truthseeker

As an outsider, I think it could be helpful for Don and Cheryl, at the least, (others are welcome, too) to give a simple explanation on how one determines what is allegory, poem, fact, expression, etc. as a way of defining the basic ‘playing field’ or parameters. I say this for several reasons:

First, years ago I took a course on the Wisdom books of the bible at a so-called Christian university, and the professor did indeed define some passages as wisdom literature that was common to the time, not just to Christianity, etc., some things as poetry, some as fact, etc. There may be persons who come to this blog who have questions about this, either not having studied as much as some of you or having had very persuasive teaching on several sides of the issue.

Second, strictly for the purposes of this discussion, there would be no ambiguity about where the primary proponents stand with regard to the basic ‘rules of the game’, the guidelines by which one determines a poem, fact, allegory, etc. As one who is clearly less educated on these matters I would welcome such definition.

Third, I have noticed that in the debate between comps and egals, it is not always clear how one determines what is plain reading, expression, word play, contextually-dependent, etc. I think these ‘housekeeping matters’-matters of definition-likely plague all good discussions. If we can alleviate some of this by establishing baseline understandings, it would be helpful not only for this discussion but also for the egal/comp. discussion and others.

I suggest this with all due respect to each of you who have contributed to this particular blog subject thus far. I am humbly learning as this is not an area of expertise for me by any means.