Parallel Writings?
Kayla Gill
After growing up not only in a Christian home, but a pastor's home, I have seen many different intakes of the Bible. One common thing I have seen throughout many Christians is there is way of "setting apart" the Bible and its story. Not only is the Bible a word from God, but it is actual history. Many people tend to unmindfully separate from real history. As if, it is just a story rather than life events. I, myself, have even been guilty of doing this. While reading this story, I have taken notice to some cities, terms, and even storylines that seemed familiar. In the introduction, the author talks about the city of Nineveh and how it was an evil city. Of course, as Christians who know our Bible stories, our first thought of Nineveh goes to the story of Jonah. God sent Jonah to Nineveh to teach the word of God to the wicked people there. This is not the only case. There are several parts of the story that line up with Biblical teachings. Later in the book, there are a few stories that are not the exact same as biblical parables but seem closely related. I've done some research and many scholars feel that both of these writings could've been written around the same time. So they believe, that some parts are the same story written in their own version.
After growing up not only in a Christian home, but a pastor's home, I have seen many different intakes of the Bible. One common thing I have seen throughout many Christians is there is way of "setting apart" the Bible and its story. Not only is the Bible a word from God, but it is actual history. Many people tend to unmindfully separate from real history. As if, it is just a story rather than life events. I, myself, have even been guilty of doing this. While reading this story, I have taken notice to some cities, terms, and even storylines that seemed familiar. In the introduction, the author talks about the city of Nineveh and how it was an evil city. Of course, as Christians who know our Bible stories, our first thought of Nineveh goes to the story of Jonah. God sent Jonah to Nineveh to teach the word of God to the wicked people there. This is not the only case. There are several parts of the story that line up with Biblical teachings. Later in the book, there are a few stories that are not the exact same as biblical parables but seem closely related. I've done some research and many scholars feel that both of these writings could've been written around the same time. So they believe, that some parts are the same story written in their own version.
The part that really caught my attention, was the real storyline itself. This is not a poem made to prove there is a one true God. The true God we know and believe. It actually is a story based around Polytheistic views. The entire story is written to say that the god's had a play in everything that had happened (which is similar to our belief that our God has his hand in everything). I find it interesting that a book actually told trying to disprove our God, did nothing but helped prove it. We see similar stories and real places and people we learned about in the Bible. So two different writings that are not meant to back each other up, actually help prove each other. My entire life I have heard, "You can not just believe parts of the Bible; you either believe it all, or you don't believe any of it." So, if parts of the Bible are real, what's to say that all of it is not? Of course I believe that everything in the Bible was divinely given by God, but this would be a good argument in helping prove God to a non-believer. Thoughts?
PS: I commented on Katie and Eliza's posts
PS: I commented on Katie and Eliza's posts
It should come as no surprise to us that ancient myths share similar stories with the Bible. After all, it was God's purpose that the Israelites be a beacon of light to the ancient world around them. As Dr Downs mentioned in class, the traders and merchants most likely swapped stories of their Gods with each other. Odds are that one of those merchants was an Israelite, given Israel's geographic location. Not to mention that we have an all-powerful God who conducted of all of history, so yeah, of course things that are mentioned in the Bible actually happened in real life.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I was not implying that they didn't. I do believe the bible is real history, but you will be surprised at the people who don't. This was simply an angle you can use to present your argument to someone with atheistic views.
DeleteTo be able to present a good debate, you must first understand your opponent's pov. This is cancelling out one of their arguments which gets you one step ahead.
DeleteI absolutely love to find historical writings or art that supports the Bible, even if they technically had no tie to Israel. I can definitely agree that some stories may have been shared (though altered through oral tradition) whether through Israelites intermarrying with pagans in their area or simply through traders' tales. It will be interesting to see what parallels we see in the rest of the story!
ReplyDelete