Adam and the Tree of Knowledge
Ed Tyler etyler@truman.edu
Tue, 16 Feb 1999 09:27:13 -0600 (00919200433, 4.1.19990216092557.00b513a0@pop.truman.edu)
At 10:29 PM 2/15/99 -0500, Achilles wrote:
>On 15 Feb 99, at 8:36, Ed Tyler wrote:
>
>> Ed
>>
>> Actually, it's not a "contradiction," although the inerrantist explanation
>> is incorrect. The "On the day X occurs he/you will die" formula is a
>> figurative pronouncement made by rulers and is found several times
>> throughout the Old Testament is contexts where it is apparent that death
>> is not necessarily going to result on that particular day. It's merely a
>> ruler's way of assigning the death penalty to a given transgression.
>
>Achilles
><Tongue in cheek>
>But Ed, you are making the mistake of looking at it as human literature. You
>are trying to correct the text to read the way you think it should, you are
>second-guessing the author Himself!
>
>If He wanted it to mean what you say it means, He was perfectly capable of
>inspiring it to be written that way.
></TIC>
>
Ed
That's true, of course. I suppose he could have inspired the author of the
Markan gospel to use proper grammar, diction, and syntax, too. As Emerson
asked: "Cannot the Spirit parse?"