MeaCulpa3

I find that one of the best ways to memorize Scripture is to study the context and the overall story. It’s much easier to remember the written Word of God, even if not necessarily word-for-word, when we remember the actual story behind it.

I’ve heard two different answers. Some people say that everyone is a child of God by virtue of being created by Him. Some people say that only the saved people are children of God by virtue of their being divinely adopted, which unsaved people have not been. What do you think?

Amen. ??

I might have to check out that book!! Thanks for your thoughtful input.

We might have to agree to disagree. I don’t believe that just because Jesus referenced the story means that it’s actual, literal history. If you do, I respect that, but I disagree.

Good answers

Yes, that’s the topic, the way you’re putting it seems to be what God wants from us. Maybe I’m just misunderstanding what you’re saying. But whatever, your answer is fine. God bless, have a great day

Well, alright, I see where you’re coming from but I still don’t think we’re discussing the same subjects to begin with. But that’s okay. This is true.

Of course I do. I’m Catholic, not Atheist. ? Well, yes, but that doesn’t address the kind of expectations I’m attempting to refer to. I’m speaking specifically of our expectations from God. Like, what do we expect him to do in our lives?

Yes, could you elaborate on what that means in the context of this thread? ? Amen brother. But aside from that, do you expect anything (you don’t have to answer if you don’t want)? Many people expect God to give them nice things, many people expect God to answer their prayers with a “yes”, and on and on... Not saying you do. I know I’ve certainly been guilty of being disappointed after my expectations weren’t met. The podcast I listened to really opened my mind on that.

I was listening to a really good podcast earlier, and one of the things that stood out to me a lot was this: “God never fulfills anyone’s expectations... He exceeds them. So it’s much better to give and trust than to expect.” (Paraphrased.) The podcast spoke about how lots of people turn away from God because He “let them down”. This is usually because these people expected God to do or prevent something, or do things the way they wanted them done, and God didn’t. They set expectations for Him that He didn’t meet. In order to avoid such disappointments in our own lives, we need to stop setting expectations for God and just learn to give it all to Him and trust that He will make something huge out of it. Oh, and by the way, we should stop asking what we can get out of our relationship with God and start asking what we can give to it! What are your thoughts?

Just because Jesus referenced the event does not mean that the event must have really happened. Jesus was merely referencing a story that was well-known to the Jews. Whether the story is literal history or allegory is not affected by Jesus’ referencing it. It’s irrelevant. The point of referencing the story is to put an image or idea into the Jews’ heads so they understand, NOT to prove or affirm that the event really happened.

It isn’t about believing in God. I know God is CAPABLE of doing such things, so I’m not denying that it’s possible. But, even though God COULD have done it, doesn’t necessarily mean He DID. I believe God COULD have created the Earth in 6 days if He wanted to. But I don’t believe He DID. It’s not that I think He’s not powerful enough, it’s that I recognize that for some reason or another He chose to do it another way. I can assure you that I most certainly believe in an infinite God who is capable of everything. There are clues which point to a story being allegorical. 1. There is no historical evidence. (Of course, this doesn’t definitively prove that it’s allegory, it might just mean we haven’t found the proof yet.) 2. The early Christians took it allegorically. (And I can point you toward many examples where early Christians took certains tories allegorically.) 3. The language used in the story is poetic language. (Like in the creation account in Genesis, the repetition of “and he saw that it was good” is poetic language, making it more likely that the author intended to write a poem or allegory instead of history.) The Bible doesn’t just come out and say, “oh, hey, that story was just an allegory”, but that doesn’t mean we can’t understand that the story is an allegory based on biblical and historical clues. There is always a chance that I’m wrong and an event in the Bible that I think is merely allegory may actually be literal history. But for now I’m sticking with the theory that the events in Jonah are allegorical. I respect the idea that the events may be literal history, it’s just that I disagree.

Something doesn’t necessarily have to be literally true to be true. I don’t believe the story of Jonah and the big fish actually happened in a literal way, just like I don’t believe in a literal 6-day creation or that everything in the book of Job literally happened. But that doesn’t mean those stories are false. These stories are not meant to be historical accounts. They are meant to be allegorical, or stories told which convey truths but not in a literal, historical way. So to take them as literal, historical truth would be against what their authors intended.