There seem to be only two kinds of people: Those who think that metaphors are facts, and those who know that they are not facts. Those who know they are not facts are what we call "atheists," and those who think they are facts are "religious." Which group really gets the message?
The Bible writers didn't care that they were bunching together sequences some of which were historical, some preposterous, and some downright manipulative. Faithful recording was not their business; faith was.
I am baffled by the way sophisticated theologians who know Adam and Eve never existed still keep talking about it.
If you make a determination that [story of Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac] is not historical, do you throw it away? I don't think we can say whether it's precisely, scientifically historical.
My teacher in first grade said that long ago people used to believe all kinds of things, because they didn't know any better. Like you shouldn't take a bath, because it could make you sick. And then someone saw germs under a microscope and started to think differently. You can believe something really hard, and still be wrong. (Faith White)
Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?
Whether every story that's there [in the Bible] is a historic truth ... Again, I'm not concerned.
You don’t believe things because they make your life better, you believe them because they’re true.
Well you say that it's gospel, But I know that it's only church.
The fact that there is a general belief in a future life is no evidence of its truth
Lincoln is theology, not historiology. He is a faith, he is a church, he is a religion, and he has his own priests and acolytes, most of whom have a vested interest in [him] and who are passionately opposed to anybody telling the truth about him.
The Bible is not a history book.
It is not proven, it's not science. It's more of a religion than a science.
Science shares with religion the claim that it answers deep questions about origins, the nature of life, and the cosmos. But there the resemblance ends. Scientific beliefs are supported by evidence, and they get results. Myths and faiths are not and do not.
