{"id":9783,"date":"2012-10-01T12:25:17","date_gmt":"2012-10-01T16:25:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=9783"},"modified":"2012-10-01T12:25:17","modified_gmt":"2012-10-01T16:25:17","slug":"han-shot-first-an-analogy-for-creationism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/10\/han-shot-first-an-analogy-for-creationism.html","title":{"rendered":"Han Shot First (An Analogy for Creationism)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Bob Cargill has posted<\/a> a wonderful analogy between reception history of the Bible and Star Wars. He makes great points, such as<\/p>\n

The \u2018correct\u2019 interpretation of a myth does not necessarily confirm the historicity of the myth.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

and<\/p>\n

Arguing over the best way to interpret a story does not prove the story historical, factual, or true\u2026The debate about a text\u2019s\u00a0interpretation<\/em>\u00a0has absolutely no bearing upon whether the claim is, in fact,\u00a0factual<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"This is a crucial point \u2013 and the analogy is hopefully clear. I\u2019ve shown elsewhere why young-earth creationism\u2019s treatment of Genesis, and of the Bible in general, is inconsistent and for many other reasons problematic.\u00a0But even if it could be shown that the young-earth creationists are the most faithful interpreters of the text of Genesis, that would not be the same thing as showing that the text of Genesis corresponds to what actually happened. The tools of literary criticism, of making sense of the inner logic of a text, are not identical to those of historical criticism and other tools which ask about what correspondence there is, if any, between a textual account and actual occurrences.<\/p>\n

But, while I greatly appreciate Bob\u2019s post, I think he could have used an even clearer Star Wars analogy than he does.<\/p>\n

One can debate whether Han shot first. One can perhaps make the case that the view that Han shot first is the only appropriate way to interpret the original, authentic, Star Wars: A New Hope narrative.<\/p>\n

That isn\u2019t the same thing as showing that there was a real Han, a real Greedo, a real Cantina in Mos Eisley, and a real blaster fired by either party. That is a separate question from the question of how to best understand the\u00a0story<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bob Cargill has posted a wonderful analogy between reception history of the Bible and Star Wars. He makes great points, such as The \u2018correct\u2019 interpretation of a myth does not necessarily confirm the historicity of the myth. and Arguing over the best way to interpret a story does not prove the story historical, factual, or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,42,91,108],"tags":[2274,4363,4364,7857,10449,11822,14016],"class_list":["post-9783","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-genesis-bible","category-humor","category-star-wars-science-fiction","category-young-earth-creationism","tag-creationists","tag-han-shot-first","tag-han-solo","tag-mythology","tag-robert-cargill","tag-star-wars","tag-young-earth-creationism"],"yoast_head":"\nHan Shot First (An Analogy for Creationism)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bob Cargill has posted a wonderful analogy between reception history of the Bible and Star Wars. He makes great points, such as The \u2018correct\u2019\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/10\/han-shot-first-an-analogy-for-creationism.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Han Shot First (An Analogy for Creationism)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bob Cargill has posted a wonderful analogy between reception history of the Bible and Star Wars. He makes great points, such as The \u2018correct\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/10\/han-shot-first-an-analogy-for-creationism.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-10-01T16:25:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/i548.photobucket.com\/albums\/ii332\/drewza89\/HanShotFirst.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionProf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/10\/han-shot-first-an-analogy-for-creationism.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/10\/han-shot-first-an-analogy-for-creationism.html\",\"name\":\"Han Shot First (An Analogy for Creationism)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-10-01T16:25:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-10-01T16:25:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\"},\"description\":\"Bob Cargill has posted a wonderful analogy between reception history of the Bible and Star Wars. He makes great points, such as The \u2018correct\u2019\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/10\/han-shot-first-an-analogy-for-creationism.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/10\/han-shot-first-an-analogy-for-creationism.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/10\/han-shot-first-an-analogy-for-creationism.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Han Shot First (An Analogy for Creationism)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/\",\"name\":\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\",\"name\":\"James F. McGrath\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James F. McGrath\"},\"description\":\"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Han Shot First (An Analogy for Creationism)","description":"Bob Cargill has posted a wonderful analogy between reception history of the Bible and Star Wars. He makes great points, such as The \u2018correct\u2019","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/10\/han-shot-first-an-analogy-for-creationism.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Han Shot First (An Analogy for Creationism)","og_description":"Bob Cargill has posted a wonderful analogy between reception history of the Bible and Star Wars. He makes great points, such as The \u2018correct\u2019","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/10\/han-shot-first-an-analogy-for-creationism.html","og_site_name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","article_published_time":"2012-10-01T16:25:17+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/i548.photobucket.com\/albums\/ii332\/drewza89\/HanShotFirst.jpg"}],"author":"James F. McGrath","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ReligionProf","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James F. McGrath","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/10\/han-shot-first-an-analogy-for-creationism.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/10\/han-shot-first-an-analogy-for-creationism.html","name":"Han Shot First (An Analogy for Creationism)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-10-01T16:25:17+00:00","dateModified":"2012-10-01T16:25:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf"},"description":"Bob Cargill has posted a wonderful analogy between reception history of the Bible and Star Wars. He makes great points, such as The \u2018correct\u2019","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/10\/han-shot-first-an-analogy-for-creationism.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/10\/han-shot-first-an-analogy-for-creationism.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/10\/han-shot-first-an-analogy-for-creationism.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Han Shot First (An Analogy for Creationism)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/","name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","description":"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf","name":"James F. McGrath","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"James F. McGrath"},"description":"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.","sameAs":["https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9783","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9783"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9783\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9783"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9783"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9783"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}