Recker's World
100+ reasons I no longer believe - 101
More and more of the bible is being considered metaphorical
I've been around for a long time now and have noticed over the years that certain things we all considered to be literal interpretations in the Bible are now being considered metaphors and this increases all the time. Why is that?
The answer is obvious. Because those literal interpretations are no longer considered palatable by educated/moral society.
One such classic example is this verse here:
Proverbs 13:24
Those who spare the rod hate their children, but those who love them are diligent to discipline them.
Back before the 1980s, this was considered literal by everyone I knew. It was used to endorse corporal punishment in schools and especially in Christian homes. There was never any debate about this UNTIL society began to realize that beating your child with a stick was abuse. Bible believers had to find a way to re-interpret this scripture to take out the obvious immorality the bible was endorsing here. So what did they do?
You got it. They decided that "the rod" was simply a metaphor for discipline. Now the verse becomes palatable.
This is simply one example of something that was once taken literally in the bible and is now considered by some to be a metaphor due to the immorality of it. There are other examples too.
Bad science is another. From the heart, Ends of the Earth, Stars falling from the sky, , etc. Those have been metaphors for a long time now, but were they originally intended as metaphors, or is it more likely they were inaccurate views of the world at the time? ie They really did think that deep feelings and emotions came from the heart. They really did believe the world was flat and had edges. They really did believe that stars were small things lodged in the firmament above the earth that could fall onto the ground.
Just what is meant to be taken literally in the bible and what is meant to be taken as symbolic or a metaphor? There are never ending debates about this stuff even amongst Christians themselves. Just go to a bible study! You can always justify whatever you think is best, but that doesn't mean you're right.
The fact is, the number of metaphors in the bible is increasing. This is a huge reason to believe the bible is not God's word and simply the beliefs and opinions of bronze-aged tribesmen. As such, as society evolves, becomes more educated, changes its morals, then the Bible has to change with it to remain relevant.
