Amos

The flood never happened in a literal sence of the word. The flood parable is a metaphor that describes a metaphysical event and in Catholicism this can be experienced during Advent and Christ-mass to follow.

At Baptism each Catholic is given a white candle and this candle is to be retained. It symbolizes that we become part of the flock and so have fellowship with believers and communion with the saints in heaven from where this sacrament receives it sacret power (otherwise it would not be a sacrament).

This also means that we become ark builders as members of mystery religion wherein the unfolding of salvation is the mystery of faith. Our white candle will give us the glimmer of hope needed when we become engulved by the flood which will be on the darkest point of our life and is symbolized with midnight, midwinter, midlife which is the time when Christ was born.

The advent wreath has 4 candles. 3 Of them are purple to show despair and one of them is white and is from where the Christ-child is to emerge in our life. With this candle we can charm (whoops) the Magi (if we make it shimmer into the star of Bethlehem) and so lure them away from the East and bring paradise to us at Epiphany.

So its all symbolism but for Catholics only because you need a white candle, saints in heaven, advent period, a Christ-mass and an ark to keep you afloat until new land is found.

Amen-Moses

Just contemplating a metaphorical parable of a metaphysical event gives me a serious headache!

Amen-Moses

Amos

I just present an alternative to looking for a piece of the ark and it is my opinion that the flood must become ours by nature before it can make sense in the bible. Remember here that I am the guy who holds that the bible is inerrant but all metaphor.

WWSD

LOL, yeah, not even Amos's fellow theists!

What do the Methodists think about all this Amos?

Maybe I'm starting to get this Amosism a bit more, but maybe not.

Amos, do you equate the bible and its various stories to periods of one's spiritual existence?

So genesis would be the beginning of an individual's journey through xtiandom or whatever, and revelations would be the final enlightenment of that individual to the true nature of god/everything/etc...?

Starboy

What bible do you use?

Amos

That naos-noah thing was a nice play on words, wasn't it Starboy? Do you think the author of the flood story had that in mind?

I never read the bible to just read and I dont even know where the flood story is. I/we have a NAB. I read the NT and Gen.1-3.

In my opinion the most poetic bible is best because it reduces literalism. I've been at bible studies but was always in trouble so I quit (the local Mennonites had invited me).

Amos

Very much so but not quite the way you present it.

Genesis is true for everybody. Each one of us is man (nueter) and part human and part woman (woman was taken from man before the fall occured). This makes Lord God masculine and woman effeminate (Gen.2). Lord God and woman are equal but opposite. In Gen.3 our ego was created to remain and ilusion because it was never formed to have an existence of being.

From here religion takes over and we become the silent ark builder through the effect it has upon us.

Religion helps lead us into the jungle of life (the wrong way) where we will endure the tempest of our life and emerge on the other side where religion becomes a hindrance to us.

This is where the evolutionary period begins where we go through the gospels and on to Revelations without ever reading any of it in the bible (we skip the Epistels because they were religion).

So you see how Catholicism can be viewed as just opposite to protestant religions?

[ November 28, 2002: Message edited by: Amos ]</p>