Bible, literal or not

Lost4words

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Of course you do.

Being that you are not a believer, but what is worse is that there are many believers (probably a majority) who take the same stance about the Bible as you do.

They believe the parts that fit their idea of who God is or should be and ignore, spiritualize or metaphoricalize the parts that go against science.

And then, there are others, who misinterpret scripture to suit their beliefs.
 
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CherubRam

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Is there a system in Christianity (any "sect" of it) as to which part of the bible are literal and which aren't or which stories are true and which aren't?

The bible requires a spirit of discernment. Certain words and stories in the bible are at times used in a parabolic way.

In regards to people who take the bible to literally.
Luke 24:25
He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
 
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d taylor

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The bible requires a spirit of discernment. Certain words and stories in the bible are at times used in a parabolic way.

In regards to people who take the bible to literally.
Luke 24:25
He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!

You do understand that Jesus was saying that they were foolish for being slow, to believe all the prophets have spoken.

That it took Jesus being resurrected until they (the disciples) began to understand what the Old Testament was saying about The Messiah.
 
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caerlerion

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A lot of the Bible was written to be understood literally. A lot of it wasn't.

Genesis 1 was intended to be read as the literal origin of the cosmos. The author was not writing an allegory, a parable, a metaphor, or a drama. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Isaiah 13 was not intended to prophesy the literal destruction of the cosmos. The author was writing a rebuke of a powerful city and used hyperbolic speech in the process.

But almost no denomination or sect actually reads the Bible completely literally, as much as some might insist they do. There are a lot of parts where a "literal" reading is not how it's commonly read, because to read it "literally" (even when that's how the author intended it) would result in something theologically or ethically problematic.
 
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d taylor

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Look at your signature to see how massively you misinterpret scripture! o_O

Well show me, all you have to do is in the Bible show one time, where when spoken about God's creation there is a verse or section that states God created more than heaven and earth.

My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

You alone are the Lord;
You have made heaven,
The heaven of heavens, with all their host,
The earth and everything on it,
The seas and all that is in them,
And You preserve them all.
The host of heaven worships You.

"O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth You have made heaven and earth.

Thus you shall say to them, "The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens."

For thus says the Lord,
Who created the heavens,
Who is God,
Who formed the earth and made it,
Who has established it,
Who did not create it in vain,
Who formed it to be inhabited:
“I am the Lord, and there is no other.

"For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.
 
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ViaCrucis

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Is there a system in Christianity (any "sect" of it) as to which part of the bible are literal and which aren't or which stories are true and which aren't?

Basically all of them. No group of Christians takes every single statement in the Bible completely literal. However how certain texts are approached (keep in mind that the Bible isn't a book, but is a collection of many different kinds of books) has often far less to do with which denomination or "sect" of Christianity one is a part of, as diversity of opinions and approaches exist within the same tradition. You can find different approaches even among Christians who attend the same congregation.

As such there is often very little in some sort of overarching dogmatic exegesis of the biblical texts; but rather an emphasis on the confession of faith as presented and retained in the historic Christian Creeds.

Some groups might make certain approaches to Scripture more dogmatic, but these tend to largely be the smaller Protestant Fundamentalist groups.

In practice that means that we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, our Lord, conceived of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, buried, and dead, and rose on the third day, ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, from whence He will come again to judge the living and the dead. That is our confession of faith, as such a reading of the biblical texts which would contradict this, such as trying to interpret Jesus' resurrection as anything other than actual resurrection would be understood as heretical.

But, for example is the creation story in Genesis chapter 1 to be read literally? Some read it that way, others don't. I don't read it literally. And that difference in approach isn't new, it's been part of Christianity since the earliest days of the Christian Church.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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Tony Bristow-Stagg

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Is there a system in Christianity (any "sect" of it) as to which part of the bible are literal and which aren't or which stories are true and which aren't?

The Bible is very much a spiritual guide. Taken literally will render many passages out of context, clash with scientific understandings and thus become mere superstition.

An example is when clouds are mentioned. We now understand clouds are vapors that rise from the earth, accumulate and become dense, so much so, that the sun becomes darkened and the light shines less bright.

Understanding this, we can now understand how Christ returns with Clouds. It will not be Christ riding them like a chariot, that many literal bible thinkers have come to embrace, it will be the clouds of doctrine explained like this.

Mens thoughts become the vapors that rise above the earth of true meaning. As they formulate more doctrine, changing spiritual to literal, the clouds darken and blot out the light of the word of God. It is these clouds that Christ returns upon and why there are many warnings about having to watch with new eyes and hear with new ears.

Regards Tony
 
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PROPHECYKID

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Is there a system in Christianity (any "sect" of it) as to which part of the bible are literal and which aren't or which stories are true and which aren't?

You have to use certain guidelines to determine this. There are books in the bible that are prophetic such as Daniel and Revelation. Both these prophets had prophetic visions which were given in symbolic language. In some cases, in the passage itself you are told what certain symbols mean. Usually, prophecies do have figurative and symbolic language which is why they are sometimes more difficult to understand.

Many of the other books are literal such as Genesis which might use one or 2 phrases which are figurative. Common sense will tell you. For instance, after Cain killed Abel, God said that Abel's blood cried out to him from the ground. This is obviously not literal but figurative. Then you have parables that Jesus told why were made up stories to teach a moral lesson and not to be taken literally.

So these are some general guidelines.
 
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