ARE WE TO READ THE BIBLE LITERALLY?

It depends on what we mean by "literally." For the sake of clarity, I will use the modern definition of this term: The literal is contrasted with the figurative or poetic use. In this sense, none of us read the entirety of the Bible literally. For example:

·       So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.” (John 10:7)

Is Jesus literally a rectangular wooden door with a handle? Of course, not! Instead, He often taught figuratively. He also instructed His disciples to pluck out their eyes and cut off their hands if it causes them to sin. Clearly, no one takes these teachings literally.

Instead, we try to understand the Bible in the way it was intended. I think that Jesus was telling His disciples that:

·       It is better to maim yourself physically than spiritually through a life devoted to sin.

Why this conclusion? If we take His teaching literally, it claims that if we maim ourselves, we can stop sinning. This interpretation is not Biblically or even realistically possible. All maimed people share the same sin problems.

We can resolve many apparent contradictions when we interpret a verse in a more figurative sense. For example, the Bible claims that all have sinned (Romans 3:23). The skeptic, taking the Bible literally, will claim:

·       You see, the Bible contradicts itself. It says "all have sinned," but it also claims that Jesus never sinned.

The skeptic can only conclude that this is a contradiction when he interprets the Bible stiffly rather than organically, as a whole. When we interpret with sensitivity, we understand that Jesus is in a category all His own, as many verses affirm.

This demonstrates that in order to correctly interpret any single verse, we also need to have a correct interpretation of the whole.

Are we making special allowances for the Bible? No! Instead, this is the way we interpret all literature. For example, we cannot accurately interpret the Book of Job, if we stop short of the last five chapters, where God reprimands Job for His hubris in bringing indictments against God, and Job confesses and repents of his sin. These last chapters cast Job in an entirely different light, which allows us to pin down its meaning and also God’s intentions.

God’s intentions are critical for understanding the Bible, if this is His Book, as it claims to be (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-22). Indeed, the Bible consistently affirms that this is His Book, although God had inspired it in many different ways. Sometimes, He dictated His very Words to His Prophets, and sometimes even without an intermediary, as at Mount Sinai:

·       And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me…” (Exodus 20:1-3)

At other times, Moses served as the intermediary:

·       And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel…Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” (Exodus 24:4, 7)

He later entrusted this Book to the priests in front of the entire nation. What God revealed to Israel served as His Covenant with them. When they kept the terms of the Covenant, they were blessed. When they violated these terms, they were punished (Deuteronomy 28-29). Obedience to the Covenant was the measure of Israel’s love for God:

·       “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” (Deuteronomy 6:5-7)

Obedience to the Words and commands of His Covenant was the only way to love God. These Words also served as a test, as God had instructed Israel:

·       “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him.” (Deuteronomy 13:1-4)

Loving God was strictly a matter of holding fast to His Word and rejecting any competing words or revelations. All the Prophets testified that they were communicating God’s Words. Even the Psalmist David claimed: “The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me; his word is on my tongue” (2 Samuel 23:2).

The consistent testimony of Scripture is that the Bible is God’s Word. In light of this fact, I think that modern scholarship is interpreting the Bible in a distorted manner. When we interpret literature, we start with the guidelines presented by the author. While the Bible’s principle Author is God, modern scholarship proceeds as if the Bible is merely the words of men and interprets it as such.

This has a great impact on interpretation. The Bible is then interpreted according to the assumed intentions of the human authors instead of God’s intentions. This strategy isn’t entirely wrong, since God inspires flesh and blood people rather than robots, who have their own intentions and concerns. Nor does God wipe out their will so that His will can predominate. Instead, He is able to work infallibly through His human servants’ will to accomplish His will.

Admittedly, such a process transcends human understanding. However, a simple analogy might be helpful. Post-hypnotic suggestions are able to induce their subjects to do things so naturally that the subjects think that they have initiated these actions. More importantly, God has created a mind-boggling universe. If God could create and sustain it, He Himself must be mind-boggling.

However, when God is left out of the equation, each human author is understood to come to the parchment with exclusively his own intentions and interests. Consequently, modern scholars pit the theology of Paul against the theology of James, and these against the theology of Jesus or that of the Early Church, inevitably a mass of contradictions instead of puzzles which merely need to be patiently fitted together.

This distinction becomes obvious when we try to interpret the apparent contradictions. For example, Jesus had informed His biological brethren that “The world hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil” (John 7:7). He denounced the Pharisees calling them “hypocrites” and “white-washed tombs.

Yet Peter declared that we must “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor” (1 Peter 2:17). For those who interpret the Bible without any consideration of God, this constitutes a direct contradiction. However, if we regard the Bible as completely the Word of God, it is all true and without contradiction. Therefore, this is simply one of many puzzles, which requires a solution, an occasion to dig deeper.

Perhaps the reconciliation of Jesus and Peter is a matter of using a figurative rather than a literal interpretation, or perhaps different situations call for different approaches. Perhaps it’s a matter of priorities. I tend to think that Jesus loved even the leadership so much that He was willing to incur their hatred in order to pierce their egotistical armor to show them their need for the Savior. In view of this, this paradox was merely a matter of prioritizing love above respect and honor.

Whether literal or figurative, Bible interpretation can be challenging. Even the Prophets of God had been challenged to understand God’s intentions and what He had prophesied through them:

·       Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. (1 Peter 1:10-12)

Even the angels failed to understand the fullness of what had been prophesied. Instead, some it the prophecies were clearly the product of God’s hidden will. Much of this mystery has now been revealed to us after the Resurrection, but why did He keep it hidden:

·       But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Corinthians 2:7-8)

Even now, much of His revelation remains cryptic, buried beneath layers of literal and figurative language, awaiting His return.

Interpretation is a fascinating but massive subject. I have only scratched the surface. As such, this chapter represent a mere teaser, but I hope that it will entice you to dig deeper.