YOU SAID:
Besides, using the Bible to illustrate your point of view is not very convincing. Even if there's only "one true meaning" in the Bible, it's obvious that scholars can't agree on what it is, otherwise there would probably be less churches and splinter groups of Christians. I think that in that respect, the Bible is not different from any other great book, since it obviously is open to different interpretations.
Here's the point I was trying to make. Truth is truth, regardless of what people may think of it. For example, you are sitting in your room, typing at your computer, and if you were to look at your wall, you would find it to be a certain colour (for the sake of argument, let's say white). You may have someone else in the room with you who might say the white wall is green, and another friend who sees it as black, but the ABSOLUTE TRUTH is that this particular wall is white. The same is true with the Bible. Even though many different people may fail to understand its truth, and they may interpret it differently, it is still a deposit of truth. The trick is to discover what that truth means to us here and now, and that's where Hermeneutics - the Science of Bible Interpretation - comes in.
Anyway, this is an interesting discussion topic, nonetheless! As mentioned in a previous post, I am a big fan of Tolkien's writings, (primarily Rings & Hobbit) and also enjoyed the latest movie adaptation. Looking forward to continued dialogue with you all!
Your friendly neighbourhood youth pastor,
Chris Jordan
http://www.angelfire.com/bc/YMF