The Bible as Parable

Pastor Steve said some interesting things Monday that got me thinking. He talked about how teaching in Biblical times were by parable - a story intended to get the student to think about truth. A story that allows God to provide the allegories to the student. One of the taboos for rabbis was to give their own interpretation of the story. Jesus did on occassion but only to his disciples.

Today we learn through transfer of facts. We are taught was is and what is not - that 1 + 1 =2. That 'ran' is the past tense of 'run'. That chlorophyll makes leaves green. That the earth revolves around the sun. We run into all kinds of problems when we deal with the study of ideas and philosophy. The whole debate about intelligent design is really about how to handle concepts in a world of facts.

I thought that this concept really describes how I view the entire Bible. The Bible is a parable. The question is, is it's meaning literal or figurative. Just like any parable, there are the words which tell a story and it can be interpreted at that level. The farmer sowed his seeds and some fell on the road. You shall not covet. Clear consise statements that convey a meaning.

As in a parable, we recognize that Jesus was talking about more than just farming. Hopefully we realize that God was talking about more than coveting. In my opinion, to just read the Bible as literal is to miss seeing the greater meaning behind the story, to fail to let God speak to us through the Bible.

It's very easy to take someone's statement and believe it or not. But to dig into it for the truth is much more difficult. Yet we do it every day. Anyone who has sat on a jury has been forced to find truth beyond the stories of each side. When we look at politics and world affairs, we try to determine the real truth behind the stories we hear on the news.

Yet when it comes to the Bible, some say that what it says it the end of it's meaning. That you are blaspheming when you dare try to find a deeper truth that what is on the surface. I recall one man I had a dialog with a few years ago who claimed, correctly I agree, that the Bible does not mention unconditional love. Yet I know I am not alone in seeing in the Bible the truth of God's unconditional love for each of us.

Most everyone I know, even self-admitted Biblical literalists do not take the entire Bible literally. Yet they are selective about which scriptures to take literally and which to interpret as parables. They will say that Jesus instructions to the rich man to give all he had to the poor was not literal, yet Paul's condemnation of male-male sex is. They will dismiss Paul's admonition against getting married as parable, but declare parts of Leviticus as literal.

I have difficulty in understanding how we are supposed to pick and choose. What is the criteria? If it affects me it's not literal seems to be the standard. I contend that it's either all literal or all parable.

Now this doesn't mean a parable isn't an actual story. But the purpose is not to convey the story, but to create wisdom.

There are plenty of people who will go to great pains to debunk the claim that Jesus actually lives. To me, it doesn't matter what they can or cannot prove, the inherent truth of Jesus's ministry does not change.

I have seen people become extremely distressed when their belief in the "facts" are challenged. But I contend that truth does not depend on a compendium of facts. And the Bible is not a history book nor a science book. It is a book of truth given to us by God exactly the way he wanted it to.

Just remember Jesus never once claimed to be the Messiah and God incarnate. Yet most Christians believe this without question.

I'll close with a parable of my own. There was a woman who every day walked along the seashore and marvelled at the sea and it's many moods. She admired the power of the surf, the colors of the sunset and the scent of the spray. She picked up the shells that the sea placed before her feet. She watched the crabs skitter across the beach and the gulls as they screetched and dove at the water.

And it was beautiful.

Until one day the woman's friend invited her to go scuba diving and told her of a miraculous world of coral reefs and wildly colored fish and dangerous sharks. She told of the wonders of the deep, of starfish and manta rays and creatures that glowed in the dark. Beneath the surface of the sea were shipwrecks of Spanish galleons remarkably preserved for centuries with treasures untold within their hulls.

And the woman laughed gently at her friend and said she must be imagining things. For she had been watching the sea all her life and had never seen such unbelievable visions.

And she continued to laugh at her friend as she walked down the beach and threw a clam shell into the roaring surf.