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bexter1

- 4 months ago

Who decides which bits to take literally?

The way I see it, there are a lot of good philosophies to be taken from Biblical text, but there are also many scriptures I consider to be just silly or ridiculous. Some are outright ghastly. Examples:
Mat. 7:12 "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them" In other words, treat others how you would want to be treated. Sounds like a good idea to me.
How about Matt 5:28-29 (NIV) "But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell." If all men were to take this one literally, I suspect we'd have many a cyclops among us. BTW - That last one came from Jesus. So if you were planning on saying that Jesus' words trump Old Testament Scripture, you might want to take that into consideration.
Lastly, how about Leviticus 20:13?
http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/70-year-old-stoned-to-death-because-the-bible-says-to-stone-gays/news/2011/03/18/18138
If you don't find the above story appalling, "God" help you.
The problem I find with scripture isn't believing in something bigger than yourself. The problem is that there are too many damn scary scriptures to be taken literally. You'd think that anyone with the least bit of sanity would know exactly which scriptures to disregard... but, do they?

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Griz

Griz

- 4 months ago

The Bible is merely words on paper.
The Apostle Paul calls the OT "the ministry of death, written in stone" -- thus called because in it's laws and edicts one becomes aware of just how spiritually dead we are compared to the perfect ideal of God. Paul also says that the words themselves are dead -- but the Spirit is alive. (And the entire NT is about relationship with that Spirit made possible by Christ)

What empowers the Bible -- brings life to it -- is the Spirit behind the words. A Spirit that can take old dead words and breathe life into them valid even for this day and age. (BTW, a Spirit that admonishes us to acknowledge the context. Laws came to a unified tribe wandering in a wilderness thousands of ago to keep them alive and healthy -- that have little bearing on the Global Village of today. Yet there are still things that were good then that are good now. And no, poly-cotton undies are NOT evil -- unless you fail to wash them regularly!)

But this understanding necessitates a process of going beyond the words to become acquainted with the Spirit behind them. And this doesn't "just happen". One has to choose and want and quest for it.

Without this, the words never have any life to them -- cannot lead to life. They lead only to death. Like the death of thinking we are the ones to give meaning and validity to extracted parts of it according to what we like; or what we think we can extract value from; or what we think we can use to scorn or condemn others.

There is no spiritual life in any of these dark processes. There is only the death of the words "written in stone".

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melb2

melb2

- 4 months ago

I think everybody interprets the scriptures pretty much like they want to. really, you can justify anything.
personally, I stick to the red parts...everything else is, imho, just commentary.
and, I have to say, I try to interpret the information in the context it was written..2000 years ago..and in the cultures to whom it was written. There are indeed some timeless messages in there...but I am neither Roman or Corinthian.

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JonathanBohemian

JonathanBohemian

- 4 months ago

the Church has said since the first century that Apostolic Tradition interprets the Bible, what is to be taken literally and figuratively.........in other words, the [Orthodox] Church since the beginning of Christianity has said the Old Testament is figurative, the Gospels are literal, & everything else in the New Testament are just letters. And yet, the Holy Spirit (as expressed through Tradition) is a greater authority than the Bible (which is nothing more than a book, so don't look at it as divine in itself)..........meaning, loving others is the most important thing.

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ParsAndCigars

ParsAndCigars

- 4 months ago

Take EVERYTHING in proper context.
Frequently, proper context is not so obvious.
And taking things literally, when you are not aware of the proper context can absolutely seem silly or scary.
They're not.

Bible Studies would help you, quite a lot.

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BruceDLimber

BruceDLimber

- 4 months ago

You might want to check out the Baha'i scriptures by way of comparison.

They're not only far newer (89-167 years old) but are FAR clearer and easier to understand!

You can find them at these sites:

- http://www.bahai-library.org (click "Writings") for our scriptures

- http://www.reference.bahai.org (this site is multilingual)

Good hunting! :-)

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Jear77

Jear77

- 4 months ago

Look at what type of a passage it is: history (much of the bible), erotica (song of Solomon), worship (psalms), prophecy (Jeremiah, revelation), common sense (proverbs). Biblical Hermeneutics is where you look at it and read it from a principle upon principle, precept upon precept straightforward reading, with the knowledge that the bible doesn't contradict itself. If you read something that you think contradicts the bible, it's your *interpretation* that is wrong.

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RyanCantDrum

RyanCantDrum

- 4 months ago

The last one was the most true. If part of a cake was rotten, and IF you were to throw away the rotten part, and the other parts would not be affected, then why would you not save whats left of the good? The Bible is very good, but you have to take into part whats written by Jesus, and whats written by a Human being that is in no way superior to others. This next part I mean no offence in any way, but this was even before, the minds of the christains of the time of Galileo. So it might not be 100% accurate, or even some may say outdated.

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burnabymike

burnabymike

- 4 months ago

I think the prudent person would view scripture as they would the stories of The Three Pigs, Jack and the Beanstalk and and other moralistic fables. Take the lesson from the story rather than the literal context.

The moral of the three pigs is NOT to shun anyone whose home is not made of brick. Nor is it a literal statement that all wolves are bad and thus abominations. It also does not mean that it is OK to boil wolves alive if they crawl down your chimney.

The bible is written in parables, which are fables used to teach a lesson. In short, take the life lessons that pertain to you and whatever doesn't work for you, ignore.

Human beings wrote the books of the bible and other humans picked the books that the bible would contain. Men are flawed creatures, as any woman will attest, and so take the books of the bible with a grain (or brick) of salt.

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MayanPriest

MayanPriest

- 4 months ago

@Cookiefish Not everyone is sane, and about 0% of the bible is to be taken literally, fables and fairy tales.
So the answer is 0% should be taken literally... that is zero no an o.

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gambitgeniess

gambitgeniess

- 4 months ago

You decide. Do not let others decide for you.

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