Old Testament Fact or Parable

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My son is in 12th grade at a catholic high school and comes home saying Catholics dont believe the Bible. Noahs flood never happened , and the walls of Jerrico never fell. I am curious on the Jewish stance on this and any opinions you have as well.
 
john_charles said:
My son is in 12th grade at a catholic high school and comes home saying Catholics dont believe the Bible. Noahs flood never happened , and the walls of Jerrico never fell. I am curious on the Jewish stance on this and any opinions you have as well.
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I’d suggest getting the name of the teacher who is teaching this. Confront him/her and then take your concerns to the principal and the Bishop.
 
Another “Catholic in name only” high school. Yuck!

Maybe it’s time to let him read the Church’s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum) to his teacher and “enlighten” him/her.

Unfortunately, there have been some heretical teaching at many of the “Catholic” colleges (and seminaries!) in the last few decades. I recall Fr. John Corapi telling about one professor who taught that the manna in the desert was really just ant dung from a particular species of carpenter ants found in the Judean desert. What a fruitcake!
 
Well, this is a tricky area. Like Adam and Eve, the story is true but it is not necessarily how it happened. After being told orally for many, many centuries, they may have escalated into “legends” with spiritual and theological truth without being historically accurate. Take Moses, for example, it is most likely that he crossed the Reed Sea rather than the Red sea, the former being a swamp that chariots couldn’t cross and the latter being a large sea that was parted by the power of God. The spiritual and theological truth still exists, but the historical accuracy may have been escalated, as the spiritual and theological truth was the relevant part of the story.

There is also and opinion that a few of the Biblical stories were “borrowed” by the Jews. Meaning that the Jews borrowed the story of “The Epic of Gilgamesh” for example and turned it into a story to match their theological beliefs into the story of Noah. That does not mean the spiritual and theological teaching of it is false; it just may not have happened exactly as it is told.
 
karebear92 said:
Take Moses, for example, it is most likely that he crossed the Reed Sea rather than the Red sea, the former being a swamp that chariots couldn’t cross and the latter being a large sea that was parted by the power of God. The spiritual and theological truth still exists, but the historical accuracy may have been escalated, as the spiritual and theological truth was the relevant part of the story.
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Yes, And how much more wondrous it would be if Egyptian army was done in be the shallow waters of this swamp because they were not smart enough to get out of the chariots and walk through it the way the Israelite did. I just dont but the reed sea thing at all.
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john_charles said:
My son is in 12th grade at a catholic high school and comes home saying Catholics dont believe the Bible. Noahs flood never happened , and the walls of Jerrico never fell. I am curious on the Jewish stance on this and any opinions you have as well.
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Sounds like a very odd teacher to me. What is his/her view on the Ten Commandments I wonder?

There are some wierd and wonderful stories in the Old Testament, but theories that they never happened don’t convince me.
The details, which can sometimes seem irrelevant, convince me that they are based on fact.
One example I like: Moses describes himself as being slow of speech, now where did that little detail come from, and what purpose would it serve to portray such a great man as having a stutter or some other speech impediment?

I know that’s hardly proof, but it makes you think.

🙂
 
karebear92 said:
Take Moses, for example, it is most likely that he crossed the Reed Sea rather than the Red sea, the former being a swamp that chariots couldn’t cross and the latter being a large sea that was parted by the power of God.
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Photos are available online of three 4-spoke gilded chariot wheels (Egyptian in design when compared to hieroglyphs) in the Gulf of Aqaba .
 
Barbkw said:
Photos are available online of three 4-spoke gilded chariot wheels (Egyptian in design when compared to hieroglyphs) in the Gulf of Aqaba .
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Wow! thanks for that, I googled. I was always a Reed Sea over Red Sea believer. Time for a re-think!😃
 
oneGODoneCHURCH said:
Yes, And how much more wondrous it would be if Egyptian army was done in be the shallow waters of this swamp because they were not smart enough to get out of the chariots and walk through it the way the Israelite did. I just dont but the reed sea thing at all.
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Barbkw said:
Photos are available online of three 4-spoke gilded chariot wheels (Egyptian in design when compared to hieroglyphs) in the Gulf of Aqaba .
Click to expand...
As I said it is more likely, though perhaps the Reed Sea hypothesis isn’t (I will have to look into that more :)) But the fact remains that not all of the bible must be read literally. There is figurative language in it, and that must be taken into consideration.
 
karebear92 said:
Well, this is a tricky area. Like Adam and Eve, the story is true but it is not necessarily how it happened. After being told orally for many, many centuries, they may have escalated into “legends” with spiritual and theological truth without being historically accurate.
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That’s how a lot of people speak about Jesus Christ today.
 
karebear92 said:
Well, this is a tricky area. Like Adam and Eve, the story is true but it is not necessarily how it happened.
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As in like what exactly?

They didn’t really have a couple of sons named Cain and Abel and that story about the one killing the other within the first generation wasn’t “really” how that all happened. And that Seth guy, well ya know.

Puff… and the story about that wooden boat 🤷

Starting down a slippery slope.
 
Barbkw said:
As in like what exactly?

They didn’t really have a couple of sons named Cain and Abel and that story about the one killing the other within the first generation wasn’t “really” how that all happened. And that Seth guy, well ya know.

Puff… and the story about that wooden boat 🤷

Starting down a slippery slope.
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No, I mean that God wasn’t really walking in the garden of Eden asking where they were. Eve was most likely not made out of Adam’s rib. You know, stuff like that.🙂
 
karebear92 said:
No, I mean that God wasn’t really walking in the garden of Eden asking where they were. Eve was most likely not made out of Adam’s rib. You know, stuff like that.🙂
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You don’t think God (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit) was there talking directly to Adam and Eve?

And althou the Trinity created the Universe, They couldn’t possibly have used Adam’s rib to make Eve?
 
Barbkw said:
You don’t think God (God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit) was there talking directly to Adam and Eve?

And althou the Trinity created the Universe, They couldn’t possibly have used Adam’s rib to make Eve?
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Talking? Probably. Walking? No.

Could He have possibly created Eve out of Adam’s rib? Yes, He could have. He is God, after all. But no, I don’t think that is what happened. I think humans evolved guided by God’s hand. I am pretty sure that Pope Benedict agrees with me on this.
 
You don’t think Adam would have remembered the gash and mark in his side?

(The same type of gash that would be opened in Jesus’ chest at the cross?)
 
karebear92 said:
There is a huge difference between Adam and Eve and Jesus. They were from very different times.
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I do not mean as people but those who believe do and those who don’t look for excuses not to believe.

I have heard many people refer to the New Testament, especially the Gospels as ‘ramblings’ and from ‘mad men’.

Do you remember things from 17 years ago?
I still remember my private baptism 25 years ago. (Not as a baby).
 
Barbkw said:
You don’t think Adam would have remembered the gash and mark in his side?

(The same type of gash that would be opened in Jesus’ chest at the cross?)
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What? So God used stitches? Did he use a scalpel, a rock, with what did He cut him? If you want to read this entirely literally, which it appears you do, why would God leave a gash, which would hurt, in Adam afterward, which would kind of contradict paradise. Do you believe God, in three persons, in one physical God, was walking in Eden?
 
Scoobyshme said:
Another “Catholic in name only” high school. Yuck!

Maybe it’s time to let him read the Church’s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum) to his teacher and “enlighten” him/her.

Unfortunately, there have been some heretical teaching at many of the “Catholic” colleges (and seminaries!) in the last few decades. I recall Fr. John Corapi telling about one professor who taught that the manna in the desert was really just ant dung from a particular species of carpenter ants found in the Judean desert. What a fruitcake!
Click to expand...
I recently made a thread discussing the historical accuracy of the Exodus. There are serious problems with the Exodus as the bible describes it, most scholars now believe that the biblical story simply does not fit with what we know about Egypt and Canaan from archaeology.
forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=606675

See also:
books.google.com/books?id=6-VxwC5rQtwC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA99#v=onepage&q&f=false
 
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