Things To Ponder... Fish & Loaves

From the Seekers Desk: Things to ponder:  

How many fishes and loaves of bread did Jesus use to feed
the multitudes in the wilderness?

Before you answer; investigate and review all the accounts. I will not give you the answer but will challenge you to look it up for yourself. However I will give you the references where you can find them. Most have never the accounts or read it for themselves they simply heard it from some religious leader or saw a film depiction of the event. You owe it to yourself to have deeper and more mature understanding of the narratives.

Matthew - 14: 16-21 Matthew - 15:32-38

Mark - 6:41   Mark – 8: 5-9

Luke -9:13-17 John – 6:9-13

What did you learn from reading the cited references?  Bear in mind that the Bible has several
layers of meaning and understanding and it must be read in context and symbols and numbers are part of the levels of understanding. Pay close attention to the characters and symbols in the narrative; specifically who are the characters and symbols in the story. Is it always the same characters and symbols?  What is the location of the event?  What time of the day is the event? I hope you will find some enlightenment.

You are combining two separate events as if they are a single event. On one occasion, Jesus fed 5000 people and on another occasion 4000 people. That is why you have more than one citation from Matthew and Mark.

That has possibilities and you determined that they were (2) separate events how? What exact proof do you have? Are the texs dated so as to know the difference in dates? And please don't say by historical processes because there is no proof of even if the named writers actually wrote the narratives. I can appreciate your defending your faith and although I am not an atheist the concept of an interpersonal God is yet to be fully validated. Agreed if YOU believe and have some experential to source your revelation then that is subjective and no one can dispute your experience. I state once again, I uphold your faith stance for you and I applaud you for that. How ever I will simply state " I agree to disagree" and wish you the best in your path of faith.

If the Bible is not telling the truth about what it says then a discussion of its contents is vain and void.

The writer of the book called Matthew (The book does not say that Matthew wrote it) states that the feeding of the 5000 took place at evening of the same day that he had gone to a deserted place. But Matthew also says that the feeding of the 4000 took place after the multitude had been with him for three days. Now if the writer of the book called Matthew is lying what difference does it make that the details are different but if he is telling the truth then the difference in details shows that these are not the same event.

But strangely enough, Mark says the same thing that Matthew says. Now skeptics says that they are both merely copying something that someone else wrote, but conspiracy theorists are always going to come up with theories to dispute what they DON"T WANT to believe. Kind of Like Donald Trump not wanting to believe that he lost the election.

Just as I cannot prove to you that the election was fair if you are bound and determined to believe that it was rigged, so also I cannot prove to someone who believes that the Bible is rigged that it was not rigged.

We agree, I do not accept any sacred texts as being fully literal or fully inspired. How ever I can and do accept that you believe that it is . And I will honor and fight for your right to have that belief. I believe we have come to the end of our dialogue on the subject basically because we are not going to agree of the indisputable inerrancy of the bible, therefore..Finis

I will thank you for your time and sharing your passion of faith, that is commendable.