Does a metaphorical interpretation of supernatural claims mean that there really never was a virgin birth and that in reality, Mary got knocked-up the old fashioned way? If this is the case, whos the Daddy?
At the risk of repeating what was said in a post above mine, it doesn't matter if it really happened if what is important to me is what it
means to me. I know there are some who would object to this, but they are not seeing it the same way.
Does a metaphorical interpretation mean that nobody really rose from the dead and that walking on water is as impossible as it sounds? What? If you take a metaphorical interpretation, what remains that can be described as being supernatural?
Oh! Good question, because "supernatural" too takes on a non-literal meaning. Most, it seems, interpret "supernatural" as being (big voice) "
forces from beyond" that "
intrude on our world," or some such thing. Or magic. But when your understanding is that both "natural" and "supernatural" have the same source, it's not quite so scary. The supernatural element in Jesus' turning wine into water is a spiritual one, that is to say how the "spirit" is moved by what was
understood. Same with the birth of the holy child. Have you ever heard a Christmas carol sung by a choir on a cold winter's night that "moved" you and sent a shiver down your spine? That's the kind of "movement" that can be non-literally interpreted as the spirit walking. Of course, there are other interpretations - as many as there are people who interpret, multiplied by the times they exercise that ability. Every non-literal interpretation is unique-case, applicable to what is important in that moment of time.
It seems like mental gymnastics to me. Explaining away those things that would require intellectual dishonesty by accepting them through some sort of metaphorical interpretation.
It's the most natural mental gymnastics that man exercises. We do it everyday. Poets do it for a living.