Is it possible to take The Bible seriously but not literally?

Question

How many of you are unable to read the Bible literally, but still find it helpful in bringing you closer to God?

Answer 1

The bible myths were adopted from many other cultures and include the wisdom from those cultures.

It is possible to take the wisdom from the bible, but most people do not seem to use it to find wisdom. They seem to use it to justify their arrogance, vanity, hatred and bigotry.

If that's what you mean by "seriously," of course you can. Until you start using it to measure others instead of yourself.

Answer 2

There are many opinions on Religion and science. I do not wish to mislead anyone in their beliefs but here are some basic facts. Religion, no matter what flavor, was created by early man from fear of the unknown. This is not to say that worship is bad. I would like to state that too many religions have taken it upon themselves to decide where, when, and how the Creator accomplished this feat. I totally believe that the Creator does, always has, and always will exist! I do not however believe that there is one person on the face of the Earth who has the right to decide how the Creator performed this miracle! If the Creator chose to take billions of years then so be it! If evolution was part of his plan I can deal with it. This brings me to the second point, The Creator did not write the bibles, scrolls, or any other documentation we use in our religions. These items were written by many people and are simply visions of how they perceived the Creators message. I firmly believe that what we call evolution was Gods method of creation. Evolution is apparent everywhere you look. I also believe there is life elsewhere in the universe. Nowhere does it state that the Creator didnt create life elsewhere. This assumption was made by man. Humans are vain but feeble, delicate creatures who believe they are the superior life form. God instilled in us the first law which is the instinct for survival. Every living thing has this primordial instinct. It is up to us to decide which path we will take in order to survive. If we err, we will pay the price. I also believe the need for the exploration of space is a must! It is a well established fact that our planet will not live forever and if we want to survive we must leave this planet. As far as man being a destructive creature, man is a naturally occurring event on this planet. If man were never created I am sure some other life form here could destroy its own civilization. The lowly cockroach alone could destroy the very ecosystem that keeps it alive in time. A majority of people dont have a clue on how large the universe is. Most people cant tell the difference between a solar system, a galaxy, and a universe! This annoys me and I only wish that they new. God has given us a most valuable tool and that is the power to think. Religion now needs to come up from the stoneage beliefs and help rather than hinder our quest for survival.

Answer 3

Sure it's possible. The Bible says the world was created in 7 days, but were they literally 7 Earth days? The flood supposedly lasted 40 days and 40 nights, but in the ancient world many cultures used the number 40 to mean "a long time." And a Jewish friend of mine told me that the original Hebrew stated that Moses led the children of Israel across the REED Sea, and that Joseph did not wear a coat of many colors, he wore a coat with sleeves. There have been too many mistranslations and misunderstandings by humans to take every word literally. But that does not take away from its power as a guide to living a moral life.

Answer 4

It depends on what you mean by literally.

Some passages in the bible as metaphors and symbols. Like when Jesus says "I am the vine and you are the branches" he is not saying that he is a plant! If you read the bible that way you take it too literally.

Passages in the bible are given in a literary and an historical context - also, bible passages need to be understood in the larger context of the whole of scripture.

ICommentaries can help you with your persuit of truly understanding the scriptures. Also, you may want to consider picking up a "Life Application Bible" which has verse by verse commentary to clear up common misconceptions about scripture.

God bless :)

Answer 5

That is exactly what has happened to me. I have read the Bible cover to cover twice and the New Testament countless times. However, I never see the accounts of the events as being literal. (Sampson may have killed 5 men with the jawbone of an ***, not 5000).
However, reading it has certainly made me feel closer to God and to appreciate what Jesus did for me 2000 years ago. I don't think this is blasphemous, God knows who I am and would know that I am the sort to question what I see.

Answer 6

The bible has a lot of accurate history in it, and should be treated as such. It contains matters of historical fact, but some of the more ludicrous things... Jesus rising from the dead, divine conception, etc., should be taken with a grain of salt. It's been altered so many times in different versions, all you can do is compare what has been written and the changes that have been made and decide for yourself.

If it brings you comfort and helps you to be a better person, then so be it.

Answer 7

Oh, yeah. Most DEF! Has anyone ever tried to read even PART of Revelations? AND tried to take it seriously? It's...REALLY interesting!

The only part I can take literally is "He took, he blessed, he broke, he gave," in short, part of the Last Supper scene. "Why" is because it's in all 4 Gospels & isn't dramatically different between them.

The Bible was started WAAAAY back; a good portion of it has come to us through oral tradition, but all this STUFF had to make sense to the people way back when. Those people were FAR less educated than we are. Lots were farmers or shepheards (thus we get of lot of sheep talk in the Bible) who weren't very educated.

Hope that helps!
Peace!

Answer 8

Yes. Jesus often spoke in parables (stories). It is the meaning of the passages of the bible that contain truth for all ages. For instance if I say the bluejays beat the tigers we can assume I mean that Toronto beat Detroit in a baseball game. But if 10000 years from now if they never heard of baseball and I make that same statement, they will say that a bird couldn't beat a tiger. In today's world, we may not understand the symbolism's used in the Bible, were they written under times of religious oppression, crusades, but the truths contained within the Bible are true for all ages.

Answer 9

Well, if you notice, there are a lot of symbols in the bible, and I'm not talking Da Vinci Code symbols or anything like that. For example, the number seven seems real popular in Christianity (seven deadly sins, universe created in seven days...). it doesn't mean that everything was done in fourtys, sevens, and twelve, but it means that these numbers are seen holy and anything in these numbers is close and important to god.

Answer 10

Don't you think it is possible that perhaps God opens his word to you when it is his time and not your decision? Would that not be a simple thing to do? Have you ever prayed before you opened it to be able to read and understand? Is this not the purpose of faith, to believe in the unseen. God maybe speaking to your heart now in ways you do not foresee.It's up to us to take time to believe or not and find your peace. The empiest stomach cries the loudest and the lost soul seeks light....think about it

Answer 11

I think anyone who has ever read the Bible knows that some things have to be taken in context for today.
The principles are the same - so you cannot twist it to fit your lifestyle.
But it does bring you closer to GOD and makes your walk much easier.