Maybe the grand study should have the same coverage as did Jesus reply that we have been discussing?Indeed it should. It is a package response and we need to consider all parts of it in connection to the other parts.

Vaster,

I don't understand what you mean by this: "Maybe the grand study should have the same coverage as did Jesus reply that we have been discussing?"

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

The same thing I did in my second sentence, that the present state of Abraham and sons ought best be discussed together with angels and marriages, on the grounds that Jesus saw fit to do so.

Thomas, I recall that you attended seminary.

Which seminary?
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Thomas, why do you think a passage must be taken either literally or figuratively? Why can't a passage contain both elements? People mix literal and figurative speech all the time, right?

Gordon, your recall is in error. I have never studied theology in college or seminary settings.

Mike, if the literary style of a text is entirely arbitrary, how are we to know if a certain sentence is literary or figurative? On what basis do we make this interpretation? It seems rather close to fall into the "I like this part so it must be literary while I disagree with that part so thats just figure of speech". Just look at the discussion these last few pages.

Thomas, the best way I know of to determine whether or not a passage is literal or figurative or a combination of both is to compare scripture with scripture. No text is an island. We cannot divorce what Jesus said about the resurrection and marriage from the larger context of the entire Bible.

No sentence is an island either, it is reasonable to assume it is connected with the preceding and the following sentence unless there clearly is a paragraph and topic change..

As it comes to marriage, it seems to me that this verse in Matthew is regarded as The defining sentence which all others are measured against. Otherwise I would have expected more references to other texts.

Do you agree with Ellen's insight (posted earlier on this therad)?

Jesus made clear time and time again that what we call "death" is just a sleep. As I said, just read John 11. I don't consider this a mere metaphor, but as I said, even if you consider it a metaphor, the likeness between death and sleep is evident.
Webster's defintion of metaphor: "a figure of speech containing an implied comparison, in which a word or phrase ordinarily and primarily used of one thing is applied to another (Ex.: the curtain of night, 'all the world‘s a stage')."
But you haven't yet explained Jesus' words: "For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in Heaven."
For the sake of argument, let's suppose this is a metaphor. Could you please explain its meaning?