Peace Numb
Lets see what Fazal has to say ... I've picked some bits I am interested to talk about ...
The anomalies that are present in the scriptrues are not necessarily anomalies that are to do with metaphoric statements. In fact most of them are literal discontinuities and there is no mythology about them. Fazal has been making assertions using intellectual debating tactics extraneous to any evidence. And if he can find two or three arguments to support his claims he will not be able to make conclusive judgements because I already have examples that contradict his theory.
Distortion does not necessarily lead to 'fantastic' mythology the contrary to which he has not substantiated yet. It leads to falsehoods I agree, and mythology as everyone knows is a mixture of these and truth. It therefore is not a valid argument to infer that just because it is 'fantastic' that it is a myth.
The Ahmadi position and in particular your position is that the claims of rising to heaven is mythology, but really you want to call it 'fantastical' claims. There could well be several documented fantastical claims and just because they are documented without distortion it does not make them true, likewise there could be well documented and not so documented things that 'seem' to minds like yours and mine because of our own experiences quite 'fantastical' but are reality and have come in time as miracles of God.
Explaining away miraculous things as a result of distortion is a deceptive line of argumentation. Mythology can be a set of completely normal day to day things too.
To stress just like it is possible to make things look more wonderful by exaggerating scribes of the past have also played down things so what could seem a normal thing to you or me was originally quite an amazing thing but because a scribe down played it we no longer see that. Mythology therefore has nothing to do with what is considered normal or not normal to you or me.
Then with the rigour of Islamic documentation you have no resort but to accept the words as real from Allah (SWT) as per the Qur'an but instead you attack the hadith for meanings they deliver on those verses as inaccurate.
Then you play guess work with the meaning of the Hindu scriptures and further your guess work that when Jesus (AS) explained his being a vine and then you compare it to the wings ... using your words even a child can distinguish between a metaphor and a literal claim.
This what you have posted is far from scholarly and insults the intellect. The identity of Islam is that we have an 'aqeedah and 'aqeedah which mandates us to fully accept the literal truth of miracle. And yes even if it is outside our normal experiences.
Furthermore it is most definitely not our duty to apply rationalism onto scripture that we have trouble accepting as Fazal seems to be saying above ... Rather we humble ourselves and believe.
this is the part you could've saved...
What do you want to say? insults to intellect? hahahaha, I've never came across some intellects here @GS execpt you! I think this guy never claimed, neither did I that he is a scholar. The Bible says, Jesus could walk on water. He could revive the dead! Is this a literal meaning?
It is our duty to apply rationality to the scriptures? Keeping your answer over the past weeks in my mind, your belief requires no proof, it is just blind belief, right? Majority has trouble accepting what Fazal said! or do we have Peace and agreement? I don't see any...