When it comes to some of the stories in the Bible, I would always keep in mind the basic principles of ancient literature. From what I've gathered in my time, many stories are based on exhaggerated events and characters, perhaps based loosely on real characters. Not to mention the history of the book itself. Back in the days of hand copying books, there's nothing to say certain individuals of the church (which has a touchy history in itself) didn't make their own interpretive alterations to the text. The translation from Latin to the old (more or less) tribal-esuqe language of Enlgish didn't happen for a good while, presenting plenty of oppurtunity for editing by the upper class, literate church. Add to that none of the original texts have been discovered...
I don't much find The Bible's word to be a solid argument. To each their own, however.
|