The bible? take it literally or symbolically?

Question

how do you take it? why?

Answer 1

symbolicaly

Answer 2

The Bible should be read like any other work of literature from the same time period. It contains some sections meant to be taken literally and some symbolically. The important thing is to not take it as infallible, because it obviously isn't. God doesn't write books. Human beings do.

Answer 3

Literally

Because if it were just symbolism, then when Jesus said

43"Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. 44"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.'[d] Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

if it's just symbolism then I could take that however I want and then I have invented my own Jesus. But if I take it literally it means I am saved. The bible is too perfectly stitched together to take it figuratively...

Jesus existed. There is Historical evidence. So either He is the savior of the Lord, or he is a symbolic lunatic.

Answer 4

The Bible is many things. It is a book of history mixed with ancient folklore and myth, it is a book of poetry, it is a book of songs, it is a book of parables/ lessons/proverbs, and it is a book of rules by which to live your life. I think that you must take it symbolically when you read verses that were written as such. I think you must take it literally when you read verses that spell out the rules of good living. (i.e., there is nothing symbolic about the ten commandments, right?) I think the entire point is not HOW you interpret the Bible, but that you actually read it, refer to it, and TRY to understand it as best you can.

When I took theology in college, I didn't believe in God, and I didn't believe the Bible was anything more than a piece of ancient literature. A very wise professor (who was also a Methodist minister) gave me this advice: You don't have to believe the Bible is the word of God, you don't have to believe in God, BUT you have to admit that after reading, you find that the Bible is the best guide to living that you have ever read. And, after reading, I agreed with him.

Answer 5

For true Believers, the Bible MUST be taken literally!

You have to be careful to consider the period and to read It in context, but It is the unmitigated Word of God and should never be confused with a simple work of literature.
True, there are symbols in it, and Jesus spoke in parables so that the layman could understand; but there is nothing said then that does not apply to life today.
His Word is timeless!

When you begin to look at the Bible symbolically, then it gives people license to distort the Word and to tailor it to fit their own selfish agendas.

If you're going to believe in something, believe in it. If not, then don't. But don't be lukewarm about it.
The Bible is like a book of wedding vows. You can't just pick and choose which ones you're going to honor.
Christianity is a marriage, and living for God is a lifelong commitment that should not be entered into lightly.
Anything less would be like making excuses for cheating!

GOD Bless!

Answer 6

Both.
Much of the Bible is literal, and some of it is symbolic. But even the literal stories can have symbolic value for our lives, and vice versa. For example, I believe that the story where Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac is a true story, but it also symbolizes the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that was going to happen in the future. So by reading it literally and symbolically, we can get deeper understanding than by reading it on just one level. As we read the scriptures, the Holy Ghost can help us to understand them in a way that meets our needs, and sometimes in more than one way. So it's important to be open to understanding it how He reveals it to us. And different passages can mean different things to one person at different times of his/her life because he/she has different needs at those times.

Answer 7

Yes - and you can add historically.
There are literal parts such as the Fall of Jerusalem and Luke's second half of Acts (Note he starts writing "we" in chapter 15.)
Other parts are highly symbolic - Ezekiel, Daniel who even explains the meaning, most of Revelation.
There poetic parts such as the Song of Solomon.
There are "wise parts" for everyday living such as Proverbs.
If you begin to read a book and suddenly the print goes upside down, you know something is happening and change. So the Bible changes all the time. The method of reading needs to change at such times as well.

Answer 8

Literally. Thin k about it, if it was fiction everyone would be good and follow the 10 Commandments etc However, this is not the story we see time after time how bad the people were even then. Weak argument? I think not. Case in point. King David, the most beloved King of Israel. If the story of David and Batsheva was fiction, it might have read one day David saw a beautiful woman and he invited her to his palace. She was an unmarried woman and after several meetings they decided to marry and eventually had a baby named Solomon. Nice fiction bit it didn't go that way.

Answer 9

I realize it to be the two b/c we ought to persist with a number of bible's words into action and/or examine it as a historic previous e book that got here approximately some years in the past.yet to declare that that's old for this society and that human beings particularly do no longer decide on the bible is extremely arrogent in a fashion. each because of the fact the bible has been taken out of the colleges and and government in the Nineteen Sixties there have been extra shootings in colleges and murders and rape are issues that we as a rustic have become conscious of examining or watching .sure we've progressed technologically and scientifically and yet we've the utmost count type of obestity out of any united states due our demands for conveniences. compassionate in direction of one yet another? have you ever been watching the information presently and seen a teach it is not something yet how compassionate we are to a minimum of one yet another? No we are all boastful and conceaded and we predict of that we are extra constructive than anybody else and you in basic terms proved it in basic terms now with what you wrote,and with that form of physique of strategies is what creates wars between human beings and united states which will ultimitly deliver approximately our very own distruction through our very own palms oh and that i additionally forgot to show all of the lives that we glance to have the skill to wreck in abortions because of the fact decide on the intercourse yet no longer the household projects that still comes with it, b/c we spend time coming up tips on a thank you to have safer and extra constructive intercourse b/c of all of the wonderfull ailments that replaced into created by our loss of self administration. bear in strategies the way THIS era will boost AND TEACHES ITS young ones ARE the subsequent GENERATIONS LEADERS. SO in case you do unlike OUR LEADERS, nicely IT replaced into OUR great united states without the way OF THE BIBLE BEING TAUGHT

Answer 10

I believe that some parts can be taken literally, some parts symbolically, and some parts are complete nonsense.

Answer 11

Literally................The bible is the word of God, the creator of heaven and earth. Every time the word of God is proclaimed, that word has the power to change your life. "The word was made flesh and dwell among us" The law is written in our hearts, so is not about learning is about living it, and only through his spirit can we fulfill God's will literally.