Is this a good metaphor for Christianity?

[Hortator]

You are taking a test inside of a library, sitting in a desk with a paper in front of you. The paper says, merely, "Who do you think you should respect the most?" naturally, most of us here would put down "God" or "Jesus". You are allowed to change your answer multiple times, scribble or doodle in the margins, erase so aggressively that the paper is torn, and otherwise, make it an illegible mess.

And when the bell rings, you don't know when it could be, but you must hand in your paper to the teacher. It is a special bell that only you can hear. For most people, you have as much time as one could possibly need to write down the correct answer in the box. For some others, the bell rings literally as soon as they enter the class, or before they sit down. These students are excused and given a passing grade regardless, since they had no chance to take the test.

Now, the bell rings at random. But if you "passed" the test, then you go to recess, permanent recess. For others, well, they don't get permanent recess, let's just say.But wait, they were inside of a library the entire time. They could have walked around, explored for the answer in the almost endless amount of time they are given. So the headmaster/principal of this school seems pretty lenient, giving a test with sky-high time limit, open book, open facility, and you are able to collaborate with other people about the test answer.

So, this is the way I look at life. It may not be similar to everybody's view. The library is life on earth. The time you spend on earth is a test. You can make mistakes just so long as the final answer is correct (like math without showing any work).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The bell is death. It comes for some people after a long time, some before they even sit down. The threshold of the doorway to the library is what counts if you are a student, or "alive" or not. My view is that as soon as you are conceived, then you are walking towards your chair. Once you have sat down and taken some time to read the test, this is the stage of human development where you are sentient enough to make free-will decisions (when is this stage exactly? I don't know. It might be different for everybody)

This metaphor I have constructed puts a whole new spin on "Never ask for whom the bell tolls....it tolls for thee." since the bell signifies death. It could be at a ripe old age, or a terrible heart attack at 40. We can't know. But the people who fill out the test correctly are rewarded with recess, a point I want to make. This world is a classroom. The world-yet-to-come is recess. And the teacher is God, determining who is permitted to go to "recess".

And you have a seemingly enormous amount of time to fill in the blank with the correct answer. Look around the library and ask others for help, for instance. The background of being in a library, like The Breakfast Club, is to further illustrate that the aim of life is knowledge. And as The Book of Psalms says, knowledge begins with the respect for God.

[Nicki]

I like that. I was wondering though why you'd be able to find out who you loved the most by looking around in a library. Getting the answer to that wrong would imply you weren't being very honest either with yourself or on the test. Or was the intention more like 'who should you love the most' or 'who deserves the most respect'?

[abelcainsbrother]

You are taking a test inside of a library, sitting in a desk with a paper in front of you. The paper says, merely, "Who do you love the most?" naturally, most of us here would put down "God" or "Jesus". You are allowed to change your answer multiple times, scribble or doodle in the margins, erase so aggressively that the paper is torn, and otherwise, make it an illegible mess.

And when the bell rings, you don't know when it could be, but you must hand in your paper to the teacher. It is a special bell that only you can hear. For most people, you have as much time as one could possibly need to write down the correct answer in the box. For some others, the bell rings literally as soon as they enter the class, or before they sit down. These students are excused and given a passing grade regardless, since they had no chance to take the test.

Now, the bell rings at random. But if you "passed" the test, then you go to recess, permanent recess. For others, well, they don't get permanent recess, let's just say.But wait, they were inside of a library the entire time. They could have walked around, explored for the answer in the almost endless amount of time they are given. So the headmaster/principal of this school seems pretty lenient, giving a test with sky-high time limit, open book, open facility, and you are able to collaborate with other people about the test answer.

So, this is the way I look at life. It may not be similar to everybody's view. The library is life on earth. The time you spend on earth is a test. You can make mistakes just so long as the final answer is correct (like math without showing any work).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The bell is death. It comes for some people after a long time, some before they even sit down. The threshold of the doorway to the library is what counts if you are a student, or "alive" or not. My view is that as soon as you are conceived, then you are walking towards your chair. Once you have sat down and taken some time to read the test, this is the stage of human development where you are sentient enough to make free-will decisions (when is this stage exactly? I don't know. It might be different for everybody)

This metaphor I have constructed puts a whole new spin on "Never ask for whom the bell tolls....it tolls for thee." since the bell signifies death. It could be at a ripe old age, or a terrible heart attack at 40. We can't know. But the people who fill out the test correctly are rewarded with recess, a point I want to make. This world is a classroom. The world-yet-to-come is recess. And the teacher is God, determining who is permitted to go to "recess".

And you have a seemingly enormous amount of time to fill in the blank with the correct answer. Look around the library and ask others for help, for instance. The background of being in a library, like The Breakfast Club, is to further illustrate that the aim of life is knowledge. And as The Book of Psalms says, knowledge begins with the respect for God.

Yeah,I tend to agree with it however I'm not sure you'd pass a test you did'nt take though,but yeah I generally like it and think it pretty much lines up.I also think that it requires the Holy Spirit to see or even understand the kingdom of God,I'm not sure if you can fit this into it,or maybe it already is,also you don't want people to think works saves a person and I'm not sure this is stressed enough,it could be tests based on works and that won't work,but I'm being technical in my critique and over all,I like it.

[Hortator]

Yeah,I tend to agree with it however I'm not sure you'd pass a test you did'nt take though,but yeah I generally like it and think it pretty much lines up.I also think that it requires the Holy Spirit to see or even understand the kingdom of God,I'm not sure if you can fit this into it,or maybe it already is,also you don't want people to think works saves a person and I'm not sure this is stressed enough,it could be tests based on works and that won't work,but I'm being technical in my critique and over all,I like it.

My belief is that all you need to do is love God, and that's all that is required for salvation. Thus the ridiculously easy test. But if you want to explore the nature of creation, the universe God created, then that is what the library is for: to check your answer. (and largely what I think this website is for)

But go ahead, be technical. I'll update this if something more logical, or adherent to scripture, comes up, as Nicki points out below,

I like that. I was wondering though why you'd be able to find out who you loved the most by looking around in a library. Getting the answer to that wrong would imply you weren't being very honest either with yourself or on the test. Or was the intention more like 'who should you love the most' or 'who deserves the most respect'?

I like your idea better. Rather than "who do you love the most" it ought to be, as you said, "who should you respect the most?" Because it might be tempting to put in the name of a loved on earth (who may actually be sitting around you during the test now that I think about it lol!)