Theology and Story

[Tree of Life]

It's not really possible to talk about God without telling stories.

Snarky quips aside (I see 'em coming a mile away) what are your thoughts on the above statement?

 

[quatona]

It's not really possible to talk about God without telling stories.

Snarky quips aside (I see 'em coming a mile away) what are your thoughts on the above statement?

Sorry, but as a non-believer I have no idea how to express my thoughts on this statement without risking that you perceive them as snarky quips. Not sure what kind of statements you are expecting.

 

[Chesterton]

Depending on how you want to define "stories", it's hardly possible to talk about anything without telling stories.

 

[Ana the Ist]

It's not really possible to talk about God without telling stories.

Snarky quips aside (I see 'em coming a mile away) what are your thoughts on the above statement?

I think it says a lot about claims of "knowledge of god" or "relationships with god."

 

[Davian]

Depending on how you want to define "stories", it's hardly possible to talk about anything without telling stories.

Indeed. But then there are stories, and stories that correlate with scientific observations and methodology.

 

[hedrick]

It’s possible, but Scripture doesn’t do it. Scripture speaks about the God of Abraham and Isaac, and then the Father of Jesus, letting us get to know him primarily through stories. Jesus tended to teach through stories and working directly with individuals, but not so much by teaching theology. That’s not to say that you have to use stories. After all, the ecumenical councils tried to do theology philosophically. But I personally find the stories more useful than the results of the councils.

Why did Jesus teach with stories? I’ve assumed two reasons (1) exact definitions of God aren’t possible for us, and (2) he was more interested in bringing people to know God than to understand things about God, and stories are better for that.

Of course there are times when we need to reason intellectually. After all, the ecumenical councils took the approach they did because there were people saying things about God that seemed dangerously wrong, but they pointed to the same Scriptural passages. So they had to explain as clearly as possible what they thought the passages meant. But still, I think it’s a mistake for the interpretive notes to replace the primary way of teaching.

 

[Paradoxum]

If you can only talk about God using stories, do you really know what your talking about? Are you saying anything that isn't very vague?

 

[Tree of Life]

If you can only talk about God using stories, do you really know what your talking about? Are you saying anything that isn't very vague?

Stories are concrete because they're about stuff that's actually happened. Concepts are what can tend to be vague.

 

[Tree of Life]

I think it says a lot about claims of "knowledge of god" or "relationships with god."

What does it say?

 

[Paradoxum]

Stories are concrete because they're about stuff that's actually happened. Concepts are what can tend to be vague.

How do you tell a concrete story about God? You can't see him.

 

[lesliedellow]

Christianity obviously relies heavily upon stories in its scriptures. I suppose it might be the only effective way of talking about a personal God. Persons, supernatural or otherwise, are not really reducible to a set of philosophical propositions. If later theology did that, it still has its scriptures to act as a corrective.

 

[Tree of Life]

How do you tell a concrete story about God? You can't see him.

The Bible is full of concrete stories about God. Things that he's done, times he's visibly manifested himself (especially in Jesus), etc...

 

[seeingeyes]

It's not really possible to talk about God without telling stories.

Snarky quips aside (I see 'em coming a mile away) what are your thoughts on the above statement?

I love it.

 

[Davian]

The Bible is full of concrete stories about God. Things that he's done, times he's visibly manifested himself (especially in Jesus), etc...

Concrete? From my thesaurus: solid, material, real, physical, tangible, palpable, substantial, visible, existing.

Full, you say? Can we get a list of these "concrete" stories?

 

[Tree of Life]

Concrete? From my thesaurus: solid, material, real, physical, tangible, palpable, substantial, visible, existing.

Full, you say? Can we get a list of these "concrete" stories?

The creation account
The flood account
The theophanies described in Genesis
The whole Exodus event
The conquest of Canaan
The angelic appearances during the times of the judges
The theophanies to the prophets
God's miraculous interventions during the exile for the likes of Daniel
Esther's story
Jesus' incarnation, life, miracles, teachings, resurrection
The establishment of the early church

Now, you may not believe that these stories are true, but they're certainly concrete. This sets the Bible apart from a religious text like the Tao De Ching or the Koran which seeks to speak about God or ultimate reality in metaphorical or abstract terms. The Bible's aim is to tell concrete stories about God's interaction in history.

 

[Ana the Ist]

What does it say?

You specifically asked for no snarky quips...

 

[Davian]

The creation account
The flood account
The theophanies described in Genesis
The whole Exodus event
The conquest of Canaan
The angelic appearances during the times of the judges
The theophanies to the prophets
God's miraculous interventions during the exile for the likes of Daniel
Esther's story
Jesus' incarnation, life, miracles, teachings, resurrection
The establishment of the early church

Now, you may not believe that these stories are true, but they're certainly concrete. This sets the Bible apart from a religious text like the Tao De Ching or the Koran which seeks to speak about God or ultimate reality in metaphorical or abstract terms. The Bible's aim is to tell concrete stories about God's interaction in history.

If contractors built buildings with "concrete" like this, the first rainy day would destroy civilization.

 

[Davian]

You specifically asked for no snarky quips...

He asked for none, then he asked for some. What can I do but oblige?

 

[Tree of Life]

If contractors built buildings with "concrete" like this, the first rainy day would destroy civilization.

At this point we're talking past one another. I mean concrete in the linguistic and philosophical sense. Concrete as opposed to abstract or metaphorical. You're using concrete to mean "real", "factual", or "true". Two different senses of the word.

 

[Davian]

At this point we're talking past one another. I mean concrete in the linguistic and philosophical sense. Concrete as opposed to abstract or metaphorical. You're using concrete to mean "real", "factual", or "true". Two different senses of the word.

Did I not make myself clear in post #14?

You then concede that those bible stories are not "real", "factual", or "true". It would appear that way, based on all available evidence.