Satan touched everything that belonged to Job but left his wife. Do you know why?

ViaCrucis said:

I've had a lot of pastors use well known references to make points, to fictional characters, movies, television shows.

Of course, the difference between the book of Job and, say, a Batman movie is that Job is Holy Scripture. But in terms of whether or not a story or figure is literally real or not is, in either case, beside the point--if the point is make a reference to speak on a particular issue.

St. Paul quoted a Greek poet, whose poem was a praise of the false god Zeus, to communicate truth about the real God.

Acts 17:28
"For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring."

The poet Paul is talking about is Epimenides of Crete,

"They fashioned a tomb for you, holy and high one,
Cretans, always liars, evil beasts, idle bellies.
But you are not dead: you live and abide forever,
For in you we live and move and have our being."
-Epimenidies of Crete, Cretica

The words are addressed to Zeus by the mythological King Minos.

Should Paul's use of the Cretica mean Paul believed that King Minos was a real historical figure? That Zeus was a real god deserving of worship?

Or is Paul using the Cretica to make a point, a different point, one that doesn't require either Zeus or Minos to be real.

Now, you might want to counter that the Cretica is not inspired, it is not Scripture. That's true--but it also doesn't change anything about my argument.

People make references. It's something human beings have always done--biblical authors do it, the Apostles did it, the Lord Jesus Himself did it. We cannot make conclusions that Jesus or the Apostles believed (e.g.) Job was a real historical person simply because a reference is made. That is not a reasonable conclusion to draw based on that data alone.

-CryptoLutheran

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CoreyD said:

You decide.

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ViaCrucis said:

That post doesn't address the points I've raised in this thread.

-CryptoLutheran

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