friesen@psivax.UUCP (Stanley Friesen) (09/19/85)
In article <2224CJC@psuvm> CJC@psuvm.BITNET writes: > > If I understand you correctly, you are saying that God said he did >something which he in fact did not do, that he only said it to encourage >his listener (Moses) but didn't really mean it. Is that really what >meant to say? God spent all of chapters 3 & 4 of Exodus persuading >and encouraging Moses (remember the burning bush?). At that time he >also said: > > I'm not discussing theology or generalizing about free will - leave >that to net.philosophy. The Bible states repeatedly that in one specific >place at one specific time God said that he, God, caused one man, >Pharaoh of Egypt, to act as he, God, wanted. Do you believe that God >means what He says in the Bible or don't you? > To me it is a matter of reading the Bible the way it was written, as a theological, not a historical, book. Really, I have never known God to actually *speak* to me in words, and I know of no one who I consider reliable who says so either. I see no reason to believe that in ancient times God spoke any differently than he does now, in subtle inner promptings. What I see happening here is the writer recasting the story in a good narrative form with clear, unequivical dialog, so the reader can understand it. Thus all that stuff is the author's *interpretation* of what was going on, not a literal account of something God said. Try thinking of it as sort of a play based on historical event rather than a modern history text. -- Sarima (Stanley Friesen) UUCP: {ttidca|ihnp4|sdcrdcf|quad1|nrcvax|bellcore|logico}!psivax!friesen ARPA: ttidca!psivax!friesen@rand-unix.arpa