this lead me to wonder where the Bible lies in the entire debate about theism, atheism and other religious questions central to philosophy. Many consider the existence of God, in terms of proof or lack of proof. However, it can become too abstract and I do believe that the Bible, and, how we interpret it must be relevant. — Jack Cummins
But, even though I am bringing in the Bible, I don't come with any specific agenda, and I do think that it is possible to approach The Bible like any work of literature or texts like 'The Tao de Ching'. But, I am aware that others may not see it that way, and, sometimes, mention of the Bible can in itself appear loaded — Jack Cummins
I am asking what people think about the Bible, in relation to philosophy, and, certainly, it played a crucial role in the development of philosophy in Western society. So, I am raising this topic for those who are interested, including theologians and atheists, as well as everyone else. — Jack Cummins
So I think it's possible to glean valuable stuff from the Bible, in the same way other religious texts have value. It just carries such an ideological weight with it in the Western world that a middle position such as the one you're attempting to hold is rare and often attacked from both sides. — Noble Dust
There is actually a lot of very rich stuff to be found; The Art of Biblical Poetry by Robert Alter is a fascinating exposition on that topic and is still to this day an influence on how I create music as an artist. Stories from the Old Testament such as Job, Jacob wrestling with the angel, and God cutting in half sacrificial offerings made to him (which is interpreted Messianically in Christianity) are deeply rich with suggestive meaning and can hold their own with not only other religious texts but with philosophical texts and great art as well. — Noble Dust
https://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/15/books/review-muriel-sparks-the-only-problem.htmlThe only problem for Muriel Spark, it would seem, is that there are many questions for few answers. This is the theme of her new novel... there is a metaphysical component to her fiction, and it is something of a relief that it has at last broken cover in the present work, which is both an extremely sophisticated account of the perils that surround our unsuspecting lives in the world today and a disputation on the subject of the Book of Job, which she calls ''the pivotal book of the Bible.''
Job and his disconcerting predicament challenge every optimistic belief one yearns to accept, lodging like a hard mass of contention in the consciousness of the hopeful believer. The same sort of existential distress is experienced by Mrs. Spark's current protagonist, Harvey Gotham...
...Harvey has moved to this retreat in order to work on his monograph on the Book of Job; he has rather absent-mindedly abandoned his wife, thinking himself entitled to do so since he once caught her stealing two bars of chocolate from an Italian supermarket...
...Harvey is far less interested in these people than he is in Georges de La Tour's beautiful picture of Job visite par sa femme in the museum at Epinal; the sight of Job's wife in her glowing red dress, her turbaned head bending in concern and admonition over her tranced husband, awakens Harvey's thoughts of his absent wife Effie, for whom he feels increasing love, and, deeper even than love, ''nostalgia.''
Effie is indeed the reason for all the visitors (or comforters) who descend on him: Effie wants a divorce, Effie takes a lover, Effie has a baby. All of this provokes discussion of the rights and wrongs of the case. But finally Effie's high spirits erupt in a manner particularly favored by Mrs. Spark. From stealing chocolate bars, Effie has graduated to planting terrorist bombs in supermarkets and department stores. Effie has joined the F.L.E., the Front de la Liberation de l'Europe. A policeman is killed in Montmartre, and Effie's group is responsible. Finally...
All through the course of the investigations Harvey works away on his monograph. So absorbed is he in his task that he discourses on Job to the reporters who attend his press conference, given ostensibly to explain his wife's disappearance:
''I am delighted to get down at last to the subject of this conference: what was the answer to Job's question? Job's question was, why does God cause me to suffer when I've done nothing to deserve it? Now, Job was in no doubt whatsoever that his sufferings came from God and from no other source...
...In ''The Only Problem''...there is emotion, despair and longing, kept in their place by precise and immediate writing. Perhaps the touchstone for Mrs. Spark's extraordinary style is to be found in a sentence from an earlier novel, ''Territorial Rights.'' It is said of a character in that novel, ''That afternoon she stepped out with the courage of her wild convictions and the dissatisfaction that has no name.'' Anyone who can appreciate the alarming and beautiful completeness of that sentence will appreciate ''The Only Problem.'' — NY Times: Book Review
... the Bible, including the Old Testament and The New Testament ... — Jack Cummins
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