Bethberry, I'm not sure you even read my post. I was simply stating that asking if the Bible has spiritual limitations is not a good idea, nor does it disprove Lush's statement that literature has spiritual limitations. I have no idea of your beliefs, nor did I attempt to infer anything from your post or imply anything by mine. Certainly at no time was I lead to believe that you worshipped Eru, or anyone/anything else, for that matter.
If one does not believe in God or Jesus, then the Bible certainly is going to be just another fiction work that has spiritual limitations.
If one does believe in God/Jesus, then the Bible isn't going to be simply categorized as a literary work...it's scripture, spiritual doctrine. The tales enclosed, though they might, are not written to enrapture and enchant the reader, but to provide instruction for a fruitful life.
Insert any religious text in place of the Bible and the same holds true.
My posts have been entirely directed at your supposition of
Quote:
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And so I suppose you are saying that, either the Bible is not literature, or, if it is, it has spiritual limitations."
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...so I was basically saying nonbelievers
would say the Bible has spiritual limitations and believers would think of it as more than literature.
To answer your question about spiritual insight found in a narrative one doesn't worship...sure there is.
Though the Muslims don't hold Jesus as a divine being, they see the value in what he had to say and the narratives of his deeds provided in the Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Another good example from the Bible would be the parables that Jesus told. The story of the Good Samaritan, the parable of the seed and the sower...
The parables are rather simple in that there are more deeply touching narratives, but they're the easiest to see as they have a universal scope.
I do believe that this sort of spiritual insight does has limitations. More often than not, the insight provided is something we already knew in our minds to be true, we just were not wholy conscious or sure of it. The insight provided is more a confirmation in application of what we've already been taught. Perhaps you could give a specific example?
[ June 14, 2002: Message edited by: Legalos ]