>"Craig L. Adams" <craigadams1l@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>Re: Do We Take the Bible Literally?
>Do We Take the Bible Literally?
>
>This is a common question. But, what does it mean to take the Bible
>"literally"? I feel that this term has often been misused =8B or used
>foolishly. I sometimes think people should stop using the term "literal"
>to describe our beliefs about the Bible.
>
>What does the word "literal" mean?
>
>http://tinyurl.com/2zrkww
Hello,
No, the Bible is not ALL literal. Here was my reply to another poster:
"Actually, the Bible itself claims to be from God. So either it is
lying (and thus should not be trusted), or it is telling the truth.
(and thus should be viewed as the word of God) Notice 2 Ti 3:16,
"All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for
refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness." (NAB)
As for the Bible being totally literal, even the Bible does not claim
that. For example, the highly symbolic book of Revelation. If we are
to take every word literal, then we should believe in a literal "lake
of fire" where bad ones go. For instance observe Re 20:14,
"Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of
fire is the second death." (NIV)
Notice in this verse that this verse even tells us what that "lake of
fire" symbolizes. It symbolizes "the second death". And to help prove
that that fire is only symbolic, notice that "death" is tossed into
it. Can "death" be burned by a literal fire? No, of course not. Thus
that "lake of fire" is just a symbolic place and is not literal. God
does not make human french fries!
And finally, concerning ALL of the Bible being perfect and without
error, remember all we have is COPIES of the originals, which would
have been error free. But the Bible nowhere tells us that all such
copies will be free from any human errors. And there does appear to be
some errors in the copies we have today, but they are very rare and
usually have to do with minor differences such as quantities, not
doctrines. (200 goats or 2000 goats etc)
The Bible copies we have today have been meticulously examined by
scholars. And they have found both the OT and NT to have been highly
preserved down to our day. (if you want quotes from the scholars, just
ask)
Thus in summary, the Bible claims to have been inspired by God. It
does not claim to be totally literal. And the copies of Scriptural
do***ents we have today may contain some minor errors, but the
majority of doctrinal content remains intact as scholars have proven.
Sincerely, James
**If you wish to have a discussion with me, please use email since I
do not follow ng threads
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