Quote:
Originally Posted by Boxjobox
So, would you say that the Christian thing is just for our galaxy? Aren’t we still trying to determine how many planets there actually are in our galaxy? Symbolism has its place- the gospel of John was full of it. Matthew end with Jesus up on the mountain- closer to heaven? Mark has him go up to heaven, Luke same, John has him eating fish on the sea shore- except he does talk earlier to Mary Mag about ascending.
Heaven plays a major concept in the whole bible and I suspect, up until the Wright brothers, it was still somewhat assumed that heaven was just beyond the clouds, just out of sight. Today, heaven is as nebulous to Christians as 6000 years creation. To say “ Oh, they just didn’t have a full view of the cosmos” or the Bible really wasn’t giving a scientific view of creation, kind of leaves us with a what else is not real- the flood, David, a real Jesus, resurrection? Heaven is one of those things that lost importance, as did discussing creation.
Symbolism doesn’t seem to account for the activities in the book of Acts.
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Bro zeek is just offering an alternative way to interpret the Bible, that makes it more palpable to modern minds.
Today, with science explaining most everything, it doesn't make sense that the man Jesus just lifted off the earth into a cloud, and vanished, and end up on high sitting at the right hand of his Father.
In truth it does need to be spiritualized. After all, maybe they could watch Jesus rise up to the cloud, but how could they see him at the righthand of God? (Not to mention that God has a right and left hand, and sits His
ass on a throne -- how's that for both a Christian and Jewish God? -- it was Christian Jews writing the NT books - don't claim Luke wasn't a Jew - they were anonymous).
So spiritualizing all the fantastical stories allows us to get the ethical values in the NT. Bro zeek is just creating a different method of making the Jefferson Bible -- not having to cut them out, leaving them but spiritualizing them.
It is an alternative way of reading the NT ... howbeit, not the traditional Christian way.