briandjoesmom
Favorite Answer
Some people interpret the bible to fit into what they want to believe or to justify their behavior.
Sparkle1
Ask yourself as you are reading, who is talking? who are they talking to? what are they talking about? have the scriptures before it stated that it is being said in illustrations or parables? can you take the rest of the scripture literally also? does there seem to be a contradiction between that scripture and others that you have already read? The entire Bible is inspired by God and it has been maintained with truth since it was compiled. God is the only one who can interpret the Bible accurately so you must look at it as a whole and not just single scriptures. God never changes. His purposes are the same today as they were when he first created man. He does not act contrary to himself.
Pedestal 42
You take it as it was written to be.
If you want to take it all literally, I'm in trouble with phrases such as "the trees of the field shall clap their hands" (Isaiah 55:12)
History as history, poetry as poetry, sermons and letters as such as they are, and myth as myth. Possibly other categories too.
But this shows where more than divide of interpretation opens up. Is "myth" a legitimate category for a believing Christian and, if so, which parts of the bible does it apply to?
Does Satan really pop up to heaven to have conversations with God? (Job ch 1) Or is that the opening of a mythic story that tells truths about suffering, injustice and attitudes to these?
"Literally" is a vastly oversimplifying answer to the question of how the biblical text should be understood.
Master_of_Psyche
The Good Lord said Woe to the Scribes. They made the
copies of the Bible for others to read in those days.
The Bible is full of symbology. And it's hard to know what
the symbols really mean. Which cause a lot of
confusion. Ezekiel desrcibed the 4 beasts as all having 4 faces, one like a "bull". John described them as all having
one face and one was a "calf". So we see things can
get confused.
JDJ34
You cant take only part of the Bible literally as it wont make any sense. Its like only accepting 50% of the truth instead of the whole truth which is 100%.