha" are not quoted in the New Testament so, therefore, they are not canonical.
Going by that standard of proof, we'd have to throw out Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations, Obadiah, Nahum, and Zephaniah because none of these Old Testament Books are quoted in the New Testament.


But there is a bigger lesson in all this confusion over not only the canon but proper translation of the canon , especially considering that even within the Catholic Church there have been differing opinions by individual theologians about the proper place of the deuterocanonicals (not that an individual theologian's opinions count for Magisterial teaching!).
The lesson, though, is this: relying on the "Bible alone" is a bad idea; we are not to rely solely on Sacred Scripture to understand Christ's message. While Scripture is "given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16-17), it is not sufficient for reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness.
It is the Church that is the "pillar and ground of Truth" (1 Timothy 3:15)!
Jesus did not come to write a book; He came to redeem us, and He founded a Sacramental Church through His apostles to show us the way.
It is to them, to the Church Fathers, to the Sacred Deposit of Faith, to the living Church that is guided by the Holy Spirit, and to Scripture that we must prayerfully look.

Answer 2

When Jesus said dead he meant dead.

But there are also metaphors contained in the Bible - Jesus used them himself when he said The Kingdom of heaven is like.....

Metaphors are used to help people understand difficult concepts by using knowledge of things they already understand.

So literalism and metaphor are both contained in the Bible.

The Bible, when read as a whole, makes its own "ends meet."

Answer 3

1) Ask God what should be "allowed" in the bible and what should not. He is the decision maker in regards to that. Certainly, you and I are not the ones to decide this.

2) Your suspicions are noted, but not really important to anyone but you. Rather than using your suspicions as judgment, study the manner in which modern translations of the bible are produced. You will discover that the source texts used predate the phrase "born-again Christian" by several centuries.

Jim, http://www.jimpettis.com/wheel/

Answer 4

I could easily ask, "In something as important as the bible shouldn't metaphors be REQUIRED?" Metaphors help people understand otherwise complex issues that if they were explained in technical terms, they'd get lost in a heartbeat. Metaphors are even used today in our textbooks. In the classroom. Jesus/God was not dealing with scholars and geniuses. He was dealing with the average man of average intellegence and my guess is he wanted the "good news" to be readily accessible to all those who encountered it without them being able to complain that it was (quote-unquote) "too hard to understand."

Answer 5

O really. What do you think Jesus meant when he said '...follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead” (Matthew 8:22). Presumably he meant allow those spiritually dead to bury those physically dead.

Answer 6

People talked in Metaphors and Parables in the time of the bible. Science, and the specifics of mathematics weren't invented or well known at his time. He talked in the language of those near him.

Answer 7

Please elaborate on your question. Because Christ used metaphors all the time. Not sure what you're talking about by Christians trying to make ends meet.

Answer 8

I'm sorry, what are you babbling about? Do you have a quote from someone misquoting Jesus?

Answer 9

come again