Bible fairy tale vs regular fairy tale

by undercover 12 Replies latest jw friends

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  undercover

  Why do people suspend disbelief and accept fairy tales as told in the Bible, yet accept that other, non-biblical fairy tales are just that, fanciful tales made up to entertain and/or teach a lesson?

  Take Jonah and the whale (big fish - whatever). Fairy tale. Yet people actually believe it because, well, the Bible tells us it happened.

  Now take Jack and the Beanstalk. Does anyone really believe that it happened? Not unless they think Abbott and Costello movies are documentaries.

  So, if the Jonah story was told independant of the Bible...just a tale handed down through the ages, would you believe it? If Jack and the Beanstalk were preserved in Holy Scripture would you then believe it?
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  Leolaia

  The Jonah story is quite clearly satire, a humorous parable intended to deliver sharp criticism of false piety. At least that's my reading of it. Why is a piece of fiction like this insisted upon as "historically accurate" when none of Jesus' parables (which sometimes also have comic elements) are treated as factual non-fiction? My guess is that the anti-hero of Jonah happens to be a historical figure, at least purported to be, known from the Deuteronomistic History. But even if the character were anonymous, I would guess that fundamentalists would still not recognize the literary genre of the story.
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  undercover

  Why is a piece of fiction like this insisted upon as "historically accurate" when none of Jesus' parables (which sometimes also have comic elements) are treated as factual non-fiction?

  The only thing I could think of regarding Jesus' parables is that at least some of them they were introduced as parables. Such as, "Jesus then gave the parable of blah blah blah...". But I don't know if that's true of all his parables.

  But even some of the Jesus stories are taken as literal which are fairy tales. Born of a virgin. Walked on water. Went 40 days/nights with no food or water. Satan showed him all the kingdoms of the world. Raised the dead. Was resurrected himself.

  Interesting how his parables were recorded in a way to show they were parables but his own activities were enhanced and embellished to give him a godliness.
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  peacefulpete

  Jack and the Beanstalk is true! The setting of pastoral England in the days of the well known historical King Alfred, including the pervasive poverty, is perfectly protrayed in the account, thus proving that the author had been first hand witness to the events. Studies have been done that prove that certain bean varieties can growth incredibly fast and because of variables like genetic gene jumping there is no rational reason to not believe the story as it is written. Furthermore, archaeology has revealed that there were comonly unpaved paths connecting small rural communities with larger towns which hosted periodic county fairs where prized animals were bought and sold. Need I go on?
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  Finally-Free

  The bible was written long before television existed, during a time when people told stories for entertainment. Some people believed these stories to be true. Others took advantage of this opportunity and turned these stories into religions, and gained a lot of money and power in the process.

  Going to church on Sunday is no different than Trekkies dressing up like Klingons and going to a Star Trek convention. Except, of course, that most Trekkies don't actually believe in it. They just do it for fun.

  W
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  Franklin Massey

  Undercover, our heads are in a similar place today:

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/205222/1/What-Jesus-Said-About-the-Flood
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  chickpea

  reminds me of the old joke

  the difference between a fairy tale and a war story?

  one starts "once upon a time" and the other starts "this is no bullsh!t"
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  james_woods

  My guess is that the anti-hero of Jonah happens to be a historical figure, at least purported to be, known from the Deuteronomistic History. But even if the character were anonymous, I would guess that fundamentalists would still not recognize the literary genre of the story.

  What I think to be ironic is that the watchtower has spent far more paper and ink arguing whether the animal was a fish or a whale than it does on the very reasonable literary point that Leolaia has made...
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  Leolaia

  What I think to be ironic is that the watchtower has spent far more paper and ink arguing whether the animal was a fish or a whale than it does on the very reasonable literary point that Leolaia has made...

  Exactly! Focusing on that and completely missing the message of the story, which actually is a pretty interesting one.

  And one really can't grasp the moral of the story fully without appreciating the satire.
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  james_woods

  To continue Undercover's point, Leolaia - if they were like the watchtower writers, students of the Greek and Roman classics would claim that the fable of Daedylus and Icharus was an ancient scientific work on practical aerodynamics and the cosmology of the sun...rather than an interesting morality tale about youthful pride and exuberance.