This post is all about metaphors :) What in the world is a metaphor? A metaphor is an image that represents an idea. Now the dictionary will tell you that it is a figure of speech that brings two ideas together in comparison and that is correct, but a metaphor is much much more than a figure of speech. It will become so important that it will be your primary point of discernment for literature and very possibly all the arts. So to help us recognize metaphors, let's start with the beginning.....
God is the author of most of our metaphors. Metaphors can be literal or imagined images to reflect an idea. Let's take the two trees in the Garden. I'm taking a historical interpretation here for Genesis as it is written as history, not fable--but even if you are not yet convinced that Genesis is history, this lesson will still work for you. One tree, the tree of life, was the tree that God said was life and that Adam and Eve could eat freely. The tree of knowledge was the tree that God said was forbidden. From thereafter, these two trees became powerful symbols to all cultures and generations. Now let's look at another metaphor, the snake, the form that Satan took to tempt Eve. No matter how you interpret Genesis (as historical or fable), the fact remains that the snake or serpent is an everlasting metaphor for the evil one. No matter how much you may love reptiles, you cannot fight the fact that the snake is still a metaphor. Now who created the association of the serpent and Satan?? Who is the author of this metaphor? That will be the subject for tomorrow's post
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