Thanks Benjamin, I do appreciate these conversations. As to biblical interpretation, exegesis as they say, the question of what is literal and what is not has always been a question. Reading some of the more ancient thinkers like Augustine in the Confessions, for example, it is clear that the extreme literalist interpretation of fundamentalists and some evangelical groups is a relatively new approach. Some have explained it as part of the Enlightenment thinking that placed an emphasis on propositions and rationality as essential to truth. A bit ironic, it seems.

A metaphorical reading of Jesus’s resurrection strips the faith of any real meaning, as Paul made clear when he said if Christ is not raised we are of all people the most to be pitied. I suspect you would agree with that which is why you express frequently the disdain for such believers.

It is quite incredible, isn’t it, that so many in earlier times and even today in some parts of the world, die simply because they hold to a belief as factual and not metaphorical. Pitiful, really. Unless, of course, it is true.