So...how do you know what parts of the bible are to be taken literally & what parts aren't?

Question

There seems to be a recurring event here...where folks tend to (how do I put this lightly) hmmm...use the bible to their convenience.

Answer 1

You read the Bible as you would any type of literature. You read the history parts as you would read history texts. You read the poetry as you would any poetry.

The Golden Rule of Hermeneutics is this: "If the plain sense makes common sense, seek no other sense." (Hermeneutics is the science of interpretation, especially of the Scriptures.)

Answer 2

It's called discernment. There were times when Jesus spoke and the meaning was clear, but many times He spoke in parables and even His disciples had to have the meaning explained once in awhile. In the same way, God shows us what HE wants us to see when HE knows we are spiritually mature enough to handle it.

Things like the obedience of Noah, Moses, Daniel, & Abraham, the building of the temple, the story of Jesus from birth to resurrection / ascencion, etc are all literal. The book of Revelation, the many visions of the prophets, the parables, etc are obviously figurative. Too many people take scripture out of context, and then wonder why it makes no sense. Also, scripture will not make sense to most people who do not have a heart for God. God reveals Himself through His word.

For the record, I try not to use scripture for my convenience; I've received plenty of "OUCH! Hallelujahs!" from scripture. (Basically means, I take the entire Word of God as it is, including the hard parts that addresses areas in my life that need changing!)

Answer 3

I believe as author Jerry Jenkins and Dr. Tim LaHaye state:

When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense. Take every word at its primary, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context clearly indicate otherwise.

It's when you don't do this that you can start making up what you want it to read. You also have to read the whole chapter around the verse. You can't just pick a verse and say you agree with it. Take the whole chapter in context. Another thing, verses have "witness verses". If someone says, well verse such and such says you have to do this. Ask them for two more verses that say the same thing. If there's something in that verse that God wants you to get out of it, it'll be there more than once.

Answer 4

The central purpose of the bible is to teach eternal spiritual truths, not history, whether it's historically true or not. (Besides, we know history is the version of truth written by the victor -- who is free to change it.) As the book's purpose is to bring eternal spiritual knowledge and understanding to humanity, it's focus is eternal, not fleshly, physical and transient. Therefore, it's teachings are best understood spiritually, even when contextualized in a particular place and time. A careful reading of II Corinthians, Ch 10-13 makes this so clear. I can almost hear ole Paul pleading for it with the literalists in his midst.

Answer 5

Most of the Bible is to be taken literally. Does it speak in the terms of the modern world? It doesn't all of the time. After study, one can discern the speech of the Bible.

People studying the Bible need guidance. One should pray first for the Holy Spirit to guide him/her before reading it. Also, taking the guidance of the Catholic Church, which takes most of the Bible quite literally, is a good thing to do.

The Bible is a spiritual book. It takes an open-minded soul with a spirit willing to read it for its message of God's love for the world to come through. I hope you do just that.

Yours in Christ Jesus, Grace

Answer 6

You have to study the Bible. You have to look at surrounding verses and determine if it's talking about literal things or figurative things. Once you get the hang of it, it's easy. I do not add or subtract anything from the Bible to suit me.

Answer 7

There is only one way God provided for making such distinctions - the infallible teaching of His Church, the Church to which He said "whatsoever you bind upon earth is bound in heaven"; the Church which the Bible describes as "the pillar and foundation of truth". Have you noticed that the doctrinal chaos resulting from misinterpretation of the Bible began at the moment that people separated themselves from His Church and saet up unauthorized churches of their own? The moment that people rejected the biblical foundation of truth, and tried to force a book to be their new foundation of truth? There is simply no substitute for God's plan.

Answer 8

Jesus himself made it usually quite clear when he spoke in parables.

In the book of Revelation it is fairly easy to see when symbolic speech is employed e.g. when the wild beast with 7 heads and ten horns are mentioned -- would you take that as a literal animal or would you do as I do, think that this is symbolic speech?

If you want more specific info contact me about specific scriptures!

Answer 9

A good hermeneutical approach combined with the Holy Spirit.

Answer 10

"They know in their hearts."

Except that "knowledge by heart" isn't terrifically reliable or consistent, and for some strange reason it frequently conflicts with other people's "knowledge of the heart". Odd how different people can come to such different conclusions if they all have "the truth" in their pockets...