Evidence for God from Science

An Anglican Minister has told me that the Bible is a collection of Metaphors
Written by men whom were inspired by God. it is not to be taken literally.
If this is the case I can understand that the Lord god might have used stories to explain how things were done in a way we could best understand. I.e. Creation.
But the resurrection of Christ, am I to take it that, this was just a metaphor?
If this is a metaphor, then what exactly was the sacrifice?
If Christ did not die on the cross for our sins, then how are our sins forgiven?

The Bible does contain metaphorical material but it is usually obvious what is literal and what is metaphorical when such statements are made in the bible. Every line of text in the bible has a certain context. It shouldn't be hard to figure out what each one is. And I think that Anglican doctrine (if it is what most anglicans believe, anyhow) is crud.

Deborah wrote:An Anglican Minister has told me that the Bible is a collection of Metaphors
Written by men whom were inspired by God. it is not to be taken literally.
If this is the case I can understand that the Lord god might have used stories to explain how things were done in a way we could best understand. I.e. Creation.
But the resurrection of Christ, am I to take it that, this was just a metaphor?
If this is a metaphor, then what exactly was the sacrifice?
If Christ did not die on the cross for our sins, then how are our sins forgiven?

Shouldn't you be asking these questions to that minister since he is the one advocating such a position?

I actually have an Anglican teacher (who I believe is also a minister) for a subject right now who also seems quite liberal with his Christianity. He often makes remarks I'm quite puzzled by, more so because I wonder why he continues holding onto any Christian beliefs when he seems to so willingly undermine its foundations at every turn. Maybe it's an Anglican thing? I find it quite disheartening and even incredulous to know such people teach other Christians, and even look after (supposedly) congregations.

My recommendation would be to find another Church, and one that is alive and builds up your faith. This is suppose to be their role, and if your minister is eroding your faith away by providing challenges without offering solutions, I don't think he is fulfilling his position very well as a minister.

Kurieuo.

Hi Deborah,

I think that there are metaphors in the Bible and meant to be just that. The trick is to decide what is to be taken metaphorically and what is not. I am reminded of something NT Wright said in one of his books (I am reading NT Wright in earnest now.) He said something like, "I don't care whether Jesus really walked on water or not, but if He did not rise physically from the dead, then I will find something else to do with my life."

I get a lot of "liberal" stuff from my minister that I flat out don't agree with. I think that some ministers are trying to be too politically correct and trying to appeal to the masses. I blame the people of the Jesus Seminar and the likes for this development. They went too far. There is nothing wrong with questioning the meaning of scriptures and trying to discover the historical Jesus. That is a good thing. If we are to follow Jesus Christ we need to know more about the Jesus Christ we are following. Let's not make Him into what we can live with; let's discover who He really was and is. In order to do that we need to study first century Judaism.

In my opinion, Jesus' followers would never have followed Jesus' teachings after He died if He had not physically risen from the dead. The Messiah was not supposed to die, but Jesus did die. If Jesus did not physically rise from the dead then His followers would have looked for another Messiah but they never did. There was a reason for that fact. Jesus rose from the dead and they saw Him and believed.

BTW: If this minister is your minister, then there is nothing wrong with you challenging what he tells you. Ministers are not infallible. My advice to you would be to study and study hard. Perhaps this guy could learn something from you. The challenge for you is to be a better "minister" than he is. We are all called to be disciples of Christ--that means you and me. Sit down with him privately and set him straight. lol

Blessings.