How do you interpret the Bible?

Sm412 · Nov 25, 2018

The reason I wanted to make this thread, my interpretation of the Bible is a little unorthadox. I take the Bible seriously, not entirely literally. I believe in scientific truths such as evolution and the earth forming billions of years ago. That isn't to say I don't find truth in these stories, the accounts of Creation. I believe them to be allegorical representations of spiritual truths; God's role in creation, the role of man, and the fall of man into original sin, to name a few. I interpret scripture allegorically, symbolically, metaphorically, and sometimes literally. To me, science and scripture are absolutely reconcilable. Never will I be one to put my head in the sand every time a scientist speaks.

When I interpret scripture, I ask myself not "did this literally happen as written?" or "Is this history?" as with the more fantastic stories of creation, Adam and Eve, and Noah. For me that's not important. What I ask myself is, what is the deeper spiritual meaning? What is this telling me about God? How does this bring me closer to God? What higher truths does this contain? How is this applicable to my life? How can this make me a better person? I recognize that the bible is allegory, mythology, metaphor, symbolism, history, and ancient law/values rolled into one, and I interpret it as such. The Bible is an absolutely beautiful collection of writing which contains layers upon layers of truth and meaning. As you know, 100% literal interpretation can be problematic, as some of biblical law is either not applicable or does not apply to modern values. For example, Samuel 15 commands us to kill women and children in times of battle. Other passages explicitly condone slavery. Today we accept that such acts against others are deeply unethical. So how do we interpret such revelation? Non-literally. We find a spiritual truth in these passages other than literal "face value" meaning. I believe that with 100% literal interpretation, we miss much of the intended meaning of scripture and revelation.

To my own credit, allegorical interpretation was common until the 15th century, when a movement sprung up to interpret literally, "as it is written." This literalism of course led to the oppression of scientific thinkers during the enlightenment by the church, among other things. Today, the church is more open to scientific truths, with many going so far as to accept evolutionary science.

What do you think of this? How do you interpret scripture? Am I wrong?

LionL · Nov 25, 2018

Sm412 said:
The reason I wanted to make this thread, my interpretation of the Bible is a little unorthadox. I take the Bible seriously, not entirely literally. I believe in scientific truths such as evolution and the earth forming billions of years ago. That isn't to say I don't find truth in these stories, the accounts of Creation. I believe them to be allegorical representations of spiritual truths; God's role in creation, the role of man, and the fall of man into original sin, to name a few. I interpret scripture allegorically, symbolically, metaphorically, and sometimes literally. To me, science and scripture are absolutely reconcilable. Never will I be one to put my head in the sand every time a scientist speaks.

When I interpret scripture, I ask myself not "did this literally happen as written?" or "Is this history?" as with the more fantastic stories of creation, Adam and Eve, and Noah. For me that's not important. What I ask myself is, what is the deeper spiritual meaning? What is this telling me about God? How does this bring me closer to God? What higher truths does this contain? How is this applicable to my life? How can this make me a better person? I recognize that the bible is allegory, mythology, metaphor, symbolism, history, and ancient law/values rolled into one, and I interpret it as such. The Bible is an absolutely beautiful collection of writing which contains layers upon layers of truth and meaning. As you know, 100% literal interpretation can be problematic, as some of biblical law is either not applicable or does not apply to modern values. For example, Samuel 15 commands us to kill women and children in times of battle. Other passages explicitly condone slavery. Today we accept that such acts against others are deeply unethical. So how do we interpret such revelation? Non-literally. We find a spiritual truth in these passages other than literal "face value" meaning. I believe that with 100% literal interpretation, we miss much of the intended meaning of scripture and revelation.

To my own credit, allegorical interpretation was common until the 15th century, when a movement sprung up to interpret literally, "as it is written." This literalism of course led to the oppression of scientific thinkers during the enlightenment by the church, among other things. Today, the church is more open to scientific truths, with many going so far as to accept evolutionary science.

What do you think of this? How do you interpret scripture? Am I wrong?

I interpret the Bible in exactly the same way as you SM412. That's the norm here in the UK - literal interpretations are in the minority.

OldWiseGuy · Nov 25, 2018

I first interpret it literally, which often reveals meanings not generally known.

mukk_in · Nov 25, 2018

I interpret the Bible as the Holy Spirit explains it (John 16:13-14). Peace in Christ

.

Sm412 · Nov 25, 2018

Thank you for your input! I am so blessed.

danielmears · Nov 25, 2018

I intepret both literally and metaphorically. At one time I thought, the light, referred to in the scriptures wss simply a metaphor for mental enlightenment, but after witnessing a literal illumination I now know that God is literally light, love and spirit! Commentary on “The Light”

Sm412 · Nov 26, 2018

Yes! I believe some is literal, not denying that. The ten commandments, for instance, can't be taken in any other way. They are literal commandments. I suppose biblical readings are a journey in and of themselves. That is to say, discovering the truths contained within is a lifelong process.

jobadia · Nov 26, 2018

Sm412 said:
The reason I wanted to make this thread, my interpretation of the Bible is a little unorthadox. I take the Bible seriously, not entirely literally. I believe in scientific truths such as evolution and the earth forming billions of years ago. That isn't to say I don't find truth in these stories, the accounts of Creation. I believe them to be allegorical representations of spiritual truths; God's role in creation, the role of man, and the fall of man into original sin, to name a few. I interpret scripture allegorically, symbolically, metaphorically, and sometimes literally. To me, science and scripture are absolutely reconcilable. Never will I be one to put my head in the sand every time a scientist speaks.

When I interpret scripture, I ask myself not "did this literally happen as written?" or "Is this history?" as with the more fantastic stories of creation, Adam and Eve, and Noah. For me that's not important. What I ask myself is, what is the deeper spiritual meaning? What is this telling me about God? How does this bring me closer to God? What higher truths does this contain? How is this applicable to my life? How can this make me a better person? I recognize that the bible is allegory, mythology, metaphor, symbolism, history, and ancient law/values rolled into one, and I interpret it as such. The Bible is an absolutely beautiful collection of writing which contains layers upon layers of truth and meaning. As you know, 100% literal interpretation can be problematic, as some of biblical law is either not applicable or does not apply to modern values. For example, Samuel 15 commands us to kill women and children in times of battle. Other passages explicitly condone slavery. Today we accept that such acts against others are deeply unethical. So how do we interpret such revelation? Non-literally. We find a spiritual truth in these passages other than literal "face value" meaning. I believe that with 100% literal interpretation, we miss much of the intended meaning of scripture and revelation.

To my own credit, allegorical interpretation was common until the 15th century, when a movement sprung up to interpret literally, "as it is written." This literalism of course led to the oppression of scientific thinkers during the enlightenment by the church, among other things. Today, the church is more open to scientific truths, with many going so far as to accept evolutionary science.

What do you think of this? How do you interpret scripture? Am I wrong?

jobadia · Nov 26, 2018

To study the Bible, we should understand the background of the book we are studying: it’s helpful to know who wrote the book, to whom it was written, when it was written, and why it was written. Also, we should take care to let the text speak for itself. Sometimes people will assign their own meanings to words in order to get the interpretation they desire.

Sm412 · Nov 26, 2018

jobadia said:
To study the Bible, we should understand the background of the book we are studying: it’s helpful to know who wrote the book, to whom it was written, when it was written, and why it was written. Also, we should take care to let the text speak for itself. Sometimes people will assign their own meanings to words in order to get the interpretation they desire.

Absolutely! I've considered such an issue while reading. Am I interpreting what the writer meant to convey, or what I want to believe for myself?

That's why community is so important. Always good to bounce ideas off other Christians. Hence, this post

royal priest · Nov 26, 2018

jobadia said:
To study the Bible, we should understand the background of the book we are studying: it’s helpful to know who wrote the book, to whom it was written, when it was written, and why it was written. Also, we should take care to let the text speak for itself. Sometimes people will assign their own meanings to words in order to get the interpretation they desire.

Yup. What you said.
When approaching Scripture we need to abandon all preconceived notions and let God's Word speak for itself. This is the historically Protestant manner of discerning truth which is also the method we see used by Jesus and the Apostles whenever they expounded, explained, and applied the OT Scriptures.

HTacianas · Nov 26, 2018

Sm412 said:
The reason I wanted to make this thread, my interpretation of the Bible is a little unorthadox. I take the Bible seriously, not entirely literally. I believe in scientific truths such as evolution and the earth forming billions of years ago. That isn't to say I don't find truth in these stories, the accounts of Creation. I believe them to be allegorical representations of spiritual truths; God's role in creation, the role of man, and the fall of man into original sin, to name a few. I interpret scripture allegorically, symbolically, metaphorically, and sometimes literally. To me, science and scripture are absolutely reconcilable. Never will I be one to put my head in the sand every time a scientist speaks.

When I interpret scripture, I ask myself not "did this literally happen as written?" or "Is this history?" as with the more fantastic stories of creation, Adam and Eve, and Noah. For me that's not important. What I ask myself is, what is the deeper spiritual meaning? What is this telling me about God? How does this bring me closer to God? What higher truths does this contain? How is this applicable to my life? How can this make me a better person? I recognize that the bible is allegory, mythology, metaphor, symbolism, history, and ancient law/values rolled into one, and I interpret it as such. The Bible is an absolutely beautiful collection of writing which contains layers upon layers of truth and meaning. As you know, 100% literal interpretation can be problematic, as some of biblical law is either not applicable or does not apply to modern values. For example, Samuel 15 commands us to kill women and children in times of battle. Other passages explicitly condone slavery. Today we accept that such acts against others are deeply unethical. So how do we interpret such revelation? Non-literally. We find a spiritual truth in these passages other than literal "face value" meaning. I believe that with 100% literal interpretation, we miss much of the intended meaning of scripture and revelation.

To my own credit, allegorical interpretation was common until the 15th century, when a movement sprung up to interpret literally, "as it is written." This literalism of course led to the oppression of scientific thinkers during the enlightenment by the church, among other things. Today, the church is more open to scientific truths, with many going so far as to accept evolutionary science.

What do you think of this? How do you interpret scripture? Am I wrong?

You may interpret the bible any way you want to provided that your interpretation doesn't conflict with the teachings of the Church.

MyGivenNameIsKeith · Nov 26, 2018

I ponder the same at times, however, I keep in mind a few verses which help shed some light.

1 Samuel 15 is in reference to King Saul at this point and the LORD did command him to do such as you had said. He didn't do as God had instructed him and left Agag alive as well as the best sheep and so forth for spoils. The overall arc of this is for welfare of the people of Israel and as such it was King Saul's duty to do as such to the people of Amalek. The commandment STILL would apply if you follow it as such, however you have to understand how God would have you apply it. For you are to love thy neighbor as thyself...true? If you loved said neighbor, you would not kill them. That being said, Amalek is a metaphor for something that God commands you not to have in your life. So you can see how it is literal and metaphor at the same time.
Matthew 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Here we see that the law is established, yet there is no judgment, nor mercy to it. Important matters which are essential when interpreting the law.
Matthew 5:17-18 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Even the part of the law that you mention in the ten commandments we see summarized in the two royal laws, Love God and love thy neighbor as thyself. So it's not as if 1 Samuel 15 goes away or is irrelevant or does not apply any longer. When viewed with grace and truth and mercy, we see even the harshest, most violent commands in a different light than first perceived because we no longer see them as darkness but light.
In other words, Jesus is talking every jot and tittle, I would not think it safe to assume that only some of the Word of God is taken literally and some metaphor to suit our own moral compass. Have faith that you can trust God first and foremost, and all that he is, good. For his commandment is not to murder, even in this instance.
Another point I wanted to touch base on is who Amalek represents to the believer. Figuratively there are two sides to a coin. Amalek is on the other side of where Christ is. Thus the opposing force of God's armies. Thus with witness, testimony, and the cross, we destroy and kill the power of Satan by the power of the blood.
Put God and your neighbor first in the story. You are Saul. What would God have you do? He isn't contradicting himself correct?
Apply literal to get history.
Apply spiritual to get spiritual.
Apply metaphor to get lessons.
Apply prophecy to direct your path.
Apply judgment and mercy and faith to make you grow and mature in your walk.
Pray without ceasing.

Sm412 · Nov 26, 2018

Thank you all for shedding light on this. Bear in mind that in no way am I trying to challenge the Bible, just bouncing ideas off fellow believers. That's how we grow, is it not?

You explained Samuel 15 quite well. My evaluation was definitely taken out of context. As far as disregarding parts of the Bible to suit our moral compass, how else may we not do that? There are some parts that are morally questionable. How may we reconcile these with our faith?

Thank you and God bless you.

timewerx · Nov 26, 2018

I interpret the Bible based on related teachings on the same or similar subjects - cross-referencing.

If that's not enough due to uncertainty, I go to Strong's Greek Concordance.

And finally, I don't usually trust people (regardless of their titles and experience) on their understanding of either religious or secular facts. By experience, I know the vast majority of people are subjective in understanding which is prone to errors.

In fact, I don't even trust myself in what I believe in the moment is true. To me, the search for the Truth is a never-ending / eternal quest.

Jesus himself, likened the Truth to a buried treasure, as a man who found it buried in a land and sold everything he has in order to buy that land. It's a long, difficult, and expensive quest. Not simply something you can have from reading the Bible or joining Bible studies or even going to church.

SkyWriting · Nov 26, 2018

Sm412 said:
Yes! I believe some is literal, not denying that. The ten commandments, for instance, can't be taken in any other way. They are literal commandments. I suppose biblical readings are a journey in and of themselves. That is to say, discovering the truths contained within is a lifelong process.

The ten commandments are also "obsolete" according to scripture.

hedrick · Nov 26, 2018

You’re right the allegorical interpretation has been used in the past. Of course some parts of Scripture are probably intended as allegory, but other than that I’m not a fan. The problem is that it lets you get anything out of the text that you want to.

I handle Scripture in several stages. The first stage is what has been called the plain sense, the sense that the author likely intended. In 1 Sam 15, the author presumably didn’t see any moral problem with this, and thought God actually wanted it. There are actually some historical issues with the early OT. Archaeologists are skeptical about the accuracy through the Exodus, and in many cases even later. Quite likely final editing was done during the Exile, and it’s unclear just how much detail they had available. But even if this didn’t happen as described, it seems nearly certain that the author thought it should have happened that way. I doubt that allegory was intended.

I think we have to be honest in recognizing that there was real disagreement within Israel about how they should interact with non-Israelites. God called Israel. There were serious dangers of reverting to the surrounding religions. It's pretty clear that much of Israel (maybe most of it) didn't actually become monotheistic until fairly late. One way of dealing with this was to regard foreigners as mortal enemies and kill them. You can be skeptical about how much this actually happened, but there were certainly people who believed it should have happened. In Ezra and Nehemiah men were told to divorce their foreign wives. No examination of whether they had perhaps accepted Israel’s God. No concern for what would happen to the women and children involved. Talk about family values! Let's not use those books as examples of divorce.

However there were more accepting strains of thought. Prophets said that Israel would be judged by how it treated foreigners. Jonah satirizes the narrowness of some Israelite thought, to the extent that some people have suggested it was written specifically as an answer to Ezra and Nehemiah.

One problem with conservative interpretation is that it forces people to make all the voices say the same thing. But they didn’t. In some cases we can see them as different perspectives that add something. But at times we have to choose. I think this is a case where we have to choose. The prophets hinted at the right direction. Jesus clarified how to treat enemies, and Paul clarified the fact the racial distinction is irrelevant to the faith, and in fact deals with the specific question of mixed marriages. I don't think we should allegorize these passages into meaning something acceptable, though we should certainly understand why people could be legitimately concerned about the influence of foreign religions and the dangers of mixed marriages.

Sm412 · Nov 27, 2018

See, I have a different perspective. I shy away from the Answers in Genesis view that either the bible is literal or it has no value. That's absolutist.

In addition to history, the bible is full of mythology. For example, we know from scientific proofs that the world and the human race were not created as revealed in Genesis. These stories are mythological accounts designed to convey a message. And what's wrong with that? What's wrong with spirituality through allegory and mythology? Also, it doesn't mean these accounts aren't true; there are other forms of truth. I call the truths conveyed by these stories "spiritual truths," as said stories convey the creative power of God, and place God at the center of all creation. THAT'S what's important, not that the earth was created in 6 24 hour days in the last 10,000 years.

I think to a certain degree it is important what these passages mean to us personally. Spirituality, while helped by community, is a personal journey in addition to a collective journey. You can't build a relationship with God for me; you can help, but to a certain extent I must take those steps myself. You'll explode your own brain trying to interpret what the bible is "truly" conveying, and different people will come to different conclusions, often, in spite of their best efforts to be objective and unbiased. That's why community is so important. In science, it's called "peer review," your work is analyzed by everyone. We run ideas by each other. "I think it means this" "Possibly, but it could mean this"

Feel me?

Sm412 · Nov 29, 2018

A beautiful and enlightening read written by a Christian non-literalist

The Bible: History or Myth? | HuffPost

danielmears · Nov 29, 2018

Sm412 said:
A beautiful and enlightening read written by a Christian non-literalist

The Bible: History or Myth? | HuffPost

About what I would expect from the Huffington Post.

How do you interpret the Bible?

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