To The Age Brian Kilday's claim (1/2) that the Bible and especially the four canonical gospels contain many "contradictions and obvious errors" is not entirely wrong. However, in order to convey truths of a state of being beyond that experienced by us in everyday life, both these literary devices are needed. They have the power to shock us into a new awareness - as Sufi tradition, in particular, tells. For example, instant cures of leprosy sound like nonsense, until it is realised that, symbolically, leprosy stands for an inability to sense modes of higher understanding. That restorative light can certainly flood into a human soul and effect enormous psychological change in a flash. Read critically and not obsequiously, the Bible in many parts is filled with life-sustaining and life-enhancing wisdom.
Nigel Jackson, Belgrave