Someone please help

[Trying_to_make_it]

hi all, I posted this in scripture forum a few days ago but only had two replies so I’m hoping this has more views a replies thanks.

Hi all, a little guidance and advice needed please. I completely accept they we and the universe were created and that Jesus is son of God, but what I am having real trouble with is accepting some of the Bible stories as literal, for example Noah (how could all of the kinds of animals on earth fit on a ship), Jonah and the whale, in Genesis people living until 900+ years old. On day one God said let there be light and a few days later he created the sun and moon (what was the initial light)? What do people make of these? Like I said earlier the evidence for creation and Jesus as messiah is strong and I believe, but these stories seem to me illogical, please can someone help me understand, should these stories be taken literally? If not, how should these be read? thanks

 

[razzelflabben]

hi all, I posted this in scripture forum a few days ago but only had two replies so I’m hoping this has more views a replies thanks.

Hi all, a little guidance and advice needed please. I completely accept they we and the universe were created and that Jesus is son of God, but what I am having real trouble with is accepting some of the Bible stories as literal,

some are literal and some are not...

for example Noah (how could all of the kinds of animals on earth fit on a ship),

some time ago someone did the math and concluded that all the known animals could fit on the ark with room left over for food, lodging for Noah and his family and more. Now, whether or not we take the story to be literal, the ark still seems to have enough room...here is some math for you to view https://christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-c013.html[/quote] Jonah and the whale,[/quote] all I can say to this one is if God is God anything is possible...which might be why some things seem figurative to our limited minds. But do remember it was a great fish not necessarily a whale. Whale is tradition. Without knowing what kind of fish it was, we can only speculate at best.

in Genesis people living until 900+ years old.

this one goes back to the fall. Man was created to be eternal it wasn't until sin entered the world that sickness and death entered as well. Thus over time man has given more and more years of his life to the quest to sin.

On day one God said let there be light and a few days later he created the sun and moon (what was the initial light)?

we can't be sure but one theory is that God Himself is light...now I disregard this since God created light and He is light and is the Light of the New Jerusalem but again I have seen science say that light exists without the sun and moon and stars and even that true darkness is almost impossible to find. Our son has been studying light and how it moves, see if this helps....where does light come from?

What do people make of these? Like I said earlier the evidence for creation and Jesus as messiah is strong and I believe, but these stories seem to me illogical, please can someone help me understand, should these stories be taken literally? If not, how should these be read? thanks

Personally I see nothing in the text that would suggest the ones you list are anything but literal...I am open to being wrong but I also believe with all my heart that we should read scripture with the same comprehension skills we were taught in elementary school. As such if they are analogies, allegories, or illustrations we would expect to see some clues of this in the text.

 

[~Anastasia~]

Hello and welcome to CF. You might get more help if you post in General Theology (possibly more replies than you want which probably also conflict, but can at least give you different ways of looking at things). This forum is just for new members to say hello, and not really for discussion.

As to the Day 1 - remember that God Himself IS light. The sun is not the only source. It is simply a major source to sustain life on earth. As to people living long times - there's actually no reason why our experiences today MUST be the same way things once were, especially with the degradation of the environment and such (we Orthodox would say too the effects of sin multiplied in the world now over many centuries). Noah's Ark would not have necessarily needed to contain every species - see how quickly one kind of finch or squirrel can become two or more distinct species of finches or squirrels when separated for a while. Many different species are similar enough to breed together though, demonstrating close relationship.

To your larger question, there are theological reasons to take some aspects literally, but there are many Christians who accept it as metaphor. There are deeper questions behind that, but they don't need to be wrestled with for the sake of salvation itself. On the surface, these issues are not matters of salvation, and to be honest, I am concerned when some denominations insist they must be, because there is an in-between stage of understanding when many people's faith gets shipwrecked because of that. The questions of literalness themselves are not the deeper issue, and not worth losing your faith over. Focus on Christ, learn what He says, and come back and wrestle with these things much later if you still feel you need to.

Again, welcome to CF. I'd really recommend posting in an appropriate forum, if you're prepared to hear a wide variety of answers. I just didn't want to see your repeated attempts to get help go with few responses. But my real advice is to seek Christ, and not let these things pull you away at this point.

God be with you!

hi all, I posted this in scripture forum a few days ago but only had two replies so I’m hoping this has more views a replies thanks.

Hi all, a little guidance and advice needed please. I completely accept they we and the universe were created and that Jesus is son of God, but what I am having real trouble with is accepting some of the Bible stories as literal, for example Noah (how could all of the kinds of animals on earth fit on a ship), Jonah and the whale, in Genesis people living until 900+ years old. On day one God said let there be light and a few days later he created the sun and moon (what was the initial light)? What do people make of these? Like I said earlier the evidence for creation and Jesus as messiah is strong and I believe, but these stories seem to me illogical, please can someone help me understand, should these stories be taken literally? If not, how should these be read? thanks