Who decides which parts of the Bible are to be taken literally?

Question

I'm a Christian. I don't follow any particular religion--I try to follow the teachings of Christ and the Bible.

Now, I've seen it said that you can't be Christian and not take Genesis literally. I've also seen a question about where in the Bible does it say that Satan was thrown out of heaven. One answer was (I so wish I could remember the verse) a place in the Old Testament. I read it and never in a million years would have interpreted it to be talking anything about Satan. It clearly (to me) was talking about a specific King of the time.

So, how do we know that certain parts are to be taken exactly for what they say and other parts are symbolic of something else?

With Christ's teachings, it's pretty obvious most of the time. I really struggle with the Old Testament. What if I want to take each 'creation day' as X million years? Then I don't believe the Bible. Yet, if I take the part about the king/satan for what it says, I'm also misinterpreting? So who decides these things?

Answer 1

Which parts of the bible are taken literally and which figuratively, is spiritually discerned by the power of the Holy Spirit, however, all questions are answered within the perfect Word of God through proof texts and reference texts. A reference text points to a proof text. A proof text can stand alone. Jesus said "I am the door." This scripture is a proof text. It can stand alone. "Strive to enter in at the strait gate," is a reference text pointing to the scripture that says that Jesus is the door. There is only one gate which leads to life. If you try to go in just any gate then most likely you would not go in the gate that leads to life. The King of Tyre passage is referring to what we know about the adversary of God and man from passages where Satan is exposed.

Answer 2

This is one reason I don't believe in religion: people tell you what you are or aren't based on how you view the Bible.

In my opinion, if you believe what the bible tells you or you follow the teachings of Jesus, you are Christian. Christian, by the way, is a title.

If you're a fundamentalist Christian, you take EVERYTHING literally. If you're not a fundamentalist or you don't believe in the Bible as truth, the passages are to be taken as metaphor.

I don't believe in religion or take the bible as truth but it is a good story.

You also have to remember that the Old Testament was written WAY before the New Testament. The Old Testament belongs to the Hebrew bible. The first 5 books are part of the Torah.

Based on the bible, Jesus was a good man, but don't get stuck in the bible exclusively, go into Quran, the Hebrew bible, Bhagavad Gita, Upanishad's, etc.

Like I said, I don't believe in religion because in my opinion man created it and created bibles along with it, but as soon as there is 100% proof, I am using reason and logic. Don't get me wrong, I don't have 100% faith in science either. I am only 21 and science and religion have been around for a long time for people to do and say whatever they want but religion is immutable, science changes with more evidence and testing.

Answer 3

You are describing exactly what first made me question the bible as a literal historical document. Most of the things that are interpreted by the religious community just screamed something else to me and when I questioned, I got one one poster said here... the Holy Ghost will provide answers.

Answers never came.

Just be a good person, follow the common sense rules of getting along with others, and everything else will come automatically.

Answer 4

Ratio-linear
is an important word to know in reference to prophecies. Simply put, it means that a prophecy is dynamically evolving. A prophecy spoken today for the first time may clarify a happening two hundred years ago, today, ten years from today, and two thousand years from today. This does not answer who determines which parts of the Bible are to be taken literally, but it does offer good food for thought about the possible hazards or demanding literal interpretations and not being open to symbolic ones.

Answer 5

When a Christian doesn't agree with a certain part of the Bible, or they think that a certain part is silly, then that's what they determine as a parable (or allegorical) and not to be taken literally. > "many Christians accept evolution - but that requires them to not accept creationism" < Not true. Evolution has nothing to do with how life started and therefore it's not against the Bible.

Answer 6

To tell you the truth I do believe most of what is said in the old testament is true but you must also keep in mind that the OT uses alot of parables to convey a message.Such inspiration at such an early age clearly came from god.What I do believe 100% is the new testament because no where in the bible does it say you have to believe everything it says.All you have to do is accept jesus in your heart and pray and go to church for god.

Answer 7

Jesus said in Luke 4:18: "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven."
Use the rules of grammar and literature to determine what is literal and what is hyperbole. What is poetry and what is prose. The Bible really is a singularity in all of literature. The more you read it the more awesome it becomes.
Job, and Isaiah believed there was a literal devil.

Answer 8

You do. It can't be proven either way so, interpret as you will. I mean, if there was only one true interpretation then there would only be one church. Instead there are thousands of different church all based on christianity. Then again, you can argue that the difference between each church is doctrine. Anyways, all they have is some circumstantial evidence mixed in with some historical fact and a hell of a lot of good philosophy.

Answer 9

it seems like you are reading the bible correctly then. since the "old testament" is a jewish book first and foremost you might find it interesting that none of us believe in the christian devil, and very few of us take genesis literally. even the jewish sage maimonides who lived a thousand years ago said the creation story was a metaphor.

Answer 10

If you believe in Bible and all the nonsense there, you should go to a psychiatrist right away and HE'LL DECIDE what medication to give you.

To CJ (read his answer above) - Stop sign is not a good analogy because a stop sign makes sense. Bible and religion do not.
Do not try to decipher what I just said. Just believe me.