[bookshare-discuss] Re: I think Roger was answering me. Mostly.
- From: "Linda Stover" <liamskitten@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2008 23:18:11 -0500
Roger,
Firstly, I have no idea why G-mail is not allowing you to view your
messages along with the accompanying replies, as this has never been a
problem for me.
Secondly, let me see if I can illustrate Cindy's point from another
perspective. I, personally, am a very proud practitioner of Wicca.
If I hear your discourse correctly, and please correct me if I am
wrong because I do not wish to foster misunderstandings, you are
saying that any commentaries/religious writings which cover my
religion would be considered fiction, while the Bible would be
considered nonfiction. Although to a practitioner of Christianity,
this is in no way offensive, it would be to someone who did not
practice Christianity. By simply classifying everything as religious,
Cindey very diplomatically avoids offending anyone, since the Bible,
too, could be considered a religious text.
Courtney
On 10/19/08, roger.loran.bailey@xxxxxxxxx <roger.loran.bailey@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Okay, I still need to figure out this gmail. I am new to it, but I do
> recall someone mentioning that it does not receive messages from
> oneself posted to a list. I may end up resubscribing from my other
> address and perhaps stop having those emails forwarded to the gmail
> account. I am not certain if I got the responses to my posts or not.
> As for whether to classify the bible and bible stories as fiction or
> not, the bible is full of myths and legends passed off as history as
> is the case in virtually all ancient writings. Oftentimes ancient
> writings actually are history as is the case in the bible, but in
> ancient times the dichotomy between materialist and idealist
> philosophy had not yet been discovered. Mor specifically, materialism
> had not been explicated even though it could be said that it had been
> discovered or at least used from the time of the evolution of human
> consciousness. What it comes down to is that the ancients were unable
> to distinguish between reality and superstition. That means that
> pretty much all of the bible was written with the intention that it be
> regarded as nonfiction. Now, much of this material was written down
> very soon after writing was invented. Before that there was an oral
> tradition in passing information from one generation to another. If
> writing had just been invented then what was there to write about. The
> obvious choice would have been these oral stories that had been passed
> on over time. Were those regarded as just entertainment, that is,
> fiction? If one can infer the intention from more recent prehistoric
> illiterate peoples living in historical times, that is, if we look at
> anthropological studies, we can see that for the most part these
> stories are meant to be taken seriously as either the literal truth or
> if not the literal truth then as very serious stories meant to convey
> a profound point much as an essay is. That would mean that the bible
> as a whole should be classified as nonfiction. There is one book of
> the bible that many scholars do think might have been intended as
> fiction though. It is the book of Ruth. That one was written about a
> hundred or more years after the time it portrays and might have
> actually been an early form of an historical novel. I would say that
> if that one is published seperately and out of the context of the
> bible it might be classified as fiction, but since there is still a
> lot of disigreement among biblical scholars about the intention behind
> its writing I think it could be equally as well classified as
> nonfiction. As for a book of "bible stories," if they adhere closely
> to an accepted translation of the bible and if it is meant for adult
> consumption, in which case it is probably published as a method of
> preaching or converting, then I would suppose it probably should be
> classified as nonfiction. However, the only "bible stories" books I
> have ever seen were intended for children. The intent is clearly to
> indoctrinate the children, but from what I have seen the stories are
> greatly modified, simplified and written in a fictional manner with
> the purpose of entertaining the children apparently to keep the
> interest of the children so the main purpose can be carried out. If I
> am to pass judgment on whether a specific book of that type should be
> considered fiction or not I would have to examine the specific book,
> but all the "bible stories" books I have seen are written in a manner
> such that I would feel comfortable in classifying them as fiction.
>
> On 10/19/08, Cindy <popularplace@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> Roger,
>>
>> All your discourses were posted, including the very long one, and were
>> interesting reads and provoked interesting discussions. It's unfortunate
>> that you weren't able to see the replies. smile
>>
>> If an author is expressing/his opinion on a religious matter, or
>> delivering
>> a sermon, yes, that would be nonfiction, and for the list I probably will
>> note that it is nonfiction. The title and synopsis will give more
>> information about the content. But the Bible, and books entitled stories
>> from the Bible--those fit your definition of fiction, do they not? Yet a
>> lot
>> of people would disagree. smile
>>
>> G. Cindy
>>
>>
>> It went like this: My point was that fiction
>>> does not equal
>>> falseness and nonfiction does not equal truth, so there
>>> should be no
>>> problem with classifying religious books as nonfiction if
>>> it was the
>>> intention of the author that they be nonfiction. Books
>>> classified as
>>> fiction should be a story with a plot and narrative without
>>> regard to
>>> whether they were written from a religious point of view or
>>> not.
>>
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