Christians If parts of the bible are not to be taken literally how then do you deturmine which parts are which

Question

I hear so many times that certain verse in the bible are not meant literally. How do you deturmine what is meant to be literal and what is not?

How can the bible be called the PERFECT word of GOD if we have this picking and choosing of what is literal and what is not! Where is the God given guide to what is meant to be literal? Was that part lost in the translation?

Answer 1

If they answered that, how could they pick and choose when convenient?

Answer 2

No wonder you are confused. I'm not sure where you are getting your info, and I am absolutely not an expert, but here goes. First of all, I would get a Bible that is easier to read (maybe a Joyce Meyer version??- I haven't read it myself yet). Secondly, you are right, God did give the authors of the Bible exactly what He wanted to write. It isn't written by John, etc., but God wrote it through John. He certainly doesn't want anyone confused or it would be useless, wouldn't it?
Now, as for "literal" or not, God wrote every word as the LITERAL word of God. The people who are saying that some of it isn't literal haven't read and understood it all. You can't take part of it out, discount it, leave some in, etc.. That is too convenient for those who want to bend it for their own reasons (like someone posted). Now, I know that when you start reading that He parted the Red Sea, etc. it sounds pretty unlikely, but that is where faith comes in. Either you believe every word and every word is true, or it is all junk. That is where you have to make up your own mind. Do not listen to those who judge others and are "religious" for their own purposes. You can get easily misguided. Go by what the Bible says and only that. Don't ever take someone else's word for it. Research what God Himself wrote in the Bible.
The main idea of the Bible is LOVE. Unconditional love. God loves you no matter what you do, no matter how many times you do it. Yes, He might not like what you do, but He never, ever gives up on you. Because no one is perfect, the Bible says that His Son Jesus died for our sins and if you simply pray and say that you believe this and accept Him, that is all that God wants. Loyalty. He gives each person a choice but because He made you and loves you so much, He hopes that you love Him back.
Now, back to the literal debate... Jesus did tell stories and give illustrations just so that people could better understand what He was trying to say. These are examples just to help. A good Bible will guide you, but be careful what you buy. Just ask God to help you and He will! Hope this helps!

Answer 3

Hi. NONE of the Bible is to be taken literally in the way that we take history books literally simply because all the books of the Bible, even the ones we Biblical scholars label as "histories", are not what we today would think of as history. The books of the Bible were written not to record history, they were written in various literary forms that are really no longer used for very different reasons then we today can recognize AND the people who wrote them didn't exactly have the same thought processes as we today have. Their life experience was VASTLY different from our own. The Bible isn't "false" and the Bible doesn't "lie" These ideas are juvenile. You only come to these conclusions when you approach the Bible with the same mindset as when you pick up your European History 101 text. You wrongly assume that this book records events in chronological, exact historica reality. Only morons think the Bible is the "Perfect Word of God" literally speaking. Modern Biblical scholars (1880's - present) see it as God reveals him/herself to humans and humans, with all of their human limitations, understandings based on their particular worldview, sociological and emotional barriers, etc interpret that revelation in the best way we can. And then, viola, you have the world's various sacred scriptures, from the Letters of Paul to the Vedas. So...when you read the Bible, try to understand what the author was trying to say, and THEN see if it means anything to you, or to modern Christian thought. This is exegisis, and this is what scholars do.

Answer 4

God gave people who believe in him a discretion and others to debate about these things.
There's where different denominations come in though. So you will get a different answer on which parts are literal and which are metaphorical. I, personally, am a fundamentalist, so the only non-literal part are the parts that clearly don't make sense. For example, a camel going through the eye of a needle.
There are some areas, however where different opinions are intolerable, such as who is Christ, why we were saved, how we are saved, etc. Differences in these areas are the dividing line b/w Christian and cult

Answer 5

You make an excellent point in your question. This is the reason why some major denomination churches are debating even today.

When Christ says, 'I am the light of the world'

We know He is not a light! or

When He says, "I am the way'

No body can be a way. The most argumentative questions of today is base on two issues.

1. The last supper "This is body. This is my blood" Which the RC Church takes literally, and two,

Christians take Revelation some or none of it!
Always keep in mind that men pick and choose what they want to take literally. Again, you had raise very good question! Take care

God Bless.

Answer 6

>>Where is the God given guide to what is meant to be literal?<<

Vatican City. Read John 21:15-17 and Acts 1:20.

Answer 7

Proper interpretation of biblical doctrine requires a solid grounding in hermeneutics. One cannot take a few verses here and there and form an entire theology around them without understanding the systematic messages in the entire bible.

Unfortunately, some believers and non-believers will pick and choose their biblical verses to make a point, yet fail to synthesize the verse(s) with an overall thematic theological message.

For those who have studied hermeneutics formally or informally, it becomes easier to determine when metaphors or ancient instruments of rhetorical comparisons are being made in the scriptures. Hence when we train future pastors, sunday school teachers, etc., they are equipped with the right tools to then expound to others.

For the layperson, I recommend searching for some hermeneutic related internet content and books, then digging in and doing some old fashioned homework.

Answer 8

When something is conclusively proved like the world is not flat then Christians have to latterly start backpedaling and saying things weren't meant to be taken literal. That's why they fight evolution so hard they know its true they just don't want to say Genesis isn't to be taken literally. Soon the whole bible will be destroyed piece by piece. That's why when you quote something out of the bible they all come up with this thing where you are taking it out of context. But they know how to take things out of context themselves.

Answer 9

You read the Bible according to the style of writing it belongs to. There are historical writings (literal), and there are poetic writings (not literal).

For example, in Leviticus, you will see a lot of Law. Read that as you would read Law. (You wouldn't assume that "Do not murder" is allegorical.)

By the same token, in Psalms, you will see accounts where trees clap their hands. Since trees don't have hands to clap, it must not be a literal verse.

Since people do this all the time with various books, it can be done with the Bible, which is, after all, a collection of 66 books (or letters).

Answer 10

It's called hermeneutics. The study of principles of interpretation. Every book is different. Some are poetic, some historical, some apocalyptic. Every author had an audience and a message for that audience. What's the historical background? Why did he write to this audience? What was his message to them, and how does it apply to everyone? Study hard, cross-reference and you will be able to start understanding what verses are literal and figurative. If there's a certain verse(s) in mind, send me an [e-mail]

Answer 11

Not to mention the lost gospels. That is right, a committee of people decided which gospels made up the Bible and the rest were swept under the carpet. If God's word is truth, how the hell can man pick and choose?
Answer=the Bible isn't the word of God, it's the word of some guys. Just like everything else in this world.