Bible: Fiction, Non Fiction, Not Going There?

[MTI]

Costco's Bible sin: Fact or Fiction? - latimes.com

For guidance about whether the Bible is fiction or nonfiction, I turned to a literature expert, retired Cal State Northridge English professor Marvin Klotz, who once taught a popular course called “The Bible As Literature.”

“Yikes!” he replied. “An exceedingly complicated question. I recommend not going there.”

He explained that the Bible, which includes the Old and New Testaments, has many authors whose contributions spanned centuries. Some parts of the Bible are narrative tales, some parts contain historically verifiable events, some parts are poetry and some are legal codes.

Whether the Bible is fiction or nonfiction, strictly speaking, is probably unanswerable, and ultimately a matter of belief.

[P.C.]

Just create a category called "Religion" and throw it in there along with books on Dianetics...

[KarTek]

Originally Posted by MTI

He explained that the Bible, which includes the Old and New Testaments, has many authors whose contributions spanned centuries. Some parts of the Bible are narrative tales, some parts contain historically verifiable events, some parts are poetry and some are legal codes.

Whether the Bible is fiction or nonfiction, strictly speaking, is probably unanswerable, and ultimately a matter of belief.

I agree that the Bible can't be classified as strictly fiction or non-fiction. I also agree with PC that there should be a "Religion" section of the store and call it done.

[MTI]

I tried locating any of the news articles that state what category, if any, that Costco reassigned the books to, but there was no mention. Hopefully, not Science Fiction.

The Book of Mormon, however . . . musical comedy.



And studied, at the Univ of Utah, as Literature

[MS Fowler]

Is this trolling, or what?

[Mike Murrell]

A stated above, one chooses what they wish to believe.

Looking at it as an historical document, I would be concerned about all of the denominational rework...Catholic, Protestant, ect. - each with their own version.

I visited a place in Orlando Florida about 10 yrs. ago called the Holy Land Experience. On that property was a building that dealt with the history of the bible. The book has been rewritten countless times.

I would wonder for the sake of curiosity if an original exists somewhere and if so, how would we know this with certainty.

Think of all of the history books you may have read whose facts in some cases were completely botched; many written not all that long after the event(s) being reviewed. Now think of the bibles age and all of the rewrites it's been through.

I'm not suggesting its premise is invalid, just wonder how much of it has been twisted for the sake of all the secular groups that use it as a basis for their doctrine.

[MTI]

Originally Posted by MS Fowler

Is this trolling, or what?

If you're asking, I'm going for "what" . . . second base.

You may also want to check out my Thanksgivhukah thread . . . trolling for fried foods in that one.

However, in the spirit of giving . . . let's take a look at somebody's Greatest Hits

Chris Matthews is a true idiot.

Racist MSNBC?

What would the President do?

Anyone else troubled by the President's lobbying of the Supreme Court?

The Party of NO redux

"What did he know, and when did he know it"?

[Idle]

Mr. Murrell has hit upon an important point when he brings up the rewriting of the Bible. The problems started with the first translation from the original Greek as the translation was only as good as those doing the translating.

Those translators were also working from the copies they had to work with, and those were copies of copies. Older original versions have since been found and more scientific study has found errors in the original translations, so is the current version, or versions, correct? I doubt we will ever know.

Some of the stories can be checked against historical records so we can know that events took place that are described, but then the question arises about the description itself and who did the original story.

Some parts of the Old Testament are clearly meant to convey a lesson with a story. There is wisdom in the tale, but did the tale take place with 100% accuracy? Did Abraham actually tell a wealthy man the chasm between the man and God, the chasm so deep the man could not cross it and enter Heaven, was created by the man himself since the man knew the lessons of the Prophets and chose to ignore them, or is this story told to make the reader understand that past wisdom is valuable and you will be a better person if you live your life according to the teachings of God's Commandments?

The problem in the Costco incident is not with the Bible. It is with someones desire to not bother to set-up more than two book sections.

[aklim]

Non-fiction is one of the two main divisions in writing, the other form being fiction. Non-fiction is a story based on real facts and information . Non-fiction is a narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are believed by the author to be factual. These assertions and descriptions may or may not be accurate, and can give either a true or a false account of the subject in question, however, it is generally assumed that authors of such accounts believe them to be truthful at the time of their composition or, at least, pose them to their audience as historically or empirically true.

So it is kinda Non-fiction since the author believes it to be factual if wiki is to be accepted.

[The Clk Man]

Originally Posted by aklim

So it is kinda Non-fiction since the author believes it to be factual if wiki is to be accepted.

Now that didn't hurt now did it.

[P.C.]

Originally Posted by aklim

So it is kinda Non-fiction since the author believes it to be factual if wiki is to be accepted.

So, if a crazy person writes a book about an encounter with polka-dot-pant-wearing aliens from the planet Zoopta, and believes all that he is saying is true, such a book should be in the Non-Fiction section.

[MTI]

which "author" are we talkin' bout?

[P.C.]

I'm pretty sure that it was Truman Capote.

[MTI]

Originally Posted by P.C.

I'm pretty sure that it was Truman Capote.

Okay, I thought it was that Dylan Davies guy about Benghazi on "60 Minutes"

[The Clk Man]

Originally Posted by P.C.

So, if a crazy person writes a book about an encounter with polka-dot-pant-wearing aliens from the planet Zoopta, and believes all that he is saying is true, such a book should be in the Non-Fiction section.

The Bible is the Holy Word of God. You will find that to be true soon enough my friend, trust me on this one.