Is the Real Good or not Good, Bad or not Bad?

[Gary Childress]

Life is a story when we tell of our experiences. A writer who writes fiction can write about something that never happened, or they can write about something that happened using their own storytelling instruments. In Lord of the Rings, the storyteller may speak in relation to his or her life experiences in the genre of wizards and kings and whatever else. In the Bible, the storyteller speaks of demons, angels, gods, and other images. Is it possible that neither of those stories reflect the truth accurately?

But what are the facts? Can we get to facts in a way that does not involve storytelling? And if we cannot, then what should we make of our stories? Can we make anything we want out of our stories? Can we create a good story that doesn't seem true to us and yet believe that it is not fiction?

[LuckyR]

Life is a story when we tell of our experiences. A writer who writes fiction can write about something that never happened, or they can write about something that happened using their own storytelling instruments. In Lord of the Rings, the storyteller may speak in relation to his or her life experiences in the genre of wizards and kings and whatever else. In the Bible, the storyteller speaks of demons, angels, gods, and other images. Is it possible that neither of those stories reflect the truth accurately?

But what are the facts? Can we get to facts in a way that does not involve storytelling? And if we cannot, then what should we make of our stories? Can we make anything we want out of our stories? Can we create a good story that doesn't seem true to us and yet believe that it is not fiction?

Consider the audience. Would you give a graduate school physics text to a kindergartener? Why would a god write a text outlining the nuances of genetic drift to an audience of Iron Age semi illiterates? Thus why evolution is not incompatible with Genesis.

[FlashDangerpants]

Consider the audience. Would you give a graduate school physics text to a kindergartener? Why would a god write a text outlining the nuances of genetic drift to an audience of Iron Age semi illiterates? Thus why evolution is not incompatible with Genesis.

That may be a fair point to counter Gary, but it challenges certain assumptions that many religious types are fond of about the nature of God. If the Genesis story is misleading, which that mention of incompatibility implies to be the case, then surely that entails either that God chose to mislead or that God lacked the insight to find a simplified story suitable for one age of humanity that wouldn't cause new confusions in a scientfic age to come.

These restrictions on God's character or abilities aren't ideal for many Christians.

[phyllo]

Most people understand the difference between fiction and reality.

Even the Catholic Church doesn't hold to a literal interpretation of everything in the Bible.

[LuckyR]

Consider the audience. Would you give a graduate school physics text to a kindergartener? Why would a god write a text outlining the nuances of genetic drift to an audience of Iron Age semi illiterates? Thus why evolution is not incompatible with Genesis.

That may be a fair point to counter Gary, but it challenges certain assumptions that many religious types are fond of about the nature of God. If the Genesis story is misleading, which that mention of incompatibility implies to be the case, then surely that entails either that God chose to mislead or that God lacked the insight to find a simplified story suitable for one age of humanity that wouldn't cause new confusions in a scientfic age to come.

These restrictions on God's character or abilities aren't ideal for many Christians.

Oh, there is that psychological discomfort. Not unlike the Texas undergraduate who learns about the nuances of the US slave trade for the first time in college. But one (should) lives and grows throughout life, though I agree with you that it is easier on the ego to presume one already knows everything. Thanks for pointing out yet another example of the logic problem with the concept of omniscience (and omnipotence).