Watch Tremper Longman III as he speaks on the “literalness” of Genesis 1 & 2.
What do you think?
Does the Bible have to be factual (in the modern/scientific sense) in order to be true?
Watch Tremper Longman III as he speaks on the “literalness” of Genesis 1 & 2.
What do you think?
Does the Bible have to be factual (in the modern/scientific sense) in order to be true?
Here’s a great response from @Evan Nutter on my FB page…
“As we have discussed, I think parable for instance may not be factual in that it happened for real, but it is still true in it’s observations and principles for living a Godly life. In regards to the actual content of the videos, I can accept the possibility of evolution as a creative process God may have used with the exception of man evolving from something else.I’m not prepared to make that jump. God made man in his image. I think we still realize and believe that. We are different. Because we are spiritual beings, we could not have evolved from non-spiritual beings. But animals? I think it could be a both and proposition. I also think it is true that God created. I’m not sure that it being a literal 6 days is important. That would be possibly true but not “factual”. So, yes????
The obvious danger and fear is the possible slide into complete relativism and then heresy if not accepted as literal fact. I, however, believe that if I seek Him – the Holy Spirit will indeed guide me in “all truth”. I trust him to do his job. I don’t need to simply accept the interpretations and ideas of people who really don’t know the answer, but feel the need to have one. I’m comfortable not knowing all the “facts” as long as I am convinced of the “truth”.”
Other viewpoints?
Chris,
Great post and I really enjoyed the videos. I wonder if our struggle with Genesis 1-3 is not so much with the factual nature of the passages, since this is a symptom in my mind of a greater problem and that problem being with how we read Scripture. We leave no room for the variety of genres that are used by the authors of Scriptures and instead try to read the Bible like it is a textbook for a college course. So I guess I want to change the question. My question is does the Bible have to be literal to be true? Or can we leave room for the poetic (which I believe is the form of Genesis 1-3) to speak the truth of God into our lives. I don’t think the point of Genesis 1 & 2 is how God created, but that all that has come into being has come into being by God’s intention and desire. Just my thoughts.