Biblical Literalism
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The Bible itself calls for variation in interpretation. We, of course, don't see Christ as an actual lamb, or God as a giant chicken!!
All of the Bible is true...no doubt there. All of it is profitable. But we cannot take every single thing in a strictly literal sense. The amount of foreshadowing done in scripture tells us that we need to take the somewhat 'long view' on some things...the figurative literal interpretation...one that is still true, but not in actual literal sense...if that makes sense. We see this kind of interpretation all through scripture; the first and second Adam, the first exodus followed by the second...Jesus leading captives out of slavery. Isaac carrying the wood on his back to his own sacrifice....and on and on it goes...and those are foreshadowing events that God Himself has put in place for us to see. I believe the purpose of this is so we can again and again see God's step by step process of redemption through history. Everything from Adam to Jesus was in preparation for Christ, and he wants us to be able to look back and see his involvement, his guiding of human history to his wonderful purpose.
So yeah, I think that we not only need to have a middle ground in interpretation, God himself shows us we need to...we'd miss out on so much of his incredible purposes if we didn't.
All of the Bible is true...no doubt there. All of it is profitable. But we cannot take every single thing in a strictly literal sense. The amount of foreshadowing done in scripture tells us that we need to take the somewhat 'long view' on some things...the figurative literal interpretation...one that is still true, but not in actual literal sense...if that makes sense. We see this kind of interpretation all through scripture; the first and second Adam, the first exodus followed by the second...Jesus leading captives out of slavery. Isaac carrying the wood on his back to his own sacrifice....and on and on it goes...and those are foreshadowing events that God Himself has put in place for us to see. I believe the purpose of this is so we can again and again see God's step by step process of redemption through history. Everything from Adam to Jesus was in preparation for Christ, and he wants us to be able to look back and see his involvement, his guiding of human history to his wonderful purpose.
So yeah, I think that we not only need to have a middle ground in interpretation, God himself shows us we need to...we'd miss out on so much of his incredible purposes if we didn't.
Define "middle ground".
And may I ask you a question... Do you have perfect interpretation and perfect understanding of entire Scripture, or know anyone who does?
God bless.
The modern definition of "interpretation" in regard to the Bible and most everything else is
If i like it it's true....if i don't it isn't.
If the accusation is against somebody i don't like then it's true,if i do like them it is a false accusation.
Other people make too much money while i don't make enough.
The government is corrupt...my role as a voter and citizen has nothing to do with it.
Other people's jobs and industry destroy the environment,not mine.....and so on.
If i like it it's true....if i don't it isn't.
If the accusation is against somebody i don't like then it's true,if i do like them it is a false accusation.
Other people make too much money while i don't make enough.
The government is corrupt...my role as a voter and citizen has nothing to do with it.
Other people's jobs and industry destroy the environment,not mine.....and so on.
No middle ground, at least that's not the term I would choose. Different 'levels' of understanding, yes!
Obviously, Bible prophecy that's specific for a certain group is not about all peoples. All may eventually come to understand as God allows though.
What I'm saying is, that regardless of the level of understanding a Bible believer is at, it should always... be in agreement with His Holy Writ.
So there's no room for a Burger King type thinking with God's Word; we cannot treat His Truth with a "have it your way" type of mentality and expect Him to open His Word up to us in understanding. If we listen to men's doctrines instead, we may expect Him to close off our understanding the more we refuse to listen to Him only in it.
This begs the question of, "How do we understand when God is being literal vs. being metaphorical, in His Word?"
God's Word is always about literal Truth, that's for certain. But it's the method of delivery that can cause many to be confused in it. One's standing in Christ can also cause that, as He can open our spiritual eyes and ears, or He can close them, depending on how we approach Him and... His Word.
When Solomon was led to say there's nothing new under the sun, what has been shall be again (Eccl.1:9), God was truly giving us a major Lesson in how to interpret His Word. It's a lot about the repeat of history, in patterns, over and over and over, again.
This is one of the main reasons we are to study ALL of God's Word for ourselves, simply because many events that occurred in OT history serve as 'patterns' for what's going to come in the future. This is one of the ideas Paul was teaching in 1 Corinthians 10 about "ensamples".
Here's an "ensample":
Jer 23:5-8
5 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
7 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, "The LORD liveth, Which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt";
8 But, "The LORD liveth, Which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land."
(KJV)
The day will come when it will no more be said how The LORD brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but how The LORD brought the seed of the house of Israel out of the lands of their scattering, and brought them back to their own land. That last saying is still future, because the "house of Israel" is specifically about the ten lost tribes returning, which has yet to occur.
Is that a pattern comparison like the days of Moses when God parted the Red Sea, and the children of Israel went over dryshod? Yes, but it's for the time of Christ's second coming instead.
And thus the plagues of Revelation and God's two witnesses to appear in Jerusalem, are all OT type patterns of history. The endtime Babylon of Rev.17-18 is also a pattern from OT history, even the very words from Isaiah 21:9 that "Babylon is fallen, is fallen" being repeated for the end. What our Lord is doing by repeating those things is to point us back in study of Old Testament histories and prophecy withing them that has never yet come to pass. By the time we get into New Testament study, we should already be familiar with those patterns of history and prophecies.
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Choir Loft
There are Biblically critical core issues that cannot be abridged. There are Biblical assertions that cannot be denied.
Truth is that which conforms to what is.
Denying truth only allows one to live in the dark temporarily. Affirming truth is eternal.
Truth is that which conforms to what is.
Denying truth only allows one to live in the dark temporarily. Affirming truth is eternal.
Well, I don't want to make this overly complicated, but I see two different questions being answered here by various posters.
A literal interpretation in the true sense of the word would mean that every time the Bible says something, we take it literally. IE: Some of the passages in Revelation are explained as symbolic of something else, but then there are parts where to interpret literally would mean that dragons and other unique things should be taken 100% literally.
In that sense, my answer would be no. There are varying examples of where the story is not meant literally (IE: the parables of Jesus himself), but then there are places where there are literal stories such as the slaying of Goliath by David.
In the other sense of literal vs. false - IE: all accounts in the Bible either happened or did not happen and are fables/myths/legends - then you will get into trouble if we start taking the narrative of Adam & Eve, for instance, and attempt to make it a parable-like story of early human hunter-gatherers and the development of agriculture. While this is tip-toed around by many people who have good intentions - believe it or not - this sort of setup essentially makes God a liar on lawyer-like terms. (IE: He's passing us a story, presented as truth, which is just a parable in reality.)
A literal interpretation in the true sense of the word would mean that every time the Bible says something, we take it literally. IE: Some of the passages in Revelation are explained as symbolic of something else, but then there are parts where to interpret literally would mean that dragons and other unique things should be taken 100% literally.
In that sense, my answer would be no. There are varying examples of where the story is not meant literally (IE: the parables of Jesus himself), but then there are places where there are literal stories such as the slaying of Goliath by David.
In the other sense of literal vs. false - IE: all accounts in the Bible either happened or did not happen and are fables/myths/legends - then you will get into trouble if we start taking the narrative of Adam & Eve, for instance, and attempt to make it a parable-like story of early human hunter-gatherers and the development of agriculture. While this is tip-toed around by many people who have good intentions - believe it or not - this sort of setup essentially makes God a liar on lawyer-like terms. (IE: He's passing us a story, presented as truth, which is just a parable in reality.)
But look what Truth is according to Bible, it's Jesus, John 14:6. So if someone denies Jesus, they deny Truth because Jesus is the Truth.
As long as someone loves and trusts in Jesus they are secure and will inherit eternal life.
God bless.
Just to clarify what I meant. When I speak of God's Word being literal, I mean that even the usage of symbols, metaphors, allegories, and parables are always about some literal thing or literal Truth. The goal is to understand the 'meaning' and 'sense' of how The LORD uses those things to convey truth.
Just like English has many expressions, so do the Biblical languages. If having to overcome expressions in a language isn't enough, we must also understand how language is very limited when it comes to explaining Heavenly things. When Apostle Paul preached to Greeks in their common lingo, he was forced to use words for ideas they already understood, like 'theos' used for our Heavenly Father (translated as God in man NT Scriptures). That same word 'theos' the pagan Greeks used for their false gods. Yet Paul and the other Apostles had to use it because it was the only word available for the idea of 'diety' the Greeks understood.
When our Lord Jesus taught using parables, He used everyday objects that most everyone can understand. He simply used those objects as symbols and in allegory though, to point to something deeper. The deeper idea is what is literal, i.e., hard truth.
Because of that it seems like much of God's Word is made up of huge riddles. But really it's not, because the reason for giving us those symbols, parables, allegories, and metaphors is to make it easier... for us to understand, not more difficult. The difficulty comes from not understanding in simplicity. We often try to make those things harder than they really are. And doctrines of men are designed to test us to see if we're really staying in that simplicty.
Just like English has many expressions, so do the Biblical languages. If having to overcome expressions in a language isn't enough, we must also understand how language is very limited when it comes to explaining Heavenly things. When Apostle Paul preached to Greeks in their common lingo, he was forced to use words for ideas they already understood, like 'theos' used for our Heavenly Father (translated as God in man NT Scriptures). That same word 'theos' the pagan Greeks used for their false gods. Yet Paul and the other Apostles had to use it because it was the only word available for the idea of 'diety' the Greeks understood.
When our Lord Jesus taught using parables, He used everyday objects that most everyone can understand. He simply used those objects as symbols and in allegory though, to point to something deeper. The deeper idea is what is literal, i.e., hard truth.
Because of that it seems like much of God's Word is made up of huge riddles. But really it's not, because the reason for giving us those symbols, parables, allegories, and metaphors is to make it easier... for us to understand, not more difficult. The difficulty comes from not understanding in simplicity. We often try to make those things harder than they really are. And doctrines of men are designed to test us to see if we're really staying in that simplicty.
We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: (2Pe 1:19)
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. (2Pe 1:20)
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (2Pe 1:21)
Man may have various interpretations but God has only one. It is our duty to seek out His intended interpretation.
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. (2Pe 1:20)
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (2Pe 1:21)
Man may have various interpretations but God has only one. It is our duty to seek out His intended interpretation.
A parable signifies a complete and often imaginary story from which a moral or lesson is to be drawn. The Random House College Dictionary describes a parable as "a short, allegorical story designed to convey a truth or moral lesson.
God bless.
You can hand out the exact same English Bible, for example KJV, to everyone in the world, and after awhile you will have 10,000+ DIFFERENT sects and denominations who use the exact same Bible, but read and interpret it differently.
How do you explain that veteran? Any thoughts about it? Are they all lost and deceived? Or is only one sect or denomination correct and the rest lost and deceived? Your thoughts? Your explanation?
God bless.
I really like how you put this Veteran...you said it much better than I did. Literal thing or literal truth...but both still literal. I like that.
I cant answer the poll question. One must take what the Bible literally says in order to be able to interpret it, holistically and in context. The usual issue today is false teachers and unbelievers claiming the opposite of what the Bible says holistcally and in context, as 'literalism' or 'interpretation'
Even so, regarding interpretation, for the creation account in Genesis, my view is that it is probably a spiritual message, after all elsewhere we see a thousand years is like a day to God, and possibly literally 24*7 hour days, nothing is impossible for God, after all if He can create the universe He can do how He wants.
The scientific evidence should point us towards it being more a spirirtual account, but that doesnt mean it isnt what it says.
The problem is not believers who think its more spiritual, or believers who think its literal, the problem is unbelievers who have more faith in science than God.
Even so, regarding interpretation, for the creation account in Genesis, my view is that it is probably a spiritual message, after all elsewhere we see a thousand years is like a day to God, and possibly literally 24*7 hour days, nothing is impossible for God, after all if He can create the universe He can do how He wants.
The scientific evidence should point us towards it being more a spirirtual account, but that doesnt mean it isnt what it says.
The problem is not believers who think its more spiritual, or believers who think its literal, the problem is unbelievers who have more faith in science than God.
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