Diagrams for Living: The Bible Unveiled

by Emmet Fox

Overview

A beloved teacher and best-selling author offersdiagrams for living to show "how you can came outof limitation and find real happiness. "

Fox has inspired millions of people over the past forty years through his simple, practical guidelines. In Diagrams for Living he presents valuable keys to living a more fulfilled life drawn from the eloquent spiritual wisdom of the Bible.

If we read the Bible literally, cautions Fox, we miss the eternal power and personal relevance found in its symbols, allegories, and parables. "Whether you realize it or not," he writes, "you are on every page from Genesis to Revelation." Fox shows how to read dramatic biblical stories as symbolic diagrams for living that can "show you how to overcome difficulties and problems, and how to give expression to the deep aspirations that lie hidden in your soul." This power to reveal, inspire, and guide makes the Bible's teachings adaptable to everyone at every stage of spiritual development.

Sensible, contemporary, and full of reassurance, Diagrams for Living offers sage counsel from a gifted teacher.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062503350
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/01/1993
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	540,848
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.54(d)

About the Author

Emmet Fox (1886-1951) was one of the most influential spiritual leaders of the twentieth century and a pioneer of the New Thought movement. His bold, dynamic message proclaiming that our thoughts shape our reality has changed the lives of millions across the world and influenced many key contemporary spiritual writers such as Wayne Dyer, Esther Hicks, and Louise Hay, all of whom have tapped into the power of positive thinking. Fox's other key works include Power Through Constructive Thinking and Alter Your Life.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter One

Your Wrestling Angel

And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.— Genesis 32:24

You are an important person with a glorious destiny and you have a wonderful biography written about you. It is a very different biography from the usual kind because in addition to being a personal history in which both achievements and shortcomings are noted, it shows you how to overcome difficulties and problems, and how to give expression to the deep aspirations that lie hidden in your soul. It outlines diagrams for living so that you can take the necessary steps to make your life worthwhile and interesting. This biography of you is called the Bible, and, whether you realize it or not, you are on every page from Genesis to Revelation.

The Bible is written in symbol and allegory. Some people know that; yet they continue to read the Bible in the literal way and consequently miss its message of spiritual power. The veil is still over their hearts, as Paul remarked. What do I mean by "symbol"? According to Webster, a symbol is a "sign of...an idea." It is not the thing itself but it represents it, as the dove is a symbol of peace, and palms are a symbol of victory. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, a real man did not go down from Jerusalem on a particular day, nor did a certain Levite actually pass by. Jesus told the story to illustrate a point. In like manner, the story of Adam and Eve is an allegory to explain great spiritual Truths.

The reason why many people have given up the Bible is that theyhave taken it literally, whereas the Bible was meant to be taken spiritually. They say, "The story of Jonah and the whale cannot be true." Of course it is not true, in a literal sense. It is an allegory. Nor is it true that the Prodigal Son was a certain young man who went into far country and then came back and was wined and dined by his father. These things are parables that come to life and reveal diagrams for living when we have the spiritual key.

Everything in the Bible is significant. All the characters, both male and female, illustrate and dramatize certain states of mind that could and do happen to people in this present day, in New York or Paris or Tokyo. The Bible is not just ancient history: it is a living thing for today.

You can find yourself in the Bible, but there is no guarantee you will be pleased when you do! However, if you do not like the picture you see, you can always change from one Bible character to another. In this great play the actors cast themselves. If they do not like the role they find themselves in, they can change to another because the Bible gives us the key to transforming life.

Just as every character in the Bible symbolizes a state of your soul, so does every incident in the Bible signify something that can happen to you. Abraham moving into Canaan; Jesus at the lakeside; Jesus going up toJerusalem; Paul on the Road to Damascus — all these represent dramatic, powerful, colorful events in your life today, the things that either age you and give you heartbreak, or lift you up to new levels of joy and accomplishment. They are dramatic, symbolic diagrams for living to show you how you can come out of limitation and find real happiness.

Every name in the Bible has a meaning. For that matter, all names have a meaning. Your name represents the idea of you and your life. The life of every man and woman is a parable of the things that have happened to them since they were born. You were born in Los Angeles or Paris or Berlin, let us say. You went to certain schools and churches. You got such and such a job or entered this or that profession. You married or stayed single. You lived in a particular place and did certain things — good things or bad things, wise or foolish things. Your whole life is a parable that symbolizes the kind of person you are, and your name sums up that parable or represents it. In like manner every name in the Bible has a special meaning, representing certain faculties or conditions of the human soul.

The geography of the Bible is significant, too. Egypt, Palestine, Assyria, Babylon, the Mediterranean — all have symbolical meanings. Every river, mountain, lake, desert, etc. represents certain states of consciousness.

Numbers also are used to convey definite ideas and principles. I should point out that the number six — the six-pointed star of David — represents the Old Testament.

Diagrams for Living copyright © by Emmet Fox. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All Rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.