Do I need to take everything in the bible literally?

[MatthewG]

When it comes to the Bible do you need to take everything literally, figuratively, as a metaphor?

As a student of the bible, or a teacher of the bible what do you do when you read it?

I believe that their are some things that are to be taken literally, and some figuratively, and some are metaphorical.

An example of figuratively is when Jesus mentioned cutting your hand off and plucking out your eye.

Please share your way of what you do, is everything needed to be take 100% and we should cut our eye out and our hand off?

God bless,
Matthew Gallagher

 

[Robert Gwin]

When it comes to the Bible do you need to take everything literally, figuratively, as a metaphor?

As a student of the bible, or a teacher of the bible what do you do when you read it?

I believe that their are some things that are to be taken literally, and some figuratively, and some are metaphorical.

An example of figuratively is when Jesus mentioned cutting your hand off and plucking out your eye.

Please share your way of what you do, is everything needed to be take 100% and we should cut our eye out and our hand off?

God bless,
Matthew Gallagher

No sir, much of the Bible is figurative. If everything was taken literally, there would be many contradictions leading one to believe it is fictitious rather than the inspired word of God.

 

[quietthinker]

When it comes to the Bible do you need to take everything literally, figuratively, as a metaphor?

As a student of the bible, or a teacher of the bible what do you do when you read it?

I believe that their are some things that are to be taken literally, and some figuratively, and some are metaphorical.

An example of figuratively is when Jesus mentioned cutting your hand off and plucking out your eye.

Please share your way of what you do, is everything needed to be take 100% and we should cut our eye out and our hand off?

God bless,
Matthew Gallagher

Do I need to take everything in the bible literally?
If it did would you?

The imagery of various prophecies....do you take it literally?

Language is loaded with imagery/ metaphors. There is no language that doesn't including the language of the Hebrews.

Discernment determines what is literal and what is figurative.

 

[Davy]

When it comes to the Bible do you need to take everything literally, figuratively, as a metaphor?

As a student of the bible, or a teacher of the bible what do you do when you read it?

I believe that their are some things that are to be taken literally, and some figuratively, and some are metaphorical.

An example of figuratively is when Jesus mentioned cutting your hand off and plucking out your eye.

Please share your way of what you do, is everything needed to be take 100% and we should cut our eye out and our hand off?

God bless,
Matthew Gallagher

You might consider getting a good study Bible, and the best one in my opinion is The Companion Bible, a KJV study Bible that the 19th century Christian scholar E.W. Bullinger put together, and even using Ginsberg's Old Testament Hebrew Massorah notes in the margin, which the KJV translators did not have access to. Bullinger's Appendixes in the back covers the subject of idoims, metaphors, allegory, and figures of speech that will help.

https://www.amazon.com/Companion-Bible-Enlarged-Type/dp/0825420997

 

[Enoch111]

When it comes to the Bible do you need to take everything literally, figuratively, as a metaphor?

Everything in its plain literal sense, except when there are metaphors.

 

[Davy]

When it comes to the Bible do you need to take everything literally, figuratively, as a metaphor?

As a student of the bible, or a teacher of the bible what do you do when you read it?

I believe that their are some things that are to be taken literally, and some figuratively, and some are metaphorical.

An example of figuratively is when Jesus mentioned cutting your hand off and plucking out your eye.

Please share your way of what you do, is everything needed to be take 100% and we should cut our eye out and our hand off?

God bless,
Matthew Gallagher

With most things in God's Word, historical accounts are being described. But God uses quite a bit of figures of speech about those events at times, like in Ezekiel 16 regarding Jerusalem as a harlot when fallen into idol worship against Him. Really it's just common sense; He most often uses simple ideas that everyone can relate to, especially things relating to agriculture. It shouldn't be that hard to realize when He is giving a metaphor using that kind of speech to point to a truth.

With some things, like some future prophecies hard to understand, only by having studied all of His Word can we begin to understand how the type of speech is to be interpreted.

For example, many have gone on long sermons about the Waters of the River of Life preaching it about Christ's Salvation without realizing that it also involves a 'literal', future', River upon this earth that used to be here at one time. It's about God's River, and it was originally shown in Genesis 2 flowing out of His Garden of Eden that was at that time upon this earth, and that River fed four other rivers upon the earth, of which two of those four are still here on earth, the Hiddekel or Tigris, and the Euphrates, both in the country of Iraq.

 

[Bob Estey]

When it comes to the Bible do you need to take everything literally, figuratively, as a metaphor?

As a student of the bible, or a teacher of the bible what do you do when you read it?

I believe that their are some things that are to be taken literally, and some figuratively, and some are metaphorical.

An example of figuratively is when Jesus mentioned cutting your hand off and plucking out your eye.

Please share your way of what you do, is everything needed to be take 100% and we should cut our eye out and our hand off?

God bless,
Matthew Gallagher

There are some things in the Bible that can't be taken literally, such as the Lord saving me from rushing waters.