Could the events in the Book of Jonah really happen? Could Jonah have really been swallowed by a great fish and live to tell about it? Would God really send a tempest storm in order to discipline one wayward prophet? Could an entire city known for its evil come to repentance as the result of a prophet that would really prefer it to fall into God’s judgement? Would God really cause a vine to grow large enough to provide Jonah shade in one day?
There have always been those who doubt the story of Jonah, the Bible, or even God, to those these accounts are claimed to myth. That is to be expected. But what is more concerning are those who consider themselves Christian and don't believe the accounts recorded in the book of Jonah. Throughout the ages Jewish and Christian scholars have always interpreted Jonah as a historical narrative, but critical scholars have suggested that Jonah should be interpreted as a parable or as an allegory. In this session we will look briefly at these three-forms of interpretation.
