more flips

Well, I am procrastinating. Yes I am. But this is it. Just this 1 blog post, and then I promise I'll work on my paper!

But there is more flipping going on in my head. In this class I'm in, we're reading a book about taking the Bible seriously but not literally. And the author, in one section, casually dismisses the Virgin Birth as probably not historical. Which flipped me out. I was deeply upset. Because I need that story to be historical and factually true. And I came up with all kinds of great arguments - Dale was convinced by them and Ed looked somewhat impressed. But then, last night, reading the discussion board for this class, I got flipped. What I realized is this: if the Virgin birth is taken as factually true, then you either believe it or you don't. Either way, you shrug your shoulders, make a decision, and move on. But if you are reading the Bible looking for the truth in the metaphors, then you have to wrestle with the Virgin Birth. Whether or not you believe it is factual, you have to ask: why is this story here? Why is it important that Jesus be born from a virgin? What is the significance and Truth of this story? This is the flip: understanding that sometimes, you have to step back and stop reading the Bible as history and instead read it as a literary product. What is the Truth contained in this story, the Truth which is there regardless of my own opinion of whether it is factually true?