which parts of the bible should people interpret literally?

Question

since everyone says things are taken out of context. how bout stoning people who break the sabbath? literal or not?

Answer 1

" I am The Way, The Truth, and The Life; no man can come to the Father except through me". -- Jesus Christ

" Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved". (Acts 4:12)

Answer 2

Look at it this way. If I am writing a story and the narrator is a girl named riding hood. Below is an exert from the story. The sentences are numbered for reference.

(1) I have always been called riding hood. It is a name my grandpa gave me. (2)One day I was walking through the woods and came along a big bad wolf. (3)"Bow down to me or I will eat you for dinner".

So you come along and read only line 3. Therefore you assume that riding hood is saying "Bow down to me or I will eat you for dinner". Where in fact it was said by the wolf.

MY point is you have to read what precedes the text and follows the text to get a broad understanding of the meaning. The bible is not meant to be read and understood by one verse alone but in its entirety. That is what is meant by context. So some is meant literally and some isn't.Jesus often taught in parables which should be read to find the meaning and not taken literally. One of average intelligence can figure out which ones are which.

Answer 3

If you are talking to the Jesus Christ followers in here...we live under grace, not under the law.

I believe the Holy Bible is 100% the Word of God.

There is a lesson to be learned from resting on the Sabbath.

You can take just about any Scripture in the Holy Bible and take it out of context. What does the verse before and after say? Or perhaps the entire passage?

Answer 4

All of the Bible should be read with the knowledge that it was written long ago for a particular culture. It has to be taken in the context with which it was written. And one also should realize how filtered and edited it was over the years and what previous myths it was derived from.

Answer 5

I think Iwould rather be stoned, than go through the long drawn out crap they put you through these days. The legal system that is. Try going to John 3/16 and 17. Most people seem to over look 17, because 16 is so over whelming. Try underlining the word world. This might help you realize what he is actualy saying.

Answer 6

IT IS THE WORD OF GOD.
It is all truth.
People try to change the word to make it pretty.
Well God does not need their help.
Take every word as literal, unless it tell you it is a parable.
God did allow people to be stoned to death.
God will send people to hell.
God is all He said He is.
People try to make nice with the world,
God said they would.
Read 2 Timothy 2(KING JAMES BIBLE)
Seek the truth while there is still time.
JESUS IS SALVATION AND THERE IS NO OTHER WAY

Answer 7

I think the front cover can be. I have two different bibles. The cover on the first one says, "The Bible King James Version", the second just says, "The Bible". I take the title of these two versions literally. It is a different story once I open the front cover.

Answer 8

In my opinion very little of it is to be taken literally. Much of it is written in metaphor. A lot of the problems with these scriptures is that they were written in a certain literary style whose context has been long lost. We can never know for sure exactly what the authors of the bible meant to convey, but those who seriously study the texts and their surrounding history have a pretty good idea... and it doesn't shine a very confident light on the religion.

Answer 9

Look at the context. That will tell you. For example, trinitarians say that John 10:30 proves that Jesus was claiming to be God. But what does the context show?

Jesus himself showed what he meant by his being "one" with the Father. At John 17:21, 22, he prayed to God that his disciples "may all be one, just as you, Father, are in union with me and I am in union with you, that they also may be in union with us, . . . that they may be one just as we are one." Was Jesus praying that all his disciples would become a single entity? No, obviously Jesus was praying that they would be united in thought and purpose, as he and God were.—See also 1 Corinthians 1:10.


Jesus prayed to God that his disciples might "all be one," just as he and his Father "are one."

At 1 Corinthians 3:6, 8, Paul says: "I planted, Apollos watered . . . He that plants and he that waters are one." Paul did not mean that he and Apollos were two persons in one; he meant that they were unified in purpose. The Greek word that Paul used here for "one" (hen) is neuter, literally "one (thing)," indicating oneness in cooperation. It is the same word that Jesus used at John 10:30 to describe his relationship with his Father. It is also the same word that Jesus used at John 17:21, 22. So when he used the word "one" (hen) in these cases, he was talking about unity of thought and purpose.

Regarding John 10:30, John Calvin (who was a Trinitarian) said in the book Commentary on the Gospel According to John: "The ancients made a wrong use of this passage to prove that Christ is . . . of the same essence with the Father. For Christ does not argue about the unity of substance, but about the agreement which he has with the Father."

Right in the context of the verses after John 10:30, Jesus forcefully argued that his words were not a claim to be God. He asked the Jews who wrongly drew that conclusion and wanted to stone him: "Why do you charge me with blasphemy because I, consecrated and sent into the world by the Father, said, 'I am God's son'?" (John 10:31-36, NE) No, Jesus claimed that he was, not God the Son, but the Son of God.

So, the context of a verse will determine how that verse should be viewed.

Answer 10

Study it your self. It took me a few seconds to find out just how litterally it is to be taken. The stoney sabath thing is ended by the Christ who said ,"the sabath is given for men, not men for the sabath." There are so many beautiful lessons to learn from
God, so give it a try. I doubt you will be agnostic afterward.

Answer 11

Do you even know what context means?

For future reference, it's the background and specific circumstances of a subject.