In a message dated 96-01-06 17:02:48 EST, you write:
>On Sat, 6 Jan 1996 GRMorton@aol.com wrote & concluded:
>
>>
>> Eisegeticism is better than atheism.
>>
>
>Are these really the options? Do you really believe that this is
>what our debate boils down to? A choice between an erroneous
>interpretation of God's Word and atheism. Both are false. Surely, the
>God of Israel affords us a better fate than this, or do we incorporate
>some theodicean logic to justify this purported divine plan?
Maybe those are not the options for you but if the view I adopt undercuts the
miraculous in the Scripture, then I probably would be left with that bleak
choice above (and indeed was faced with it). My view of reality and
communication is such that I have no time nor patience with fiction. Indeed
I only read one or two works of fiction a year (when I am on vacation).
Reality is what I want to know about and if a document is telling me
something that is not real, then I really don't care much for it. In my mind
reality is not to be found in the fictional works of anybody. Tolkein was
fascinating and He probably wrote the best novel about the struggle of good
and evil ever written. But he tells me nothing about the real world.
You wrote:
>Glenn, your candor and courage are to be commended. You have admitted
>your eisegesis. The logic of the situation is not to submit to it, but
>to correct it and come to an exegesis.
>
Thank you for your kind words.
I noticed that you did not answer the question concerning the axhead and
Elisha. If that passage, in a historical portion of the Scripture, is not
real, then there is little hope for the miracles pertaining to Christ being
true. Which is harder, the miraculous raising of an axe-head or the
miraculous raising of an individual from the dead? If the axe-head incident
is a real, historical event, then I can't see what the problem is with the
other miracles. The problem this hopeless eisegete has is that I fail to see
how a consistent application of your exegesis does not lead to the conclusion
that there are no miracles. If there are no miracles, then I would suggest
that Christianity is false.
You have taught me much in this exchange and I thank you for that. But I
imagine that you and I will probably continue to disagree on this issue until
something (Alberta or Texas?) freezes over .
Your eisegetical and evolutionary brother in Christ,
glenn