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Theologian NT Wright claims Adam and Eve were 'human-like creatures,' Jonah and the great fish a 'folk tale'

By Ian M. Giatti, Christian Post Reporter

Jonah

One of the best-known accounts in all of Scripture, Jonah’s adventure in the belly of the great fish is referenced by Jesus Himself in the Gospels. 

But for Wright, he sees the book of Jonah as “very much like a folk tale” involving a reluctant prophet, a great fish, and ultimately preaching to the people of Nineveh. When asked about Jesus’ reference to Jonah in Matthew 12:39-40 and Luke 11:29, Wright said he personally "tended to take Jesus' reference to Jonah as a reference to somebody whom Jesus at least thought was a real person." 

“It could be that you could say that when Jesus says that, he's referring to the well-known folktale,” he added. “Like, as I hinted, somebody in today's world referring to Hamlet or Macbeth or King Lear, or somebody who's a well-known character in the literary history of our country and our culture. I don't think that would matter hugely.”

Ian M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ian.giatti@christianpost.com.

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