Who gets to decide which passages in the Bible are to be taken at their word?

Question

Whenever anyone has a legitimate question about the bible, the christians all jump in together to say that either the scripture in question is just a metaphor, or that it is being interpreted "wrong".

They then proceed to quote the passages in the bible that are to be taken literally.

So it is just a matter of interpreting this book in the "right' way?

If that were true, then why hasn't anyone put out a book explaining what the real truth is?

Why have all these passages in there that we aren't supposed to take at their word?

And if the whole thing is the Truth, then we get to start all over again, because I definatlely have a lot of apparently unanswerable questions about it.

Answer 1

Good question.

And you are correct, if someone quotes a part of bible in a debate that the other person does not like, the other person says it was a metaphor, or that the translation was not correct, or that it was taken out of context. Then they will respond with a quote and you are to accept it as 100% accurate and true, that it was not a metaphor or mistranslation or was not out of context.

I find when people debate and they throw bible quotes around that they are just throwing stuff out that they learned as a kid and they have not really thought about the topic under discussion.

One way you can confirm my hypothesis is to ask them questions that get to the heart of the debate, phrasing them as "yes/no" questions. If the other person will not answer those questions, it shows they are unsure of what they are saying and are afraid of being "trapped" if they answer. If in a chat room, the classic response is they will pretend they did not see the question.

Answer 2

Unfortunately there are many "schools" of "higher criticism" this is too complicated and far reaching process to discuss here. It involves "those who have placed their understanding higher than the Bible" they do this to justify their positions. It began simply to find the "original" word of God and in the process have dissected the word of God and opened pandora's box! literally. For once you start this process it gets worse and worse.

It was not just a matter of interpreting the "right way" but to interpret it, in the way they were taught.in "higher education" these schools whatever their description felt they had the right to say this book had multiple authorship such as the Pentateuch was written by four possibly five or more authors instead of Moses being the chief author of them. The same with the gospels and other books of the Bible.

Hope this helps -

Answer 3

I doubt you have one single question I can not answer and I believe that the word is truly inspired by God and aside from the fact that it was written by man, and because of that one must to a certain degree see through that particular mans eyes. This is really simple to do if you just get a handle on a little culture and have a greek and Hebrew friend to help.

Those things that are truly important to us is how we should act and so far I have not seen a question from non-believers on those subjects that does not have an obvious answer. The moral guidance given is unimpeachable. Furthermore the advice takes into consideration things we obviously do not understand. For instance although your Dr. has not told you he knows that there are diseases associated with sodomy which he receives a lot of money for not curing. The body was designed for certain things and operating outside the design parameters can and often does produce undesirable results and who would know that better than the designer.

The Bible in it's original thought was given to man by God using our imperfect metods of communication and in it's pure form is (the thought conveyed) is literally true and supernaturally imbued with additional meaning that God sent us a comforter to help us understand.

Wetre you to take the time to read scripture and try to understand it you would not be asking sillyquestions like these which are motivated by a need to___________and not in the interest of seeking understanding. Should you decide to actually want to understand then ask me questions under one of my questions and I will help

Answer 4

How do you know what to take literally? Well, if something in the bible seems like a metaphor such as when Jesus says, "I am the door......" naturally He isn't a door so that would have to be interpreted. But when Jesus says he is truth. That needs no interpretation. Knowing Greek or having a Greek/English dictionary is a big help. Still, if you are prone to ridicule rather than truth you are never going to see it.

Answer 5

There is no original text of The Bible of The True Christian Faith existant today... all copies of any translation will have errors.... There is nothing in The Bible for the non-believer. The Bible is not intended for the non-believer. Only those open to the leading of The Holy Spirit will find what God has for them in His Word.

Answer 6

Search:

http://www.eliyah.com/lexicon.html

Answer 7

Catholics believe that this authority is only given to those who are sent by Jesus, the apostles and their successors. This is the Magisterium of the Catholic Church (the Bishops in union with the Pope).

Protestants believe that anyone can pick and choose which verses to take at face value and which not to depending on whatever is the most convenient for them to justify believing whatever they want to believe.

Answer 8

I would say they all are true . The Bible is true from cover to cover. If you are not born again you most likely want understand it at all truth or other wise.

Answer 9

There's about as much purpose to breaking down the bible's meaning as it is to read Cat in the Hat to a high schooler.

Answer 10

God himself decides which passages in the bible are to be taken at their word. All of them.