Is this a good metaphor for Christianity?
Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 7:12 pm
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).
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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.
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.