stop taking the bible literally! or so i'm told.?

Question

why do people even say this? i really don't understand. if that is the book in which you place your faith, why wouldn't you take it literally? it would make no sense for the authors to have written a book such as the bible for shits and giggles. and if i shouldn't take it literally, why should i even take it seriously? please explain. and don't give me stupid crap either, you people know who you are. and if you're a bad speller, don't even bother.

Answer 1

"it would make no sense for the authors to have written a book such as the bible for shits and giggles. and if i shouldn't take it literally, why should i even take it seriously?"

This proverbially "hits the nail on the head", so to speak. Doesn't it? Your questioning statement is absolutely true. The problem you are encountering is not a scriptural problem, it is a doctrinal / dogmatical / traditional problem.

The reason you have been told not to take scriptural literally, is that a good chunk of what is taught, scripture itself denies.

Mat 18:2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
Mat 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 18:4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

It is quite interesting when you approach scripture with the viewpoint, belief, and humbleness of a small child. A small child unquestioningly loves his father.

A small child does not question whether what daddy says is true, even if others challenge the statement. Think of the classic "but my dad said" scenario, common in children, and then you understand faith.

The same child is humble to a degree which is difficult to an adult. Think of the rebellious teenage years, when this humbleness was lost.

Now, considering the doctrine / dogma / tradition problem. If God, whom never changes, hated something 2000 years ago, then he still hates it. If Christ, the son of God, said something was true 2000 years ago, it is still true.

However, these statements made through the prophets by God, and through the mouth of his Son, and through the mouths of his Son's Apostles, teach that you have to deny your own carnal nature. The lusts of the flesh etc... These same words teach that you cannot worship him however you wish. These same words teach that you will suffer for your belief. These same words teach that the God of the Old Testament, is the same God as the New Testament.

The same scriptures, which we know to be the written word of God, teach that no prophecy is of any private interpretation. Proverbs states that "the ways of a man are always right in his own eyes." Add these previous scriptures with two verses from 2 Timothy:

2Ti 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
2Ti 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

That is what we have with two thousand years of practice. Examine each of Paul's epistles.... are they benedictions of the glorious faith demonstrated by each church? Or are they to both encourage the believer to embrace true doctrine verses false? Here are a few examples of what I speak, which Paul wrote:

Rom 2:24, 1Cor 3:3, Gal 1:6, 1Thess 2:2-4 (for church at Phillipi), Col 2: 20 - 23, 2Thess 3:22, and Heb Chapter 1 (entire chapter countering the argument of the time that Christ was an Angel, which is not true.)

Notice that few churches received only exhortation, without reproof or rebuke. False doctrine was already spreading THEN. (Tit 1:10-11, 1Tim 1:19-20, Gal 1:7-10, 1Tim 6:3-5, 3Jhn 1:9-11 etc...)

Notice the 3Jhn reference. Because of a man in power in this church, the APOSTLES were refused, and anyone in the church whom would receive them was cast out of the church....... Puts new meaning to "earnestly contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints", doesn't it?

To illustrate the point, I will recount a personal experience. Following scripture in "Prove all things and hold fast to that which is good", I decided to examine the accepted doctrines point by point. I found a full listing, and examined each doctrine according to scripture, whether it was true or false, in the manner of the Bereans in Acts. What I expected was to find a few false doctrines. What I actually found was a ton of false doctrines. I was shocked.

Basic Christian doctrine did not even follow the Verse quoted, namely heb 6:1. Half of the verse was quoted, but the rest of the verse, and the following verse were ignored in the whole section of what are the foundation of belief in Christ. These were listed as advanced doctrines! Here are the verses.

Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

Scripture is telling us that this is the milk, or the foundational principles of our belief in Christ, yet they are taught as meat, or even worse, as "unimportant". (Baptism is one such, laying on of hands another)

In an age where scripture is interpreted due to socio-political overtones, and where 1600 year old traditions and customs are taught to supercede the scriptures, is there any wonder why you are told, concerning doctrines, to "take it on faith"? Is it any mystery at all why a person is told they shouldn't take the bible literally? No mystery at all, it is to be expected.

Have faith in God, not man, believing that Christ, his Son, died and was raised.
Believe, obey and accept his teachings as SCRIPTURE states.
Love God with all your Heart, Mind, and Soul.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
Remember that it is the holy spirit which shall lead you unto all understanding, and not the interpretations of men. Listen to it, and do not quench it.

If you do these, then you will do well.

Paul

Answer 2

You should read the Bible literally when it is meant to be taken literally. I'm sorry for the non-answer, but one has to realize that the Bible has the full range of expression in writing--some is history, some is wisdom literature and proverbs, and a lot is poetry. We do not read each type of literature the same way.

Someone just posted the comment that because snakes do not literally eat dust, the Bible is untrue because snakes do not literally eat dust for food (she was referring to the curses pronounced in the garden of Eden). If we use such expressions metaphorically all the time (and many of our metaphors and figures of speech come from the Bible), then we should permit the Bible to use such expressions.

This is not Biblical, but I have found that when the Bible is challenging me to do the difficult, right thing, I should interpret it as literally as I possibly can.

That having been said, the Bible can be understood on many different levels. When you have a question about a particular verse or chapter, it is important to take your question to someone who has studied the Bible for a long time (and clearly believes it !) for guidance on a difficult passage.

Answer 3

The Bible is God's Word and is written for our instruction and it is to be taken seriously!
4 When one reaches the conclusion that there is convincing evidence of a Creator’s existence, the question still remains whether he has inspired men to record his thoughts and purposes in the Bible. There are many reasons why we can be sure that this is the case, one of which is its scientific accuracy. For example, over 3,000 years ago, Job said that God “hangeth the earth over nothing.” (Job 26:7, JP) About 2,700 years ago, the prophet Isaiah stated that God “sitteth above the circle of the earth.” (Isaiah 40:22, JP) Now, how could Job or Isaiah have known these basic scientific truths that the earth is suspended in space and is a sphere? They may be well-known today, but these statements were made at a time when such notions were unheard of. Is not divine revelation the most reasonable explanation?
5 Prophecy, in effect history written before it happens, is perhaps the main feature of the Bible that substantiates its claim of divine inspiration. For example, the prophet Isaiah foretold not only that Jerusalem would be destroyed by Babylon and that the entire Jewish nation would be taken captive but also that in time the Persian general Cyrus would conquer Babylon and liberate the Jews from captivity. (Isaiah 13:17-19; 44:27-45:1) Can you think of any means, other than divine inspiration, by which, 200 years in advance, Isaiah could have successfully predicted Cyrus’ birth, his name, and precisely what he would do?
6 Some of the most remarkable prophecies are recorded by Daniel, a prophet who lived in the sixth century B.C.E. Not only did he foretell the fall of Babylon to the Medes and the Persians but he also predicted events far beyond his time, into the distant future. For example, Daniel’s prophecy foretold the rise of Greece as a world empire under Alexander the Great (336-323 B.C.E.), the division of Alexander’s empire among his four generals after his untimely death, and the rise of the Roman Empire, with its fearful military might (first century B.C.E.). (Daniel 7:6; 8:21, 22) All these events are now indisputable historical facts.
7 Because Bible prophecies have been so exact, critics have branded them as deceptions, that is, history written after the fact and disguised as prophecy. But how can one rationally assert that Jewish priests would dare to invent a prophecy? And why would they invent prophecies that contained the hardest diatribes imaginable against themselves? (Isaiah 56:10, 11; Jeremiah 8:10; Zephaniah 3:4) In addition, how could an entire literate nation, trained and educated with the Bible as its sacred text, be taken in by such a hoax?-Deuteronomy 6:4-9.
8 How could there have been any fraud connected with the disappearance of entire civilizations, such as Edom and Babylon, when these events took place many centuries after the completion of the Hebrew Scriptures? (Isaiah 13:20-22; Jeremiah 49:17, 18) Even if one maintains that these prophecies were not written in the time period of the prophets themselves, they were still recorded prior to the third century B.C.E., for by then they were already being translated into Greek in the Septuagint. Also, the Dead Sea Scrolls (which include portions of all the prophetic Bible books) are dated to the second and first centuries B.C.E. As noted, many prophecies were fulfilled only after these dates.

Answer 4

People who do not have an accurate knowledge of the Bible are quick to say this. The Bible though is extremely usefull for both living daily life to its fullest and to show how to please the only God worthy of our worship.

Having said that, there are places that are not literal. The parables of Jesus for example. He taught extremely well using illustrations everyone could understand to get his points understood. There were also dreams of prophets and apostles told in a way they could except themselves and communicate to others.

A winged throne coming down from heaven for example. Only spirits exist in heaven, without physical bodies. How could they sit? But, the individual components were symbols of something else--qualities of God in some cases.

In Revelations, how could he describe governments and organizations which did not exist in his time? He used beasts. Proverbs 1:5-6 shows the wise person will learn from the proverbs and puzzling sayings to be understood better in due time as Revelations is becoming.

Most of the Bible is literal though. When it says someone lived, sooner or later someone is going to turn up a pot with that name on it as a receipt. If it refers to a place or city, some ancient scroll will show up saying I just got back from so-and-so. You can usually tell from the context which it is.

We also find out why things happen. Why is so much wickedness today? Why is it allowed? Why did Jesus have to come when he did and do what he did? What is our future? The Bible reveals it clearly and simply. You will not find out in most of the churches! Be warned.

Answer 5

It is important to understand the true intention and as much of the actual interpretation of the bible as possible as it was NOT all written by the same person, it was NOT written all at the same time, it was NOT written in all the same language, and it was translated into books of various denominations and interests which did not exist during the time of Christ.

It is very hard to find and comprehend the actual literal translation of the bible for these reasons and others (such as...some of the original words had no direct translation into our language) and we should do the best we can to adhere to God's word as intended.

The physical bible before you was published bt man and man is known to err.

God's word is irrefutable but we still need to pray to God daily to get the real information we need. He'll send you "updates and corrections" as needed on our Earthily manufactured bible.

Good luck in your pursuit of faith! Keep praying.

Answer 6

Well for one thing the bible is suppose to be inspire by God and that it is supposed to help us in our daily living. It is a good source of how to deal with certain matters. I find that it is real a book to help me especially when I down or just need a good way to increase my faith. But there are so many translation of the bible but it is at least explain better in some translation than others

Answer 7

You're often ignoring Scripture if you take it literally.

Scripture has many different forms of writing in it. It references many ancient texts and gives a different perspective on it. It is something much more important than a literal textbook.

To fully understand Scripture, I would pay a lot of attention in the various writing and literature classes in school. Unfortunately, we (myself included) are often programmed to write one kind of essay for school, understand only textbook style books, and not taught to understand and appreciate the different writing styles there are or how those evolved.

A poem, for example, is not meant to be taken literally. If you do, you strip it of its meaning. Same thing applies for a lot of Scripture. For example, if you take the flood too literally, you miss how it is a direct response to the Epic of Gilgamesh and other stories, explaining how the Theology in those stories is not correct (at least from the Jewish Perspective).

A relationship with God is often not something we can explain in very literal terms. It usually has to be done through a lot more creative forms of expression. To only apply it literally leaves you with nothing but a story that has no depth to it.

Matt

Answer 8

i will show you how to recognize what I even have finished with my boys... they seem to be a protracted time 5 and 10. the two boys could get popped on the hand whilst they mandatory it, yet spankings (2 or 3 pops on the backside) have been reserved for issues that have been the two risky, or after the third hand pop replaced into no longer effectual. My oldest son replaced into "too old" for spankings whilst he replaced into approximately 3. I felt that he replaced into too old because of the fact popping him could merely get me an indignant seem from him, on an analogous time as grounding him from television time or giving timeouts evoked crying jags. My youngest son stopped getting popped around 6 months in the past... for the comparable motives. whilst they are the right age that they have got a hold close of actual, incorrect, and punishment, it's time to come across commerce punishments for my section. i'm no longer asserting it incredibly is actual for each individual, or that it will nevertheless be what i've got self assurance whilst my boys are little ones... i'm merely telling you techniques issues paintings for my relatives, actual now. And with the aid of the way, I under no circumstances mandatory an "device" to hit my new child with. A pop they might extremely experience replaced into generally adequate to get their interest, while not having to scar them (mentally and bodily).

Answer 9

The reason people say this is because much of the Bible is allegory and is not MEANT to be taken literally. Do you understand symbology, metaphors and allegory? If not, look these words up. The Bible is FULL of these things. No one said the Bible was written for shits and giggles, nor that it shouldn't be taken seriously ... just not literally. Learn the difference.

Answer 10

I have read bible in the past and felt it boring. But after my life changed cause God lead me to know Him which I've written here,
http://www.protectinghands.com/ladder_to_heaven.htm

my understanding to bible verse have changed.

I will tell an example. Whenever Jesus tells a parable, He tells that the parable,so that it relates to a truth which is more clear when explained in a parable.

Another thing is when a person talks to us, different people understand some sentences in different ways. Since it is God's word, only when He interprets it, they way it was supposed to be meant, we can understand it. So ask God, to give you the helper who will teach you God's word.