The Metaphoric Explanation of the Holy Bible – Discovering True Christianity

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Giuliano

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It's dangerous to assume that something was merely spiritual unless the Bible makes this clear. Of course, the literal veil being torn in two also had huge spiritual implications. So, it's both/and, not either/or in this case.


Again, you make dangerous assumptions here. The Magi studied the physical stars. That's what they SAW and followed.

With your line of reasoning, any truth in the Bible could be reasoned away. It's man's faulty reasoning, not God's.
.
Ha, ha, and let me guess: You think Herod was physically blind -- and you think too that a physical star could stop over a house. You don't have a clue what spiritual stars are, do you?
 

Prayer Warrior

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You continue with the insults just as were insulting before. You say I"m wrong but incapable of showing it. Does that make sense?
I say that you're very wrong and that there are plenty of people who could show you this!
 

Prayer Warrior

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Prayer Warrior

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Keep saying I'm wrong. Maybe you'll convince yourself.
No, I'm convinced that you're wrong. Just because I don't spend endless hours debating you, it doesn't mean that I don't know you're wrong. I work and have a family to tend to.

Do you think that you're the first person to challenge the inerrancy of the Bible? This has been debated throughout the ages. It's sad that you've picked the losing side--sad for you, but also sad for the people you influence.
 
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Giuliano

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No, I'm convinced that you're wrong. Just because I don't spend endless hours debating you, it doesn't mean that I don't know you're wrong. I work and have a family to tend to.

Do you think that you're the first person to challenge the inerrancy of the Bible? This has been debated throughout the ages. It's sad that you've picked the losing side--sad for you, but also sad for the people you influence.
It must be wonderful to feel you know so much that you can look down your nose at me. I think I have you nailed down. You are full of pride. That is why you lashed out at me -- I wounded your intellectual vanity.
 

amadeus

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It beats me why he said they were "complete" while telling them they still needed to work at things.

Paul obviously exaggerates at times, like when he said the love of money is the root of all evil.

@Prayer Warrior

Or perhaps the translation used in Col 2:10 is a little confusing. Prayer Warrior's version says "you have been made complete in Christ". The several English versions I have checked plus both my Spanish and German versions do not use a past tense of the verb "to be" at all but a simple present indicative tense as in "you are complete in him". This, as I understand it, lets us know where completion lies when and if we become complete. It lies in Jesus. It does NOT say that we already are complete... for who is? Not me! God is still working on me.

As for Giuliano's other example [I Tim 6:10] being an exaggeration, again perhaps we should look at the original Greek word which is a single word, not two words or three words as per our English versions. It could be and has been correctly translated as the "love of money" but it could just as easily and I believe a bit more accurately translated as "avarice". Then it would not, I believe, be an exaggeration for certainly the root of man's problem with God lies in his own selfishness, his avarice, his covetousness. The selfish person is avaricious or covetous. All men are selfish or covetous in their beginning. This is the nature of man until and if he learns NOT to be selfish. Only Jesus was never selfish. When we are not, then we will be complete as he is. The Luther translation uses the German word "Geiz" in that verse which means: avarice or greediness or covetousness or stinginess. The German word and I believe the Greek word [I am not an expert in the koine Greek] could NOT be used to mean "money'' as in the sentence "I have some money", but it could be used to mean the "love of money".
 
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Giuliano

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@Prayer Warrior

Or perhaps the translation used in Col 2:10 is a little confusing. Prayer Warrior's version says "you have been made complete in Christ". The several English versions I have checked plus both my Spanish and German versions do not use a past tense of the verb "to be" at all but a simple present indicative tense as in "you are complete in him". This, as I understand it, lets us know where completion lies when and if we become complete. It lies in Jesus. It does NOT say that we already are complete... for who is? Not me! God is still working on me.

As for Giuliano's other example [I Tim 6:10] being an exaggeration, again perhaps we should look at the original Greek word which is a single word, not two words or three words as per our English versions. It could be and has been correctly translated as the "love of money" but it could just as easily and I believe a bit more accurately translated as "avarice". Then it would not, I believe, be an exaggeration for certainly the root of man's problem with God lies in his own selfishness, his avarice, his covetousness. The selfish person is avaricious or covetous. All men are selfish or covetous in their beginning. This is the nature of man until and if he learns NOT to be selfish. Only Jesus was never selfish. When we are not, then we will be complete as he is. The Luther translation uses the German word "Geiz" in that verse which means: avarice or greediness or covetousness or stinginess. The German word and I believe the Greek word [I am not an expert in the koine Greek] could NOT be used to mean "money'' as in the sentence "I have some money", but it could be used to mean the "love of money".
The word is a combination of "friend" and "silver" -- and "silver " could also mean "glittery". How could this relate to Adam and Eve or Cain?

I agree the real problem is selfishness of any stripe -- failure to love God and our fellow man.

Paul says people who wan to be rich fall into temptation -- and into lusts. Come now!

8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

I'd say a lot of the time it's the other way around. People guided by lusts often see that having money makes it easier to gratify those lusts.

Other people crave money since they fear being poor, worrying too much about what they'll eat or where they'll live. They see money as a way of providing insurance.

In other places, Paul seems to be on more solid ground to me when he talks about the perils of lusts.
 

amadeus

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The word is a combination of "friend" and "silver" -- and "silver " could also mean "glittery". How could this relate to Adam and Eve or Cain?

I agree the real problem is selfishness of any stripe -- failure to love God and our fellow man.

Paul says people who wan to be rich fall into temptation -- and into lusts. Come now!

8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

I'd say a lot of the time it's the other way around. People guided by lusts often see that having money makes it easier to gratify those lusts.

Other people crave money since they fear being poor, worrying too much about what they'll eat or where they'll live. They see money as a way of providing insurance.

In other places, Paul seems to be on more solid ground to me when he talks about the perils of lusts.
See also the words written by John here:

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." I John 2:15-17


The "world" of which John writes is NOT planet Earth. Rather it is you or me or that other guy. Each one of us a little world formed with and within a framework of dirt, dust, clay, mud of planet Earth. Contained in each of these worlds are the attractions: lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life [these things are equal to avariciousness and covetousness (the love of money)]. Jesus came as man with the same basic temptations... and overcame them [John 16:33]. He did more than take away sin. He overcame the attractions to sin in himself [He was tempted.]. He gave us the possibility, the power, the Way to do the same.
 

Earburner

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The question was if the Holy Spirit revealed "things that are to come" to you. You cited the Scripture. I'm asking you about it.

John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things soever he shall hear, [these] shall he speak: and he shall declare unto you the things that are to come.
Yes! As I have shown in John 16:13-
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into ALL the truth:
 

Prayer Warrior

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It must be wonderful to feel you know so much that you can look down your nose at me. I think I have you nailed down. You are full of pride. That is why you lashed out at me -- I wounded your intellectual vanity.
Ha ha! It seems that you are the one full of pride—challenging God’s Word the way do! And in doing so, you challenge God Himself. “Did God say” indeed!

I pray that you will be given His grace to submit yourself to Him fully and trust Him. Otherwise, you will be kicking against the goads as Paul did until he submitted himself to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 26:10-18--Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. -- Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

Edit: I apologize for the "ha ha!" Challenging God is really not a laughing matter. My prayers for you are genuine.
 
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Giuliano

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Yes! As I have shown in John 16:13-
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into ALL the truth:
I'm asking you -- is the Spirit of Truth revealing things to come to you as promised in that Scripture? You seem to be avoiding answering me.
 
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Giuliano

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Ha ha! It seems that you are the one full of pride—challenging God’s Word the way do! And in doing so, you challenge God Himself. “Did God say” indeed!

I pray that you will be given His grace to submit yourself to Him fully and trust Him. Otherwise, you will be kicking against the goads as Paul did until he submitted himself to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 26:10-18--Which thing I also did in Jerusalem: and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. -- Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

Edit: I apologize for the "ha ha!" Challenging God is really not a laughing matter. My prayers for you are genuine.
Try a new routine. This self-righteous act of yours is getting boring.

You say you're pressed for time, but keep avoiding the questions on the table. Instead you want to lecture me on my deficiencies.
 

Earburner

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I'm asking you -- is the Spirit of Truth revealing things to come to you as promised in that Scripture? You seem to be avoiding answering me.
I have answered you!
Yes, through His word, His thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9), about His own words, come to me.
 

Giuliano

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I have answered you!
Yes, through His word, His thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9), about His own words, come to me.
You keep talking about the Bible. I was asking if the Spirit told you things about the future. That verse also mentions that. Why not post of these predictions when you receive them?
 
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Earburner

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You keep talking about the Bible. I was asking if the Spirit told you things about the future. That verse also mentions that. Why not post of these predictions when you receive them?
You are not understanding what I am saying.
The Holy Spirit is revealing God's own "thoughts" about the prophecies (things to come) in the NT Bible, and they are not of the "thoughts" of any popular denominational way of thinking.
 

Giuliano

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You are not understanding what I am saying.
The Holy Spirit is revealing God's own "thoughts" about the prophecies (things to come) in the NT Bible, and they are not of the "thoughts" of any popular denominational way of thinking.
It doesn't say that. God already gave His thoughts when He spoke to the prophets. Were the thoughts incomplete when he spoke to the prophets?

You are also putting a limit on things. It says "all truth" but you don't really believe that.

What are you saying? That without your Bible, the Holy Spirit doesn't tell you anything?
 

Nondenom40

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We tend to interpret the scriptures the wrong way when we take them literally. But scriptures are full of metaphors. It is said that God breathed his breath into man. The Holy Spirit comes from the Greek word ‘pneuma’ which means ‘breath’. Holy spirit is the same as Prana, Shakti and Kundalini in Hinduism. It is what animates the world and the human beings. But inside the human beings it is dormant. By spiritual practice involving unconditional devotion and meditation, we purify ourselves and let the holy spirit be revealed and fill our entire being. This is the meaning of getting baptized by the Spirit. The fall of Adam and Eve is a beautiful metaphor that indicates how the oneness of childhood is lost by the birth of duality. This happens to everyone. Exodus is the symbolism of the journey from bondage to liberation. Crucifixion is the death of the duality. And resurrection is the birth of Christ consciousness, the spiritual rebirth which brings the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is called as Jnana in Hinduism.

This doesn’t mean that the stories in Bible didn’t happen. They just didn’t happen exactly the way it is explained. Also, there is a strong consensus among historians that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and many others were not real people. Archeological research has rendered incredible evidence for the fact that many of the Bible stories are stories and not history. But it also presents the history of Israel in a way that adds juice to the story, even though it is completely different from the actual history. For example, the conquest of Canaan didn’t really happen; but to interpret it in a symbolic way, it symbolizes the conquest of one’s own ignorance, which is also the metaphorical interpretation of Holy Jihad in Islam. United Kingdom of Israel as portrayed in the Bible never existed either.

The Hebrew Bible was written for two purposes. Contrary to what Bible suggests, the entire Torah and the parts of Old testament was written sometime around 8th – 6th Century BCE. A major part was written after the destruction of the first temple in Jerusalem. The first purpose was political: to unite the people of Israel under one God, one temple and one Kingdom. The second purpose is spiritual: to convey truths via metaphors, parables and sayings.

The whole Bible comes under the category of mythology. In fact, only after the birth of Jesus, puranas, the Indian myths were composed. This also suggests that Indian mythology might have been inspired by Christian and Jewish scriptures. Indian myths also try to convey the spiritual truths using metaphors, parables, sayings and in the form of conversation between two people, a guru and a disciple. They do convey a little bit of history directly and indirectly, but many of the stories were added to create an interesting narrative. This narrative was used to unite people and also to kindle the feelings of devotion in the initial stage.

It is said that Quran was revealed to Muhammad by angel Gabriel. But here it is important to understand that even Gabriel is a personification of the Holy Spirit and the revelation by Gabriel is hence symbolic. There are a lot of such symbols in scriptures.

However, historians do agree that Jesus was a historical person. Two incidents which are considered as absolutely real are his baptism by John and his crucifixion.

John Campbell, an American professor of literature, has done a lot of research and has written books on this subject. I haven’t read any of his books yet and hence can’t comment about how efficient his arguments are. But I understood the symbolic nature of myths and scriptures in the light of my own experience.

Also read: Dear Christians, Hindu Deities are not Evil Spirits! – A Criticism of Christian Churches Which Promote Religious Intolerance
I can't even begin to correct all the errors here but i'd say on just one point when it was said various o.t. people are not real. Go to Luke 3 where it lists Jesus' genealogy from His birth back to Adam and point out to us where the real becomes figurative or false. Where is that line where real people become myth?
 

bbyrd009

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We tend to interpret the scriptures the wrong way when we take them literally. But scriptures are full of metaphors. It is said that God breathed his breath into man. The Holy Spirit comes from the Greek word ‘pneuma’ which means ‘breath’. Holy spirit is the same as Prana, Shakti and Kundalini in Hinduism. It is what animates the world and the human beings. But inside the human beings it is dormant. By spiritual practice involving unconditional devotion and meditation, we purify ourselves and let the holy spirit be revealed and fill our entire being. This is the meaning of getting baptized by the Spirit. The fall of Adam and Eve is a beautiful metaphor that indicates how the oneness of childhood is lost by the birth of duality. This happens to everyone. Exodus is the symbolism of the journey from bondage to liberation. Crucifixion is the death of the duality. And resurrection is the birth of Christ consciousness, the spiritual rebirth which brings the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is called as Jnana in Hinduism.

This doesn’t mean that the stories in Bible didn’t happen. They just didn’t happen exactly the way it is explained. Also, there is a strong consensus among historians that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and many others were not real people. Archeological research has rendered incredible evidence for the fact that many of the Bible stories are stories and not history. But it also presents the history of Israel in a way that adds juice to the story, even though it is completely different from the actual history. For example, the conquest of Canaan didn’t really happen; but to interpret it in a symbolic way, it symbolizes the conquest of one’s own ignorance, which is also the metaphorical interpretation of Holy Jihad in Islam. United Kingdom of Israel as portrayed in the Bible never existed either.

The Hebrew Bible was written for two purposes. Contrary to what Bible suggests, the entire Torah and the parts of Old testament was written sometime around 8th – 6th Century BCE. A major part was written after the destruction of the first temple in Jerusalem. The first purpose was political: to unite the people of Israel under one God, one temple and one Kingdom. The second purpose is spiritual: to convey truths via metaphors, parables and sayings.

The whole Bible comes under the category of mythology. In fact, only after the birth of Jesus, puranas, the Indian myths were composed. This also suggests that Indian mythology might have been inspired by Christian and Jewish scriptures. Indian myths also try to convey the spiritual truths using metaphors, parables, sayings and in the form of conversation between two people, a guru and a disciple. They do convey a little bit of history directly and indirectly, but many of the stories were added to create an interesting narrative. This narrative was used to unite people and also to kindle the feelings of devotion in the initial stage.

It is said that Quran was revealed to Muhammad by angel Gabriel. But here it is important to understand that even Gabriel is a personification of the Holy Spirit and the revelation by Gabriel is hence symbolic. There are a lot of such symbols in scriptures.

However, historians do agree that Jesus was a historical person. Two incidents which are considered as absolutely real are his baptism by John and his crucifixion.

John Campbell, an American professor of literature, has done a lot of research and has written books on this subject. I haven’t read any of his books yet and hence can’t comment about how efficient his arguments are. But I understood the symbolic nature of myths and scriptures in the light of my own experience.

Also read: Dear Christians, Hindu Deities are not Evil Spirits! – A Criticism of Christian Churches Which Promote Religious Intolerance
awesome, ty!