Literal Interpretation of Bible Prophecy: Help or Hindrance?

[Quasar92]

Literal Interpretation of Bible Prophecy: Help or Hindrance?



About the time of the End, a body of men will be raised up who will turn their attention to the prophecies, and insist upon their literal interpretation in the midst of much clamor and opposition.
-Sir Isaac Newton

Dr. John Walvoord was asked about a year ago "what do you predict will be the most significant theological issues over the next ten years?" His answer includes the following: "the hermeneutical problem of not interpreting the Bible literally, especially the prophetic areas. The church today is engulfed in the idea that one cannot interpret prophecy literally."1 While millions of evangelicals still believe and practice literal interpretation of the Bible, including prophecy, there is nevertheless, a noticeable trend by some who are "engulfed in the idea that one cannot interpret prophecy literally."

CLAMOR AND OPPOSITION

The last few years have witnessed the rise of a new growth industry within evangelicalism relating to Bible prophecy. There has been an ever- increasing wave of materials warning evangelicals against the literal interpretation of Bible prophecy and perceived implications that could follow from such practice. Increasingly, from outside the church (and some from within), those who believe in the literal interpretation of Bible prophecy are being pictured as a danger and threat to the progress of modern society. In the past, those who took Bible prophecy seriously were often ignored, since it was believed that their views did not impact in any significant way society at large. However, a reassessment by some secularists appears to attach great significance and blame to such beliefs.

The recent assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin has set off a new flurry of criticism in the media of conservative religious beliefs that the Bible gives Israel a divine right to the land. Since many evangelicals share this view, I expect some will attempt to link this ungodly act with a literal belief in Bible prophecy. The last decade has increasingly seen an attempt by some to link a literal interpretation of the Bible to extremism. Some critics have tried to blame such activities as the threats of nuclear war, Islamic terrorism, American cult extremists, and the bombing in Oklahoma City, as all identical in nature and inflamed by a literal interpretation of the Bible. Such false linkage is then presented as proof that beliefs of this kind are a dangerous threat to society and that steps must be taken to control such views and preempt supposed actions that might follow from them.

SECULAR PROPHECY PHOBIA

Since they reject the Bible as a whole, especially the supernatural implication required for fulfillment, secularists have always thought that belief in Bible prophecy was weird, In recent years a number of books and articles have appeared attempting to explain to secularists biblical prophecy beliefs in an attempt to assess the impact of such beliefs on the thinking of society in general. Some of the books include: Apocalypse: On the Psychology of Fundamentalism in America by Charles Strozier; Naming the Antichrist: The History of an American Obsession by Robert Fuller; and the most widely-heralded When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy Belief in Modern American Culture by Paul Boyer.2

Why, apart from pure academic exercises, would secularists (who believe that life should be lived apart from religious influence) be interested in the prophetic beliefs of biblical literalists? Apparently some secularists believe that one is not properly enlightened if he or she is ignorant of the prophetic beliefs of a large segment of the common people. In this way, Robert Fuller speaks of "my insistence that religion can and should be made the subject of intellectual inquiry."3 Likewise, Paul Boyer contends that "Much evidence (some direct, some inferential) suggests that, despite gradual erosion in the twentieth century, prophetic belief remains deeply rooted in the United States as the century ends."4

The December 19, 1994 issue of U.S. News & World Report ran a cover-story on Bible prophecy. Interestingly,it was run not in the religious section, but in the science and society section, and entitled "Waiting for The Messiah: The new clash over the Bible's millennial prophecies."5 This article reduces belief in biblical prophecy as the fulfillment of a psychological drive to find meaning in life, even though it is said to have great "destructive potential" (p. 71). What is interesting about the article is its focus on a departure by some evangelicals from the literal interpretation of prophecy and a new openness to less literal alternative approaches. The tone of the article seems to be that finally, even some of those crazy literalists are waking up and realizing that Bible prophecy cannot be taken literally in these enlightened and modern times.

By Thomas Ice, PhDl


Quasar92

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Is there a question here (if so I will happily answer it)?

 

[BABerean2]

Dr. John Walvoord was asked about a year ago "what do you predict will be the most significant theological issues over the next ten years?"

You need to put a date on this article.

How long has Walvoord been dead?

.

 

[Quasar92]

You need to put a date on this article.

How long has Walvoord been dead?

.

Have you found a date on your Bible yet? How long have Peter and Paul been dead? Tell me; what difference does it make?


Quassr92

 

[Quasar92]

Is there a question here (if so I will happily answer it)?

There was not only a question there, but the answer as well.


Qusar92

 

[Monna]

Isn't "literal interpretation" a bit of an oxymoron, unless the word interpretation=translation?
We can read something and understand it in its literal meaning, or we can interpret / explain it metaphorically.

As to prophecy, are you thinking of prophecy as fortelling the future? Or seeing and explaining the reality of the present time as seen by God - which may imply a warning of an inevitable result if something isn't done. At times these overlap. Elijah had read the Torah in which God warned the people of Israel that if they turned to other God's there would be drought and famine. Elijah understood what Ahab and his wife Jezebel were doing, ruthlessly and systematically, to introduce the worship of Baal throughout the land. So he more or less "read God's word" to Ahab telling him that from then on, there would be no rain until he himself said so.

I believe a lot of what we call prophecy in the scripture is actually the spelling out of inevitable results for an individual, a nation, a community, a church congregation, if they do not follow "the way, the truth, and the life." As inevitable as the 'laws' of physics and chemistry. As such they always apply. Yes there are instances that are very specific, but very often these are very difficult for the general public to see as they are happening, quite easy to understand afterwards - such as OT prophesy about the Messiah's death and resurrection. Who would have thought that the story of Jonah and the great whale was a type of the Lord Jesus dying and being resurrected? Who would have dared to say that this disobedient prophet in his disobedience, confession, 'death' and explusion onto the beach was a picture of the Messiah identifying with his disobedient people, submitting to a "baptism for the forgiveness of sins," bearing their punishment in burial in a fish's belly, then being resurrected and taking the message of God's forgiveness to the wicked city of Nineveh? Yet Jesus saw it that way.

Was His a literal understanding or metaphorical interpretation of the prophetic story of Jonah? Or perhaps most of us have never thought of Jonah's life itself as prophetic? Just a story to say what happens to people who don't follow the commands of God?

I am looking for "prophets" today who can see the reality of what is happening in the world (now), place this reality within the context of scripture (i.e. as God sees it) and warn believers about where things are headed, and simultaneously call them back to a closer walk with Him. Where are today's Elijahs?

 

[Halbhh]

Isn't "literal interpretation" a bit of an oxymoron, unless the word interpretation=translation?
We can read something and understand it in its literal meaning, or we can interpret / explain it metaphorically.

As to prophecy, are you thinking of prophecy as fortelling the future? Or seeing and explaining the reality of the present time as seen by God - which may imply a warning of an inevitable result if something isn't done. At times these overlap. Elijah had read the Torah in which God warned the people of Israel that if they turned to other God's there would be drought and famine. Elijah understood what Ahab and his wife Jezebel were doing, ruthlessly and systematically, to introduce the worship of Baal throughout the land. So he more or less "read God's word" to Ahab telling him that from then on, there would be no rain until he himself said so.

I believe a lot of what we call prophecy in the scripture is actually the spelling out of inevitable results for an individual, a nation, a community, a church congregation, if they do not follow "the way, the truth, and the life." As inevitable as the 'laws' of physics and chemistry. As such they always apply. Yes there are instances that are very specific, but very often these are very difficult for the general public to see as they are happening, quite easy to understand afterwards - such as OT prophesy about the Messiah's death and resurrection. Who would have thought that the story of Jonah and the great whale was a type of the Lord Jesus dying and being resurrected? Who would have dared to say that this disobedient prophet in his disobedience, confession, 'death' and explusion onto the beach was a picture of the Messiah identifying with his disobedient people, submitting to a "baptism for the forgiveness of sins," bearing their punishment in burial in a fish's belly, then being resurrected and taking the message of God's forgiveness to the wicked city of Nineveh? Yet Jesus saw it that way.

Was His a literal understanding or metaphorical interpretation of the prophetic story of Jonah? Or perhaps most of us have never thought of Jonah's life itself as prophetic? Just a story to say what happens to people who don't follow the commands of God?

I am looking for "prophets" today who can see the reality of what is happening in the world (now), place this reality within the context of scripture (i.e. as God sees it) and warn believers about where things are headed, and simultaneously call them back to a closer walk with Him. Where are today's Elijahs?

Any of us could be, partly, to answer that very last question. You I think. But isn't the OP really about the end times in particular, such as in Revelation?

It seems to me about the end times, the value of the prophecies are how they could aid believers feeling concerned and sometimes afraid about the sharply deteriorating conditions of humanity and the world, that we would endure to the end, understanding that God has foreseen this inevitable crisis time, and that He has provided for us, our ultimate rescue, after this temporary life. That we need those end time prophecies really just to reassure us. No one can prepare in the mere sense of thinking: I'll wait till the end time is underway, then I'll repent and fly right, since in fact for any of us our own personal last day could be today or tomorrow. Our real hope is for after this life, and our need to prepare is always today, right now. But for those that will endure these coming end times, the prophecies are reassuring even while we don't individually understand everything (since that would obviate needed things).

 

[jgr]

Literal Interpretation of Bible Prophecy: Help or Hindrance?



About the time of the End, a body of men will be raised up who will turn their attention to the prophecies, and insist upon their literal interpretation in the midst of much clamor and opposition.
-Sir Isaac Newton

Dr. John Walvoord was asked about a year ago "what do you predict will be the most significant theological issues over the next ten years?" His answer includes the following: "the hermeneutical problem of not interpreting the Bible literally, especially the prophetic areas. The church today is engulfed in the idea that one cannot interpret prophecy literally."1 While millions of evangelicals still believe and practice literal interpretation of the Bible, including prophecy, there is nevertheless, a noticeable trend by some who are "engulfed in the idea that one cannot interpret prophecy literally."

CLAMOR AND OPPOSITION

The last few years have witnessed the rise of a new growth industry within evangelicalism relating to Bible prophecy. There has been an ever- increasing wave of materials warning evangelicals against the literal interpretation of Bible prophecy and perceived implications that could follow from such practice. Increasingly, from outside the church (and some from within), those who believe in the literal interpretation of Bible prophecy are being pictured as a danger and threat to the progress of modern society. In the past, those who took Bible prophecy seriously were often ignored, since it was believed that their views did not impact in any significant way society at large. However, a reassessment by some secularists appears to attach great significance and blame to such beliefs.

The recent assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin has set off a new flurry of criticism in the media of conservative religious beliefs that the Bible gives Israel a divine right to the land. Since many evangelicals share this view, I expect some will attempt to link this ungodly act with a literal belief in Bible prophecy. The last decade has increasingly seen an attempt by some to link a literal interpretation of the Bible to extremism. Some critics have tried to blame such activities as the threats of nuclear war, Islamic terrorism, American cult extremists, and the bombing in Oklahoma City, as all identical in nature and inflamed by a literal interpretation of the Bible. Such false linkage is then presented as proof that beliefs of this kind are a dangerous threat to society and that steps must be taken to control such views and preempt supposed actions that might follow from them.

SECULAR PROPHECY PHOBIA

Since they reject the Bible as a whole, especially the supernatural implication required for fulfillment, secularists have always thought that belief in Bible prophecy was weird, In recent years a number of books and articles have appeared attempting to explain to secularists biblical prophecy beliefs in an attempt to assess the impact of such beliefs on the thinking of society in general. Some of the books include: Apocalypse: On the Psychology of Fundamentalism in America by Charles Strozier; Naming the Antichrist: The History of an American Obsession by Robert Fuller; and the most widely-heralded When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy Belief in Modern American Culture by Paul Boyer.2

Why, apart from pure academic exercises, would secularists (who believe that life should be lived apart from religious influence) be interested in the prophetic beliefs of biblical literalists? Apparently some secularists believe that one is not properly enlightened if he or she is ignorant of the prophetic beliefs of a large segment of the common people. In this way, Robert Fuller speaks of "my insistence that religion can and should be made the subject of intellectual inquiry."3 Likewise, Paul Boyer contends that "Much evidence (some direct, some inferential) suggests that, despite gradual erosion in the twentieth century, prophetic belief remains deeply rooted in the United States as the century ends."4

The December 19, 1994 issue of U.S. News & World Report ran a cover-story on Bible prophecy. Interestingly,it was run not in the religious section, but in the science and society section, and entitled "Waiting for The Messiah: The new clash over the Bible's millennial prophecies."5 This article reduces belief in biblical prophecy as the fulfillment of a psychological drive to find meaning in life, even though it is said to have great "destructive potential" (p. 71). What is interesting about the article is its focus on a departure by some evangelicals from the literal interpretation of prophecy and a new openness to less literal alternative approaches. The tone of the article seems to be that finally, even some of those crazy literalists are waking up and realizing that Bible prophecy cannot be taken literally in these enlightened and modern times.

By Thomas Ice, PhDl


Quasar92

If literal interpretation is the approved interpretive orthodoxy, then unquestionably the very first prophecy in Scripture should have a literal interpretation.

So we await with interest anyone's literal interpretation of Genesis 3:15.

 

[seventysevens]

If literal interpretation is the approved interpretive orthodoxy, then unquestionably the very first prophecy in Scripture should have a literal interpretation.

So we await with interest anyone's literal interpretation of Genesis 3:15.

It means that Jesus is going to put a whippin on satan and toss the evil serpent into the Lake of fire that was designed for him and those who follow that serpent
Jesus is the Champion , King of Kings and Lord of Lords Alleluia ! Maranatha ! Praise to the KING !

 

[jgr]

It means that Jesus is going to put a whippin on satan and toss the evil serpent into the Lake of fire that was designed for him and those who follow that serpent
Jesus is the Champion , King of Kings and Lord of Lords Alleluia ! Maranatha ! Praise to the KING !

Amen, you're right; it means that spiritually.

But it does not mean that literally because:
"Jesus" does not appear literally in the verse.
Nor does "Satan".
Nor does "evil".
Nor does "lake of fire".

So you've confirmed that Scripture's very first prophecy is a spiritual rather than a literal prophecy.

 

[Monna]

But isn't the OP really about the end times in particular, such as in Revelation?

It seems to me about the end times, the value of the prophecies are how they could aid believers feeling concerned and sometimes afraid about the sharply deteriorating conditions of humanity and the world, that we would endure to the end, understanding that God has foreseen this inevitable crisis time, and that He has provided for us, our ultimate rescue, after this temporary life.

Yes, the end times. But when John wrote Revelations he was writing about those days. He and many others were convinced those were the end times. Remember that many people were convinced that Jesus would return before John's death - and this is recorded in the Scriptures. And so, somewhere in the world, some group of Christians is experiencing "the end times." This has always been the experienced value of the book of Revelations - that it has been a wonderful strengthening comfort for people under servere persecution.

When you read about Babylon, you know from the OT that it was a name with a connotation, and it conjured up evil, and the rule of evil. Read William Stringfellow (An Ethic for Christians and other Aliens in a Strange Land) and you will see very clearly how he applied the description of Babylon to America in the Nixon years. Step by step, characteristic by characteristic. And when I read the book in the summer of 2015 I thought it had taken material out of the current newspapers it was so relevant to that time. The "morality of death" as he describes it is working constantly and progressively deeper in all of our societies and our organisations.

 

[seventysevens]

Amen, you're right; it means that spiritually.

But it does not mean that literally because:
"Jesus" does not appear literally in the verse.
Nor does "Satan".
Nor does "evil".
Nor does "lake of fire".

So you've confirmed that Scripture's very first prophecy is a spiritual rather than a literal prophecy.

As a prophecy it will be fulfilled literally , the description given is what happens , but the when it happens is still yet to come at the time Jesus returns in the 2nd advent

 

[Monna]

So we await with interest anyone's literal interpretation of Genesis 3:15.

Many snakes have had their heads bruised by humans.

But if you're thinking of Satan, does a spirit being have a literal head to bruise literally?

 

[seventysevens]

Many snakes have had their heads bruised by humans.

But if you're thinking of Satan, does a spirit being have a literal head to bruise literally?

What about Angels ? they are Spirit and yet have a body and a head - Jacob wrestled with one , the apostles spoke to 2 of them when they spoke to them when Jesus ascended in to heaven, when Jesus resurrected from the dead he was a spirit being with an eternal body like the ones we will have someday ;
well ...maybe it doesn't actually bruise or it just heals real fast

 

[Halbhh]

Yes, the end times. But when John wrote Revelations he was writing about those days. He and many others were convinced those were the end times. Remember that many people were convinced that Jesus would return before John's death - and this is recorded in the Scriptures. And so, somewhere in the world, some group of Christians is experiencing "the end times." This has always been the experienced value of the book of Revelations - that it has been a wonderful strengthening comfort for people under servere persecution.

When you read about Babylon, you know from the OT that it was a name with a connotation, and it conjured up evil, and the rule of evil. Read William Stringfellow (An Ethic for Christians and other Aliens in a Strange Land) and you will see very clearly how he applied the description of Babylon to America in the Nixon years. Step by step, characteristic by characteristic. And when I read the book in the summer of 2015 I thought it had taken material out of the current newspapers it was so relevant to that time. The "morality of death" as he describes it is working constantly and progressively deeper in all of our societies and our organisations.

As you likely may know the Gospel of Mark was written in the time near to and before the sack of Jeruselem -- 66 to 70AD, and the expectation is that Mark was written down because some of the remaining older eye witnesses were finally passing on, and so people felt a need to record their testimony in writing for posterity.

Even though oral history can be amazingly accurate, this feeling is understandable. What if the time was still far off?

But.....

But, interestingly, 3 of the 4 gospels are widely thought to have been written after the sack of Jerusalem in 70AD. Which reminds us that those writing down these 3 gospels, these oral histories, already knew not only that this big tramatic event that fulfilled part of the prophecy in Matthew ch 24 was not the full end times, but presumed the final end times were not immeditely imminent (at least enough to write down a gospel). So, that means no matter how often anyone thought the end was immediately at hand, evidently many did not. Thus they committed the testimonies into writing.

Curious as to you thought in view of that angle.

 

[jgr]

As a prophecy it will be fulfilled literally , the description given is what happens , but the when it happens is still yet to come at the time Jesus returns in the 2nd advent

It was fulfilled at Calvary when Christ was bruised both physically and spiritually for our iniquities, and when through His death and resurrection He crushed Satan's head spiritually.

 

[seventysevens]

It was fulfilled at Calvary when Christ was bruised both physically and spiritually for our iniquities, and when through His death and resurrection He crushed Satan's head spiritually.

Correct in spiritually fulfilled as mankind can now defeat satan by the blood of the cross - though since satan still has access to deceive mankind it is not totally fulfilled until satan is literally and physically thrown into the Lake of Fire - then it is totally fulfilled when satan can no longer deceive anyone and sin is permanently gone

 

[BABerean2]

Tell me; what difference does it make?

.

 

[seventysevens]

.

For someone that is so much against dispensations you post more about it than any other topic you post about and more than all other posters combined whether they be for it or against it .... maybe you should start a website

 

[jgr]

Correct in spiritually fulfilled as mankind can now defeat satan by the blood of the cross - though since satan still has access to deceive mankind it is not totally fulfilled until satan is literally and physically thrown into the Lake of Fire - then it is totally fulfilled when satan can no longer deceive anyone and sin is permanently gone

I concur that Satan's final judgment will be a culmination of Christ's work at Calvary.

My objective here has been to demonstrate that Scripture's first prophecy of Genesis 3:15 cannot be fully understood unless it is spiritually discerned.