The Myth of Scriptural Literalism

[Xeno.of.athens]

We are under the blood of Christ.

That doesn't mean we're drowning.

What does it mean?

 

[AV1611VET]

What does it mean?

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

I wondered what you meant by "under the blood". Is that a metaphor?

 

[AV1611VET]

I wondered what you meant by "under the blood". Is that a metaphor?

Have I drowned?

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

Have I drowned?

Okay, I see your point.

Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?

 

[AV1611VET]

Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

Is that a metaphor?

 

[AV1611VET]

Is that a metaphor?

Is this a metaphor?

Matthew 9:24 He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Actually "Messiah" is metaphor. Who anointed Jesus? In Matthew and Mark, he is anointed by an unnamed woman. In John, the woman is identified as Mary of Bethany.

But we believe he was anointed by God the Father, don't we? He was indeed empowered and highly effective in his ministry. But it was not until nearly the end when he was actually, physically and literally anointed by a woman.

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

Is this a metaphor?

Matthew 9:24 He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.

Interesting, was she dead or did Christ wake her from the sleep of death? What do you think?

 

[AV1611VET]

Interesting, was she dead or did Christ wake her from the sleep of death? What do you think?

Dead.

I'll let Daniel comment here.

Daniel 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

Dead.

I'll let Daniel comment here.

Daniel 12:2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Do you believe that there's a difference between physical death, and eternal death?

 

[AV1611VET]

Do you believe that there's a difference between physical death, and eternal death?

Yes.

Once we reach the age of accountability, we are the walking dead.

Matthew 8:22 But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.

 

[Jipsah]

Ok but that is not the issue here.

What our Lord said isn't the issue? Good, just do as He said.

The issue is that a memorial is not a sacrifice

Red herring. No one has mentioned either. You're simply ignoring the actual issue: did our Lord mean what He said or not? I believe that He did. You believe that He did not. It's that simple.
\

and is not a recapitulation. IT is in memory of a past event. It is NOT the past event.
"I AM THE DOOR" John 10

Chasing rabbits again.

John 10:
7 So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

Apparently you believe that if our Lord ever used a metaphor then everything He ever said was also a metaphor. Handy.

The words are those of our Lord... are you going to make the case for a wooden door now?

What did He command us to do there? Anything? As opposed to Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you.

really? -- point to one ... Hollow false accusations you make are not that impressive

Physician, heal thyself.

keep reading to see the author spell it out for you.

27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy way, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.

Well gee, how can that be? The Body and Blood of our Lord aren't even on the premises, right? It's Just A Metaphor, No Big Deal.

I notice you felt the need to exclude this:
29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

Your contention is that the Lord's Body isn't there to be discerned, isn't it? (That was a rhetorical question, BTW). Is that why you felt the need to leave that line out? Tsk tsk!

Nothing there about not imagining that someone had confected the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ.

You're talking about an RCC doctrine there that only Roman Catholics need concern themselves with. The topic at hand is whether the bread and wine are His Body and Blood as He explicitly said. You say no. I, along with most of Christendom, say yes. You may want to be examine your own position since it's apparently so difficult to defend.

 

[Jipsah]

Read the Bible for yourself and let It speak to you.

Not "it", but "He". And He said "Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you"

 

[ViaCrucis]

Matthew 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

Bread literally; body figuratively; obviously.

Bread literally, body literally; obviously.

As I said, one doesn't need to be a Rhodes scholar to ascertain this.

It's true, one doesn't need any scholarly credentials to reject Christ's words and to make up their own meaning as suits their own particular interests.

Specifically, it is a metaphor: the direct comparison of dissimilar things to create more vivid imagery or understanding.

How, exactly, is Jesus taking bread and calling it His body a metaphor? Be as specific as you can.

We are under the blood of Christ.

That doesn't mean we're drowning.

And where can we drink that very blood which we are under?

There's a hymn that used to be really popular, Power in the Blood.

Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There's pow'r in the blood, pow'r in the blood;
Would you o'er evil a victory win?
There's wonderful pow'r in the blood.

There is pow'r, pow'r, wonder-working pow'r
In the blood of the Lamb;
There is pow'r, pow'r, wonder-working pow'r
In the precious blood of the Lamb.

Well, where's that blood? The Bible gives you the answer.

"And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying, 'Drink of it, all of you, for this is My blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.'"

-CryptoLutheran

 

[AV1611VET]

You're simply ignoring the actual issue: did our Lord mean what He said or not? I believe that He did. You believe that He did not. It's that simple.

So you go with transubstantiation over consubstantiation or memorialization?

 

[AV1611VET]

Not "it", but "He". And He said "Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you"

He sure did.

And He meant it too.

Just not the way you think He did.

It sounds to me that you're guilty of this:

1 Corinthians 11:29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

 

[AV1611VET]

Well, where's that blood?

In Heaven, where Jesus took it and placed it on the Heavenly altar.

That's why He told Mary not to touch Him.

John 20:17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

He hadn't taken His precious blood to Heaven yet.

Later, after coming back, His disciples even held His feet.

Matthew 28:9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

An interpretation of The Bible is possible only through The Holy Spirit. Literalism comes from satan who is not in The Grace of The Holy Spirit and, so, he does not know God's actual thoughts about anything, including The Bible.

We either accept the authority of the Bible, in that the original autographs were directly inspired by the Holy Spirit and therefore without error. The person who doesn't accept the authority of the Bible is not a Christian.

Now, having said that, there are different literary styles in the Bible. We have descriptive narrative, such as the book of Genesis, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Esther, Ruth, the Four Gospels, Acts. We have discussion and debate, such as the book of Job, including simile and metaphor. There is poetry and lyric in Psalms, apocalyptic literature in Daniel and Revelation, Instructional in the Apostles' letters, and prophetic in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the minor prophets. Jesus used simile and metaphor in His parables, and when He said that He was the bread of life, and "take eat, this is my body, and this is my blood, He was using metaphor and definitely not suggesting that anyone eat HIs actual physical body or drink His actual blood.

But as Paul said to Timothy, that all Scripture is inspired and is profitable for instruction. This shows that all Scripture is written for a reason, either for our education or instruction. The serious student of Scripture knows the difference. Error comes about by the taking of random verses out of context to make the Bible say something it doesn't.

There are those who say, "Why does God permit all the horrible things described in the Old Testament, such as dashing babies against rocks?" It is not that God made these things to happen, but the Bible describes what people do to each other in our fallen world. If we read the dashing of babies against rocks carefully in context we see that it is not a description of an actual event, but a prophetic judgment against Babylon and its wickedness.

When we read the Bible carefully we see that although horrible things happen to people in this fallen world, judgment comes sooner or later. We are assured that there will be a day of Judgment when God will call every single person to account for themselves and what they have done during their lives. No one will get away with anything.

So, it is important that we read and study the Bible carefully, taking notice of the time periods, context, reasons why things are described and said. This is called "rightly dividing the Word of truth."