I find his comments regarding whether the biblical stories actually happened very strange - listen to 19 min-21 min. In his prebate comments he proclaims that biblical events such as the Akeida actually happened but he seems to have problems acknowledging this to Dawkins when Dawkins directly asks him this question. It looks like Dawkins is under the impression that Rabbi Sacks is denying that they happened as described in the Bible but rather they are primarily stories to teach moral lessons. He even says in answer to the question - "when you daughter was young did you tell her stories"
From the bbc debate last week www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/19563336 "How do you decide which bits [of scripture] are symbolic and which bits are not?" asked Prof Dawkins at one point during the discussion.
"Very simple," replied the Chief Rabbi.
"The rabbis in the 10th century laid down the following principle: if a biblical narrative is incompatible with established scientific fact, it is not to be read literally."
I find his comments regarding whether the biblical stories actually happened very strange - listen to 19 min-21 min. In his prebate comments he proclaims that biblical events such as the Akeida actually happened but he seems to have problems acknowledging this to Dawkins when Dawkins directly asks him this question. It looks like Dawkins is under the impression that Rabbi Sacks is denying that they happened as described in the Bible but rather they are primarily stories to teach moral lessons. He even says in answer to the question - "when you daughter was young did you tell her stories"
ReplyDeleteFrom the bbc debate last week www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/19563336
ReplyDelete"How do you decide which bits [of scripture] are symbolic and which bits are not?" asked Prof Dawkins at one point during the discussion.
"Very simple," replied the Chief Rabbi.
"The rabbis in the 10th century laid down the following principle: if a biblical narrative is incompatible with established scientific fact, it is not to be read literally."
I have found that Gentile atheists usually respect Jews. They are usually atheist because of negative experiences with the church.
ReplyDelete