I have heard this statment a million times when talking to Prests about the Bible. However, ever time I ask them if something is literal I.E. Jonah and the whale, Noah's Ark etc.. They tell me that I'm to undertsand them as literal stories. My question is, what exactly are we not literal about?
"Us Orthodox are not literalists."
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Justin Kissel
They normally mean that they are not "woodenly literal". It's confusing, because it depends on what passage you are discussing, since we are more literal on a lot of passages (e.g., "this is my body, this is my blood"). I think what they are saying is that you should 1) read the Scripture in context and not just take the apparently logical meaning of one passage and assume that it covers all the aspects of the subject, and 2) understand the Scripture as it was intended and not necessarily as it was written. For instance, we read in the Psalms many things that would be very difficult if we were to take them literally. I mean, after all the stuff about love, forgiveness, non-judgement, etc., how are we to pray (and pray daily, if we do the hours, vespers, etc.) the psalms with all the stuff about killing our enemies and asking God to destroy them and so forth. We must take these passages allegorically, as speaking about our true enemies, which are not of flesh and blood, but are the demons, the passions, and our own sins. Taking these types of things literally brings you, if you take things to their logical conclusion, to some type of doctrine of "righteous hate" (no joke).
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ORPRcamper
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In regards to understanding the stories of "Jonah and the Whale" and "Noah's Ark" it has been conclusively proven that it is possible for a man to stay alive inside of a whale. As for the story of Noah and the Ark, in the Medditeranean Sea they have found many large ships in the bottom layers of mud and stuff, and thats only on the surface. If you're wondering were I heard this things, it was on two different episodes of "Nova" on PBS.
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joasia
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Camper,
The stories of the Old Testament are literal. Noah's Ark is not at the bottom of the Meditteranean, but on top of Mt. Ararat. Arial photos taken during WW 2 revealed a great structure, partially exposed in the snow. There is a monastery that was built at the bottom of the Mt. Also, the Burning Bush was literal. It's on top of Mt. Sinai. The monastery of St. Catherine is built below. I have an actual piece of the stone that the Bush was on when it was burning. There are green vines imprinted in it. The bush is still there.
Jonah and the whale is a miracle. Only God could preserve Jonah for three days in that whale. But, it was also a foreshadowing of the three days of Christ's burial.
Everything that God allowed to happen literally also had a specific message for us. Like Jonah's adventure and Noah's Ark. The Holy Father's have described Noah's Ark as the Church of Christ.
There is also Moses and the passage through the Red Sea. There is evidence of wagon tracks at the bottom. But, scientists try to explain it with logic....a great wind blew and happened, at the moment that Moses was there, to seperate the waters and create a dry passage on the bottom of the sea.
Who needs that explanation?? God created the waters to seperate. And with that also comes the message...Moses and his people were the true servants/children of God and the Egyptians were the symbol of sin and followers of belial. Moses' passage was a baptism which washed away their sins (because of their association with the Egyptians all that time).
Moses' staff, made of wood, produced water to flow from a rock. This happened, but the message is real. The staff was a symbol of the tree that Christ was crucified on and the rock is the rock of the faith of Christianity, that St. Peter witnessed. The name Peter in Greek is Petros and petros means rock. The water..again, real, but a symbol of baptism.
You see...it all fits. And God being omnipotent...don't you think He can make these all work out? He works it together so beautifully.
Here's another food for thought...the 911 disaster happened on Sept. 11. If you look at the old calendar, you will see that it is really, Aug. 29 and if the church calendar had not been updated to the civil calendar and we were all following the original (Justinian) calendar, you will see that Aug. 29 is the day of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, the Forerunner.
I was shocked when I saw this.
I just wonder how soon will Christ appear, as St. John is the prophet of Christ's coming. First... and perhaps second time?
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ORPRcamper
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Church Legends
Joasia wrote:Noah's Ark is not at the bottom of the Meditteranean, but on top of Mt. Ararat. Arial photos taken during WW 2 revealed a great structure, partially exposed in the snow.
No, they didn't. These rumors have been going around, but they neglect to mention that further investigation of all these discoveries has revealed that all such sightings were of natural volcanic formations.
There is also Moses and the passage through the Red Sea. There is evidence of wagon tracks at the bottom.
Is there? I can't find any mention of this anywhere, much less any kind of real confirmation.