In terms of gay marriage or the origin of the world. If so, then do you think slavery is acceptable and it is a sin to eat shellfish? I am curious to know if there is anyone who takes the bible literally as a whole. I know many people claim to take the bible literally but certainly don't think eating shellfish is a sin or that a child should be killed for disobeying their parents.
2007-02-21 23:34:53 · 13 answers · asked by tearsofmephisto 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I'm not going to consider your answer if I can't understand it. Namely, Williamzo, THE WAR WRENCH, and Martin M.
I think some of the people who have answered didn't interpret "literally" as I meant it. If you are taking into consideration historical context and taking away the overall moral, then that is not literal. Literal interpretation means the events occurred precisely as they are stated with no variation.
2007-02-22 00:00:55 · update #1
I don't believe any of it. It is very strange that xtians choose which parts to believe and which to not believe. I think that they believe whatever makes them feel good.
2007-02-21 23:55:38 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Have you read the Bible all the way through? I believe the Bible to be the infalliable word of God. When Christ was crucified for our sins the laws that were given in the old testament no longer had to be kept in the way that was told and taught. God gave Peter a vision and in it, it gave the right to sit with anyone and eat what they ate in order to be able to win them to Christ The Bible does not teach any where that killing a child for disobeying their parents is right, nor that slavery is right or homosexuality. In the old testament there were slaves but God let the owners know that they should be taken care of. There are many things that happen in this world that God did not and does not condone. He let's people make their own choices but he also gave us the Bible to teach, guide and help us to know how we should live.
If a person doesn't take the Bible literally, then how do they take it? How do they decide which parts to believe and which parts ot to believe? YOU read the Bible yourself and ask God to help you understand.
There was a reason God didn't want the Jews to eat shellfish or pork - look up what eating these things can do to your body and the you will understand what I am talking about.
2007-02-22 08:31:32 · answer #2 · answered by grandmabonnie 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
As a Christian, I believe the Bible should be taken literally, but doing so also requires us to consider the historical context in which its passages were written. The laws you describe in your question were written specifically for the Israelites during their 40-year wandering through the desert after release from Egyptian slavery. We don't know exactly why such laws were written, but for the desert wanderers at the time, they may have been deemed necessary. That doesn't mean, however, that they apply to today's society.
The Bible is an historical document as well as a religious one. It's passages need to be considered in context. For believers and non-believers alike, the most important part of the Bible is the overall message presented in the four Gospels. Everything else in the Old Testament is historical documentation, literature, and prophecy leading up to the events described in the Gospels.
In other words, don't get too bogged down in details. Don't lose sight of the forest because of the trees!
2007-02-22 07:43:50 · answer #3 · answered by yanbarumuku 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Yes, the Bible can be taken literally. That being said, it does contain symbolic language, figures of speech, and other literary tools.
The Bible contains 2 parts, Old Testament and New Testament. The OT focuses on the Hebrews and God's covenant with them. If they obeyed His Laws, He'd protect and bless them. They didn't fulfill their end and were in breach of contract, which is why they had so many problems.
In the NT, God offers his blessing to all people. Christ's death and resurrection fulfilled the requirements and restrictions of the Law. In Acts15 the Apostles call a meeting to discuss how much of the Law Christians are required to follow. They established 3 things to be avoided: 1)things contaminated by idols 2) fornication 3)eating things strangled or blood.
Paul talks about the relation of Law & Grace in Romans chapter 8.
2007-02-22 08:12:18 · answer #4 · answered by Maine-iac 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
shellfish, is it not strange that shellfish become uneatable at certain times that they can not be collected?
Does the Bible say that slavery is right? It states that if you are a slave be a good slave. Were the slaves not lead away to freedom? Why would God want them to be free if slavery was deemed right?
gay marriage is stated outright that it is wrong.
Thou shall surely die, is meaning of the spiritual level. If you are not saved from Jesus dieing on the cross.
2007-02-22 07:56:47 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes I believe Shellfish (and pig) is unclean and should not be eaten. The disobedient child was to be taken to the temple for a hearing, and since there currently is no temple, that cannot be done. If someone wronged you and owed a great debt, it would seem more reasonable to me for him to be your slave (and you could gain some small benefit from his life) than for him to be locked up for a number of years, which gives no benefit to you, and a great cost to the taxpayer.
2007-02-22 08:05:29 · answer #6 · answered by hasse_john 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pagans were pretty much free about sexuality, so, its a pretty much given that a Christian would be against that since they were trying to overthrow Paganism and start a new religion, in which it worked.
I take some of the morals as my own, and I think it holds great stories..
True? I don't know...and until that day comes I will keep believing in what I believe in, and thats learning and living life to the fullest, because no matter what religion you are from, what skin color you are, or what country you're from, YOU ARE NOT PROMISED TOMORROW...
2007-02-22 07:45:06 · answer #7 · answered by iColorz 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I do. The parts on slavery and shellfish were only under levitical law and were superceded. The other parts were not. Eating shellfish was never a sin for Christians, but sexual fornication has always been considered a sin for all of God's people.
2007-02-22 07:41:46 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋
Yes, in the sense that "literal" interpretation means that you want to undesrtand what the author wanted to say.
You should not read it in a "literalist" way, as fundamentalist do, meaning word by word. Otherwise you end up with a lot of contradictions, starting with differences in the story of the creation in Genesis, to the "only 144,000" saved in Revelation, as JW say.
To know the real interpretation you need the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, because Christ said to the apostles (not to the crowd): ""Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted" (Mt. 13:11)
If you try to interpret the Bible by yourself you´ll end up forming your own church (every week 2 more protestant denominations pop up)
2007-02-22 07:51:15 · answer #9 · answered by jemayen 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I don't take the Bible literally on all instances. You really need to know the history and events surrounding the particular book. The Old Testament is not what the believers are commanded to follow, they are to follow the New Testament.
2007-02-22 07:39:26 · answer #10 · answered by Rahab 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋
Do I take God's word to mean what it says YES
Do I apply wisdom knowing the difference between basic truth-poetry-parables-anthologies etc YES
Do I understand
OLD TESTAMENT= Holy God Sinful man "Grace" found only by
obedience and sacrifices
New Testament Holy God Sinful man Grace in Jesus Christ in our relationship with God and others
YES
2007-02-22 07:50:15 · answer #11 · answered by williamzo 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋