There was never a global flood like in Noah story.

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You're acting like I'm the one who came up with the gap theory. And or that since I'm knowledgeable about it, that means I must hold to it.

I think you should cease with the ad hominem retorts and just discuss the topic, rather than talking about me, especially since you know so little about me.

The truth (still talking about me and not the topic) is I'm not entirely Sola Scriptura and lean more towards early Orthodoxy in that regard.

Now are we finished talking about me or should I start a seperate thread for that?

I actually got in trouble for taking a lot of the new testament literally. The Bible has hidden layers/meanings a lot of it isn't literal....but its true ifficult to describe without paragraphs

Well if the NT were to be taken 100% literally, then there would be a lot of Christains with gouged out eyes and missing appendages.

Basic Christianity is summed up in the Nicene Creed. Which allows Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Lutheran, Baptist, Calvinist, Pentecostal etc to be on the same page where it matters the most.

agreed

This brings us back to the use of metaphors. ^
I'm really enjoying this conversation.
Thanks for the info, Matrix and klanka.

yw

How far do you take the events in the bible to be metaphors? You think it's all false?

The Bible has very obvious metaphors and similes that virtually no one would argue aren't such. Is Jesus aka the Lamb of God really an actual lamb? Especially a lamb with seven eyes as described in Revelation? The more one understands the languages and culture in which the Bible is written, the easier it is to decipher what's figurative and what's literal.

A global flood is also described in Epic of Gilgamesh, so Bible is not the only one written source talking about that kind of worldwide calamity.

In my opinion the Bible and other religious texts contain allegories.
They're works of ancient philosophy using metaphors to promote love and hope.
The events aren't meant to be interpreted literally.
Some characters and events may be based on historical fact, but that's inconsequential to me.
I read for the moral of the story or the main idea, not the plot or individual details.

In the Bible, the moral of the story is The Golden Rule.
We are taught to love our neighbours and to have compassion for all people.
That's all that matters to me.

The stories of the Bible are stories that contain truths (about the human condition, and moral conduct, etc).

Contain truths.

But they are not necessarily "true stories". Journalistic accounts of things that actually happened.

Except in some cases, almost by accident, some Biblical stories probably do contain some distorted kernals of historic truth as well. Like the "world flood" in Noah being a distorted memory of an actual regional flood in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) at some point in the distant past.

I think that the things that happened in the old testament mostly or all actually happened but were also metaphors. I have had things happen to me that are metaphors as well. Like I was having a conversation with someone who said something that happened to them was seedy, then she coughed up a seed she had tried eating earlier.

Like the passover actually happened but it was also a metaphor for the blood of Christ.

The thing with the Bible (the New Testament in particular) is the continuance of history attached to it. A chain of writings from the apostles, then from those they taught directly, then from those taught by them and so on. I've heard the Bible has been used as a primary reference book for archeologists.

^^^ This. The earliest parts of the old testament talk of Abraham living in Ur of the Chaldees which of course was the capital of the Sumerian kingdom where the epic of Gilgamesh was written. There have been a number of books written about the migratory hebrews being refugees from the destruction of Ur by the babylonians sending them westward to both the land of the Phillistines (Palestine) and further west into Egypt where they were enslaved by Pharoah. The Sumerian speaking hebrews adopted the local dialect of the Philistines at the time which evolved into Aramaic which is indistinguishable from Arabic.

The myth of the flood was Sumerian and is not a metaphor, rather a memory of the end of the last ice age where sea levels rose and flooded the great cities that existed at the time, one of them of course known to the Egyptians and Greeks called Atlantis.

In my experience growing up in the bible-belt & going to Catholic school, more than a few Catholics pick & chose which parts of the bible to interpret literally & which parts to dismiss. They tend to focus on the old testimate a lot more than the new. They believe that god flooded the earth to punish the sinners & disbelievers but they don't follow Jesus's preachings about helping the poor, healing the sick, or practicing forgivness There are PLENTY of EXCEPTIONS of corse

the verses about helping the poor etc. are in matthew mark and luke. Those 3 books describe how to get to heaven by your own works. The gospel of John says 'just believe' which is the real way. The Matthew Mark and Luke works based salvation is Jesus using a literary device as if he is talking to someone who is trying to earn heaven.
focussing on the old testament for how to live isn't right either though.

Most churches have outreach programs. Most cities have Christian operated rescue missions. Many are called "[City Name] Gospel Mission".