: What makes anyone think that the Bible was meant to be interpreted “literally” as they are written?
Please, no silly answers. I am at a point in life in which one may call a “cross-roads.” –trying to truly understand things. I see points Atheists make being valid and I also see points Theists make being valid, so please, no stupid answers. If you are desperate for the 2 points just answer, oh I don’t know..answer→ gaga. But I and lots of others view that the writings in the Bible were intentionally written to NOT be taken word for word but more as of expressing a broader concept. You need to know that many many years ago people were far less sophisticated than now. They had little education,knew little of natural science→ they were just more “simple” in a manner of words. And, they wouldn’t have understood the Bible if they were not written in a child-like “picture” book way.
Like the story of Lilith and Adam’s disliking her and God pulling out one of Adam’s ribs and creating a woman that suited Adam–and many other such obviously unrealistic writings were not meant to be viewed as this bearded old man ripping a rib out of Adam and saying abracadabra→poof→woman. No, I view that story as a concept that something..or maybe the word “something” does not even apply. But somehow humans came into being. I have NO problem with the theory of abiogenesis. I just have a problem as to→ “Why are there humans anyway? Why is there a world anyway?” I think that anyone believing that the Bible was written to be taken “literally” is mistaken. I think it was deliberately written in such a way so that all peoples of all past and future generations are able to grasp the concepts in it. And, I don’t really think that humans have as yet been able to fully undestand the REAL concepts in it. The fact this forum even exists is kind of a proof of that. Humans are still uncertain. The very fact the “book”→ the Bible← is so old and is still has controversy about it makes me think….”How is that possible?” There must be something “special” of that book.
I plainly just don’t know.
Please, who.s benefit? Please elaborate ans explain.
Exactly!!..I think so too. It was written in parables so all could understand.
Exactly!!..I think so too. It was written in parables so all could understand.
Thank you Jim; thank you very very much. ♥
James M.→ Wow, you have my mind in a whir-wind. I need to think of your words for a long while. They are so existential.
James M.→ Wow, you have my mind in a whir-wind. I need to think of your words for a long while. They are so existential.
Answers and Views:
Answer by Michael
Only literally if it works out for their benefit.
Some should be taken literally
“Thou shall not lie”
Is pretty obvious, here is an example of something that shouldn’t be taken literally:
Mark 9:47
“And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,”
Obviously, He isn’t saying pluck out your eye, He speaks in parables.
The bible is just ancient superstition, nothing more.Answer by 99 Problems but God Ain’t One
Christians have no imagination and no ability to think of anything without consulting their magic book. “Literal” is all they can understand.Answer by Jim
Read and believe !!!
GOD KNOWS THE END FROM THE BEGINNING
ISAIAH 46: 8-10
Remember this, keep it in mind,
take it to heart, you rebels.
Remember the former things, those of long ago;
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please.
John 14:29 And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.
Did you know that you can’t observe “my imaginary friend” with science because he is not within our domain?
God made Himself an example to all men by submitting to His Father by whom He was birthed in the womb by !!! What a humbling experience !!!
Then to become the sacrifical lamb on passover !!!
https://www.returntogod.com/Pamphlets/spr…
He will complete these at His 2nd coming !!!
https://www.returntogod.com/Pamphlets/fal…
1.Jesus claimed to be God – John 8:24; 8:56-59 (see Exodus 3:14); John 10:30-33
2.Jesus is called God – John 1:1,14; 20:28; Col. 2:9; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:8
3.Jesus is the image of the invisible God – Heb. 1:3
4.Jesus abides forever – Heb. 7:24
5.Jesus created all things – John 1:1-3; Col. 1:15-17
6.Jesus is before all things – John 1:1-3; Col. 1:17;
7.Jesus is eternal – John 1:1,14; 8:58; Micah 5:1-2
8.Jesus is honored the same as the Father – John 5:23
9.Jesus is prayed to – Acts 7:55-60; 1 Cor. 1:2 with Psalm 116:4; (John 14:14)
10.Jesus is worshipped – Matt. 2:2,11; 14:33; John 9:35-38; Heb. 1:6
11.Jesus is omnipresent – Matt. 18:20; 28:20
12.Jesus is with us always – Matt. 28:20
13.Jesus is our only mediator between God and ourselves – 1 Tim. 2:5
14.Jesus is the guarantee of a better covenant – Heb. 7:22; 8:6
15.Jesus said, “I AM the Bread of Life” – John 6:35,41,48,51
16.Jesus said, “I AM the Door” – John 10:7,9
17.Jesus said, “I AM the Good Shepherd” – John 10:11,14
18.Jesus said, “I AM the Way the Truth and The Life” – John 14:6
19.Jesus said, “I AM the Light of the world” – John 8:12; 9:5; 12:46; Luke 2:32
20.Jesus said, “I AM the True Vine” – John 15:1,5
21.Jesus said, “I AM the Resurrection and the Life” – John 11:25
22.Jesus said, “I AM the First and the Last” – Rev. 1:17; 2:8; 22:13
23.Jesus always lives to make intercession for us – Heb. 7:25
24.Jesus cleanses from sin – 1 John 1:9
25.Jesus cleanses us from our sins by His blood – Rev. 1:5; Rom. 5:9
26.Jesus forgives sins – Matt. 9:1-7; Luke 5:20; 7:48
27.Jesus saves forever – Matt. 18:11; John 10:28; Heb. 7:25
28.Jesus discloses Himself to us – John 14:21
29.Jesus draws all men to Himself – John 12:32
30.Jesus gives eternal life – John 10:28; 5:40
31.Jesus resurrects – John 5:39; 6:40,44,54; 11:25-26
32.Jesus gives joy – John 15:11
33.Jesus gives peace – John 14:27
34.Jesus has all authority – Matt. 28:18; John 5:26-27; 17:2; 3:35
Dear God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I acknowledge to You that I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins and the life that I have lived; I need your forgiveness.
I believe that your only begotten Son Jesus Christ shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary and died for my sins, and I am now willing to turn from my sin.
You said in Your Holy Word, Romans 10:9 that if we confess the Lord our God and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we shall be saved.
Right now I confess Jesus as the Lord of my soul. With my heart, I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. This very moment I accept Jesus Christ as my own personal Savior and according to His Word, right now I AM SAVED !!!
Answer by Lighting the Way to Reality” They had little education,knew little of natural science.”
Which is why they wrote their silly little stories as they did. They fully believed what they wrote. The only reason you think they are not to be taken litteraly is that you know they are silly.
Answer by James MTo be honest, any person could take the Bible any way they want. That does not mean I support their decisions or I think that way is right. But that is how it is.
First, customs and traditions can be eaily taken literally. (ie. baptisms, holidays, prayers, fasting, temple service etc.)
Secondly, parables should be taken metaphorically or spiritually.
But in truth, many of the customs and traditions have both a literal truth to them as well as a spiritual truth. But that does not mean that one cancels the other. Both work together to educate the believer. (ie. baptism to wash a person and baptism to wash a person of sin)
Try to see the literal and the spiritual in everything. In my experience you can indeed see the entire Bible both ways.
BY THE WAY: The number one rule (if you are going to take the Bible spiritually) is that the spiritual interpretation NEVER CONTRADICTS the literal interpretation. Both work together.
Answer by Thomas LessI have to agree with you in a lot of ways. I’ll try to relate it to another situation. When my oldest son was very young, my wife was pregnant. When the child asked about where his younger brother came from I didn’t attempt to explain the science of reproduction or DNA or sex. I told him what he could comprehend: that God put the child inside his mother because her and I loved each other so much we needed another person to share our love with. As he matured he could comprehend more and learned all the science stuff. Amazingly, as I get older, think my first answer was far better than my later explanations.
Humanity is similar. As a whole we have grown and matured and can now comprehend things that earlier generations simply could not have fathomed. The greatness of the Bible is that the true message and wisdom of it is still not only relevant today, but probably far beyond or comprehension and the simplicity of the stories hide the magnitude of their wisdom.
Answer by jaguarboyYour question is one of the most articulate on here cause most of them are just trolls or people wanting an opinion, but not really looking for a true answer. The questions your asking aren’t funny or stupid, they’re universal. However, most people either gave up or just don’t care to find out cause they think it’s impossible anyway.
I’ve studied the bible extensively as well as bible study aids and even some history like the account of Josephus the historian. If you want to understand the bible, first read Hebrews 4:12. It basically says that the bible is a living book and that in a way it reads you. What does that mean? Well, if your determined to believe a certain thing, then you will find that in the bible and it will reinforce your idea. However, someone who believes the opposite will find other scriptures that differ from your opinion. That’s why 100 people could read the bible together and you could get 100 different accounts of it.
Does that mean God or the bible writers wanted to confuse anybody. Well, not people who are truly searching for the truth. At Matthew 13 , Jesus gives a parable or story and the people marvel and then walk off. His disciples stick around though, and he explains that the people weren’t meant to understand because they didn’t want to take the time to. He then told the meaning and why it was important. The moral of the story was a person’s heart condition and thus he compared it to different kinds of dirt with some good for growing and others not.
Your point about the literal or symbolism of the bible stories is one that divides a lot of bible scholars. A lot of them think Genesis is an allegory or story with meaning. However, while I do believe that there is a lot of symbolism in the bible, especially in Daniel and Revelation, a lot of Genesis has historical value. It’s entirely possible for a man’s rib to be used for regeneration, you can look it up in wikipedia. Some of the rivers mentioned in eden are still around, the H one could be the tigris and everyone ‘s familiar with the eurphrates which ran by babylon, another real city mentioned as babel where the languages were confused. This could be true because there are so many different flood legends around the world. The mythological demi gods like hercules in greek stories could pertain to the angels that married women who’s offspring terrorized and committed much violence before the flood.
The city of Ur that Abraham came from was a real city and it was discovered that they had real plumbing so men were not without intelligence back then. Look at the architecture of the great pyramids and tablets have been discovered that showed trade and bartering contracts just like we do today. I could go on and on, but I don’t’ believe in the story of Lilith, I think that was added in other literature.
You will have to make your own decisions, but I honestly think if you examine the whole bible, you will see that man is much the same as he was then and still making the same mistakes. Romans 15:4
Answer by BrandonFNo one really knows.
In response to the statement you made about people in the past having little education and knew little of natural science, isn’t true. The truth is people from the past were very advanced. What happened was religion came on the scene and anything involving Math and Science was considered the work of the Devil and was basically outlawed. Many science books were burned because they were considered satanic. The truth is we really don’t know how advanced ancient civilizations were.
I was a die hard christian my whole life. A year ago my faith started fading away, and I started learning more about science and other topics. The truth is the more I learn the less I believe in the bible. The bible is filled with great stories that teach a lot of good life lessons but I no longer believe it should be followed word for word. The main story of Jesus is not an original story. There’s plenty of stories similar to that of Jesus that predate the new testament. There’s a lot of inconsistencies with the bible that I over looked for years because of the magical word “Faith”.
At this point in my life I much rather deal with Logic. A couple of weeks ago I just completely stopped believing in the bible, which was very hard for me because I’ve been believing in the word my whole life. But I figured it’s time to move forward, I can’t keep praying to a god to make things happen in my life, when those prayers never get answers. It seems really silly at this point.
But I do believe in the possibility of a GOD, I just don’t think we can explain him with any type of religion or man written bible. I consider myself to be Agnostic now.
I agree that there is something special about the bible. Some things are kind of accurate and some things are really ridiculous. Like I said at the beginning, no one really knows.
God created a set number of angels 30 billion?; 1/3 of all angels rebelled 10 billion?God turned the rebels into spiritual darkness (demons) and expelled them from heaven. there was a void in heaven of 10 billion open seats.God decided to create humans to replace the demons. God said that He will let demons trick people into following them, but when 10 billion seats in heaven are filled, God will send demons and those who follow demons to hell. demons dress in fake human skin and fly in ufo ships;pretend to be angels of light, ghosts, pagan gods, greys, ouija board movers.jigsaw from saw movie is not only gay but he’s antichrist. when people will look at jigsaw, they will see many angels surrounding jigsaw, but in reality those are demons. the main demon is black with red eyes. antichrist is white with red eyes. if anyone worships jigsaw, they’ll go to hell 100%. also, soon the world government will be giving mandatory small grey world passport. when people stretch their hands to receive the small grey world passport, a small green electronic tattoo with sixes will be given by lasers. if anyone receives this tattoo, they’ll go to hell 100%. people who kill themselves wind up in hell 100%. also, people who blaspheme the Holy Spirit, go to hell as well. God is one but decides to reveal Himself to the world in three distinct persons: as God the Father, as God the Son (Jesus Christ), and as God the Holy Spirit. now, let’s switch to the ufo bases that the demons built. they are located on the moon, in lake baikal, underneath mariana trench (atlantis is here), and inside a fake mountain in tibet (buddhists consider this mountain holy, but as was mentioned, pagan gods are demons). there was also a time when 200 angels told God that they would fare better than humans if they had human bodies (angels and demons don’t have bodies – they’re just spirits). God told them that He could give them human bodies but if they mess up, He’ll punish them severely. these 200 spirits agreed to take this deal. what happened was that when these 200 angels (aka anunaki in pagan beliefs) descended on a mountain in middle east, they saw beautiful female descendents of cain, and took them wives for themselves. these 200 anunaki had giants as kids. giants built the pyramids and other colossal monuments around the world. anunaki taught witchcraft, astrology, blood drinking, human sacrifice, abortion, art of war, etc. God became angry and punished the world for following anunaki. anunaki were imprisoned underneath a desert in middle east. 300 thousand giants and 700 thousand people who followed anunaki and other demons were drowned in world flood. only 8 people were saved in the flood. me and u are descendents of these 8 (noah with his wife, and their three sons with three daughters-in-law) who survived in an ark-ship. animals that knelt before noah went into the ark with noah. animals that didn’t kneel were drowned. a bit later, nimrod (world leader) and his wife semiramis (she was in charge of a brothel) created a one state pagan religion (sun-moon-bull-sex worship). nimrod was also in charge of building the tower of babel. this tower was built by masons who wanted to reach heaven and fight God and establish pagan religion in heaven. this was silly, to say the least. God burned the top third of this tower, sank the bottom third inside the earth, and changed the original language into 70 different languages. so, one third of builders killed each other because of misunderstanding, one third ran away, and one third were cursed to become apemen and elephantmen. silly atheists claim that we come from apes when in reality apemen were cursed masons. hindu religion has an elephantman deity. this is absurd. let’s get to something even weirder. 80 foot dinosaurs live beneath the earth. they will soon come out through lakes and sinkholes. this is a punishment for spreading ideas of evolution. major climate change will follow. there won’t be any clean water left. world government will hide food on purpose too. stores with food will be set up to laser people with the above-mentioned evil tattoo. it’s better to die from hunger than receive this tattoo. now, let’s go to the main message of christianity. God incarnated (took on human body) to die for our sins so that we can go to heaven. now why was this necessary? well, remember the 10 billion seats from before? yep, they’re all empty because everyone went to hell. there were only 2 people that went to heaven (enoch and elijah). so, God didn’t want all people to burn in hell, so He provided a cure for this – He died on the cross for our sins and went to hell to pick “believers in Him during their lives on earth” to take them to heaven. now most people go to hell too, but christians don’t. why? because God said that if you believe in what He did for you on the cross, and feel sorry for your sins, and stop sinning, you’ll go to heaven.
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