Is Jonah History or Fiction?
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- čas přidán 4. 12. 2022
- Jonah in the belly of the fish or whale is one of the all-time favorite Bible stories we tell children. But did everything in it really happen as written? Dr. David Talley lays out support for how modern readers should approach this unforgettable book.
These videos are such fantastic conversation starters.
Nice!! Thank you!!
Will you be posting lesson 13? I have seen it on FB, but not here. Thx!
Well, JESUS talked of Jonah
I believe it's history.
I have no problem and if it's meant to be literal or not. I like to think that it's at least somewhat literal, but I understand why some people would take it a different way. Either way it's still a great biblical account that poses great moral/theological questions, and even it does turn out to be not literal I still think it's definitely divinely inspired. Similar to the Song of Solomon or the books of chronicles or the psalms/proverbs. Where we know that the Song of Solomon is a very sexual and somewhat inappropriate poem. We know chronicles is just a reordering/recap of the history of the kingdom of Israel in order to make emphasis certain historical/theological points. And finally we all know psalms and proverbs are songs and sayings meant to teach/emphasize important things about God and his people. Yet we all agree that they are divinely inspired. So why not Jonah as well.
If Jonah is fiction, then why bother reading anything in the bible?
Two reasons - first something can be a story and contain truth e.g. Jesus's parables read as stories Jesus came up with to teach truth about the kingdom of God through metaphor rather than being reports of things Jesus knew had happened, secondly if one book with a particular style (e.g. Job or Jonah) is viewed as a parable or myth it doesn't mean another book in a different style isn't reportage of events - e.g. the gospels are written in a very different style than Jonah, Job or Esther - far more messy like the reports of real events rather than rather than stylised in the way stories often are.