As I read posts and responses to posts, on more than one occasion I have been COMPLETELY IMPRESSED with the perfect choice of words in support of a key point or the general BioLogos mission.
Sometimes the quotation is just incredibly concise. Sometimes the quotation is incredibly logical. And many times the quote is unusually compelling and persuasive! It would be shame to have these brilliant gems lost under five tons of the more ordinary postings and texts.
“I don’t think Jesus taught false things. But I think his words can be decontextualized so that they make false propositions. Jesus said the mustard seed was the smallest seed there is. If we decide to print that in a botany textbook, that would be bad, and Jesus would be wrong. Was he giving a botany lesson when he said that? No, so it’s stupid to insist he was lying or teaching falsehood when he said it. I think something similar applies to the discussion of the creation of the world.”
I posted in response: “This paragraph should go in the BioLogos Hall of Fame !”
Now that I’ve had more time to reflect on this idea, perhaps the term “Hall of Fame” is not the best choice of words. But it would be wonderful if participants had the ability to nominate various quotations for consideration to be suitably ARCHIVED for later use by other members or participants: in an Appendix? in an Archive? In a “Great Quotes” page?
As the archive/appendix “evolves” (< see that?!) - - I suppose categories could emerge to provide additional convenience for going through these words of gold.
Please consider this idea as an additional way for the financial supporters of BioLogos to get “their money’s worth” in this noble effort.
Just feel the need to clarify the Mustard seed ‘issue’…
Jesus did not say the Mustard seed was the smallest seed on the planet. He used the Mustard seed as an example to teach a lesson, the value is in the lesson. The Mustard seed was the smallest seed the people of that time and place used, they were familiar with no smaller seed. The Bible is full of things that SEEM to be incorrect, but really the only thing in error is the interpretation of the reader.
It’s explanations like yours that show the wobbly nature of Creationist literalism.
Everything is LITERAL … until you can’t defend it any more. Then you say it is figurative. I find Christy’s explanation far more reasonable than yours.
If you look at this quote: Mar 4:31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth:
If you read that last part very closely “… less than all the seeds that be in the earth” … it pretty much reads EXACTLY the way you say it doesn’t read.
Another verse that references the Mustard seed:
Mat 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
The one thing that I think we can safely say … in TWO THOUSAND YEARS … is that no mountain has EVER been moved… despite people having FAITH that was very, very small - - like a mustard seed.
Oh I read it closely. I still do not see anything that demands Jesus is literally saying that the Mustard seed is the smallest seed in all of creation. Only that it is the smallest seed planted in the Earth, no doubt by the people of that time and place. If the people of the day did not know of any smaller seed, then why mention one? Your interpretation of the word ‘earth’ is causing the issue. Not the Bible.
I don’t know about you, but Jesus wasn’t talking to me here. He was talking to his disciples. Jesus Christ’s disciples were able to do many things the regular believer could not. And they were granted this power to set up the church, not for their own gain.
The point of bringing it up in the first place was to basically make the point you are making. He was “literally” saying it was the smallest seed. The intended meaning he was trying to communicate in the context did not have anything to do with the relative size of the mustard seed to all other seeds in existence in the world, he was creating a metaphor for the Kingdom. There is no “issue.” Whenever you decontextualize something in Scripture and decide the literal meaning of decontextualized words is some absolute truth that Jesus/God insists we accept, you potentially get into trouble. The Bible says “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” If you decide to take the “literal meaning” of those words out of context and insist they hold absolute inspired truth for all time about all people from Crete, you’re being ridiculous. That was my point.
But Jesus (God) did not state that. Humans are fallible, God is not. If something God says seems to be a contradiction or error, then it is only your interpretation that is in error.
It seems like it would still be hard to come up with a consistent doctrine of inspiration though. I mean, everything Jesus/God said was written down by fallible human beings. If Paul is a fallible human being, isn’t Matthew one too? How do you draw the line between what you evaluate as God’s infallible word and what you can dismiss as a product of human fallibility?