The Bible as a story: What’s the story?

Longfellow

Longfellow

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I’ll be posting here about what I think the story is that the Bible is telling, and I’m hoping for some others to post their own ideas of what the story is. Not if any of it ever really happened or not. Not if the author is God or not. Just only what is the story?

That doesn’t exclude discussions about the historical and cultural context. Even if it’s pure fiction, discussing the historical and cultural context can be relevant to what the story is. It doesn’t exclude discussions about God’s purposes, if that God is the one that the story calls “God of Abraham.” That can also be relevant to the story. For me, it does exclude any “historical Jesus” or “Christ Spirit” or “Christ consciousness” or any other concept of God or Christ or kingdom that is not about the story in the Bible.

I want to explain how the idea came to me for this thread. I was thinking about my view of the Bible, that it’s a story told by some councils of early Christianity and by the Westminster Confession of Faith, using some writings from the first centuries of Christianity. Then I thought that it could at the same time be a story told by God. Either way, for my purposes as a person wanting to learn ti be the kind of servant that Jesus is inviting me to be, I’m interested in that story, and maybe some other people here are also, and maybe we can exchange ideas about what the story is.
 
Longfellow said:
I’ll be posting here about what I think the story is that the Bible is telling, and I’m hoping for some others to post their own ideas of what the story is. Not if any of it ever really happened or not. Not if the author is God or not. Just only what is the story?

That doesn’t exclude discussions about the historical and cultural context. Even if it’s pure fiction, discussing the historical and cultural context can be relevant to what the story is. It doesn’t exclude discussions about God’s purposes, if that God is the one that the story calls “God of Abraham.” That can also be relevant to the story. For me, it does exclude any “historical Jesus” or “Christ Spirit” or “Christ consciousness” or any other concept of God or Christ or kingdom that is not about the story in the Bible.

I want to explain how the idea came to me for this thread. I was thinking about my view of the Bible, that it’s a story told by some councils of early Christianity and by the Westminster Confession of Faith, using some writings from the first centuries of Christianity. Then I thought that it could at the same time be a story told by God. Either way, for my purposes as a person wanting to learn ti be the kind of servant that Jesus is inviting me to be, I’m interested in that story, and maybe some other people here are also, and maybe we can exchange ideas about what the story is.
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The story that I'm seeing now in the Bible is a story about two kingdoms, one before the time of Jesus, and one from that time on. The first one is an allegory for the second one. The second one is a network of people seeing the God of Abraham in Jesus, and moved by that to want to learn together to live the way He says to live.
 
Longfellow said:
Either way, for my purposes as a person wanting to learn ti be the kind of servant that Jesus is inviting me to be, I’m interested in that story, and maybe some other people here are also, and maybe we can exchange ideas about what the story is.
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Longfellow said:
the kind of servant that Jesus is inviting me to be,
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If nothing else it involves caring for the poor.
What about those in the world today who want to give to the poor, or uplift the poor? Eliminate poverty?
Some self identify as Christians, others do not (other religions or not religious)
 
TheLightWithin said:
If nothing else it involves caring for the poor.
What about those in the world today who want to give to the poor, or uplift the poor? Eliminate poverty?
Some self identify as Christians, others do not (other religions or not religious)
Click to expand...
Do you have any ideas about what the story is, that the Bible is telling? I mean, what is happening in the story, not what it means. Like "once upon a time ... and then ... and then?
 
So I see that I need to give a better example of what I'm looking for here. Here's a story that I see the Bible telling.

God made everything. He made a man and took a rib from him to make a woman. He put them in a garden where everything was wonderful. They ate an apple and that's why we have to work for our food and women have to suffer when children are born and why snakes can't walk like they could when God first made them. Cain killed Abel and people started acting badder and badder until God decided to wipe out all the people on earth with a flood except for Noah and his family. He didn't want to start all over with the animals, so he had Noah bring a couple of each on the ark that saved him and his family from the flood.

Later, God chose someone named Abraham, for his descendants to make Him known as the only true God and the only one to worship. One of those was Jacob who was renamed Israel. He and his twelve children moved to Egypt as guests, but later they became more or less slaves. Then God chose someone named Moses to free them and lead them to a land where He, God, would be their king. Later, they wanted to have a human king like all the other kids had. He warned them what would happen, but they kept insisting until He gave in and gave them a human king.

to be continued ...
 
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Longfellow said:
Do you have any ideas about what the story is, that the Bible is telling? I mean, what is happening in the story, not what it means. Like "once upon a time ... and then ... and then?
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I have a gist of the history of events. You can retell it if you want to (I see you started a summary)
A lot of the content in the Hebrew Bible / OT has to do with the warfare and politics of ancient Israel.
 
What is the story of the Bible?

I've told before of the little four foot nothing preacher lady walking back and fourth in front of the congregation holding up a bible.saying, "Your autobiography is written, it's all in this book" (paraphrased, I just recall seeing this hand and book moving over the heads)

She was a Unity Minister...and Unity teaches the Bible primarily as a metaphysical and allegorical record of mankind's spiritual journey and evolution toward spiritual awakening.

That the stories and characters in the Bible symbolically represent states of consciousness within each individual, rather than just historical events. The core message is that every person has the potential to express their divine nature, as exemplified by Jesus, and to awaken to the "Christ within."

In essence, the Bible is a guide to understanding and applying universal spiritual laws for personal transformation and realizing one's inherent divinity.

For me, I don't know... ya see I have not reconciled how actual historical events become metaphysical allegory over time...but then occasionally i see actual events in my life as more than the physical event and a parable which I can share and others I and others learn from so there is that...

But I do know...for me...since walking into a Unity church three decades ago and going to classes, listening to tapes and sermons, teaching Sunday achool...that the teachings made more sense to me than my first 30 years of church going and bible reading and pursuit of understanding. I know that it made my life in general, my attitude, my raising of twins and dealing with people and problems of a career in construction management...easier....well it appeared easier to me listening to the frustrations expressed by others.

For me.the Unity understanding of the Bible stories made me realize that life on earth can be heaven or hell...and the difference is choice, perspective, attitude....turning the other cheek for example, forgiving 70 timed 7....

In Sunday School I often heard kids say they hate this class or that, that a teacher was out to vet them (hell) and I asked if all the students had the same problem and they said no, the teacher liked them and they liked the class (heaven)...and I watched them as well change their viewpoint, their understanding and come back with a better attitude.

While I don't fully ascribe to Unity...it has been my road to Damascus.
 
Longfellow said:
They ate a fruit?
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..maybe they smoked something.. o_O
Whatever it was they did, they knew that G-d had forbidden it (for their own good).

..and they were no longer in their previous happy state (of innocence).
..and G-d forgave them as they repented (promised not to repeat the sin).

..and G-d is Oft-Forgiving, Merciful.
 
I'll skip over some details. The people of Israel divided the land that God gave them into eleven parts, one for each of the sons of Jacob/Israel except Levi, I think. I don't remember where the Levites lived. They were the ones who conducted the rituals, and kept the sacrificed animals from going to waste, if I'm understanding correctly. One of the rituals was people showing their repentance by giving their animals to God, in other words to the Levites. Another was putting the sins of Israel on top of a goat, then the goat would carry them off into the wilderness. As I said, God was their king, but after a while they wanted to have a human king like normal people did, and after some argument, He agreed for them to have one.

Kings were anointed with oil, and at least one of them called "son of God." A king named David wanted to build a temple for God, but God said that he was too naughty, that one of his sons would do it, and that son would be God's own son. Later, David thought that Solomon was that son who was God's own son. Solomon was a wise and benevolent king, but he was naughty sometimes too, and that resulted in Israel splitting into two parts. In the part with the temple, people continued sacrificing at the temple. In the other part, people worshiped God at a hill or mountain where some of their ancestors had worshiped, I think.
 
Jesus came and chose 12 people to travel with Him in and between Galilee and Judea, where he gave public talks, and private lessons to His 12, about a kingdom. He told stories about it, and how people could enter it; and taught lessons about how to live. He was crucified, and after 2 days was resurrected. He taught His 12 some more lessons, and then He went up to His Father God. His 12 started going to different places to spread His message. A man named Paul was helping to persecute Christians, until one time he heard a voice that he thought was Jesus telling him to go somewhere and be told what to do. He did that, and started spreading his understanding of the message. He had some disagreements with the 12, and they worked out an agreement where he would teach gentiles. Some communities started to grow around the teachings, and Paul and the 12 appointed or approved supervisors and wrote letters to them. One of them had a vision that he wrote down with messages from Jesus to seven communities, and I don't remember what else.
 
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