Bible Question:
Dear Forum Members, An interesting question has arisen on the forum recently in multiple posts, which I would like to address directly. We would all agree that it is possible to interpret one part of scripture figuratively and another literally. The question is, "What are the criteria that can be consistently applied to tell the difference?" This is something that creeps into many different threads. It impacts how we interpret the creation story in Genesis, and the end of the world in Revelation. It even affects whether we believe that there was a certain number of soldiers, years, etc, or whether those numbers are figurative to mean something else. |
Bible Answer: How about using some common sense? "When the plain sense makes good sense, seek no other sense lest it be nonsense." 2 Tim 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (All Scripture quotes are from the King James Version of the Bible.) The basic principle of interpretation is to interpret *plainly*. The word *literal* is avoided here because it creates connotations which have to be corrected. An overly wooden literal interpretation can be confusing or misleading and often is not necessary or desirable. Examples follow: Matt 23:14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. *ye devour widows' houses.* Do the scribes and Pharisees eat literal wood and nails? No, "They used their position as judges to adjust claims against wealthy widows or to get the widows to leave their estates to the scribes and Pharisees" (Ryrie Study Bible). Then why did our Lord use the phrase "ye devour widows' houses"? The Bible sometimes uses a "figure of speech", which is defined as "an expression in which a nonliteral sense of a word or words is used to create a forceful or illuminating image." Gal 5:15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. *if ye bite and devour one another.* Does this verse mean that the people of the church at Galatia literally chew and swallow one other's flesh? Of course not. It is speaking of strife in the church. Rev 7:1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. *the four corners of the earth.* Have you ever seen a photograph of earth taken from space? Have you seen any corners on the planet lately? What then, is the Bible wrong? May it never be. The writer here is using figurative, not literal, language. Summary: Sometimes the literal sense is the plain sense. At other times, it is not. If one forces an overly literal interpretation where it does not fit (as in the 3 verses given as examples here), then the literal sense can indeed become nonsense. |