Do you read the bible literally?
Affirming that the entirety of Scripture is to be taken literally is a confession of fundamentalism, which is one of the few things our pluralistic society cannot tolerate. Answering in the negative implies that you may not be taking the Bible seriously at all, questioning not only the historical credibility of the crossing of the Red Sea, but also that of the empty tomb. Some questions cannot be answered by a simple yes or no, precisely because some questions are themselves problems.
Tim Gray, "Do You Read the Bible Literally?" Lay Witness (June 2001).
Tim Gray is assistant professor of Scripture and catechetics at the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College in Front Royal and Alexandria, VA.
So here are some things from the bible. Do you take them literally? I have heard a number of people over the years proudly say "I don't read the bible literally". As a blanket statement, it's simply unhelpful. Mostly what I find is that people mean that they don't believe that certain things happened historically. Consider these sayings from Scripture and ask whther they should be taken "literally":
"I desire mercy, not sacrifice"
"love your neighbour as yourself"
"love justice"
"neither do I condemn you"
Okay, so those are just a few examples. For someone who likes to say "I don't read the bible literally, I would say that you are using the wrong adverb. More often than not, the person using that phrase either doesn't really understand what it is to "read literally". I find the what they are really referring to is "reading literalistically". Tim Gray again:
Most often what our culture means by the phrase "reading Scripture literally," would be more correctly rendered "reading Scripture literalistically," that is, taking each word at face value apart from its literary context. Such an approach drains the life out of language; such readers leech the meaning out of Scripture. For example, a literalistic take on the phrase, "Her eyes are as bright as diamonds," would claim that her eyes provided a similar luminescence as diamonds.
Augustine on the interpretation of Scripture
"Whoever thinks he understands divine scripture or any part of it, but whose interpretation does not build up the twofold love of God and neighbor, has not really understood it. Whoever has drawn from scripture an interpretation that does fortify this love, but who is later proven not to have found the meaning intended by the author of the passage, is deceived to be sure, but not in a harmful way, and he is guilty of no untruth at all." (De Doctrina Christiana 1.36.40)
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19
I used to interpret this as metaphor until Carl Sagan discovered reverberation, in a sense - music, emanating from the centre of the Milky Way. Somehow I think metaphor and literal exist in holy union in Scripture. God isn't a tricker, he instead applauds the faith of a child, which is one of the most literal developmental phases of life. Yet at the same time, his revelation to the world is rich and deep. With every discovery, a new avenue to explore.
That aside, I'm left wondering why the heavens declare the glory of God if it is our neighbor that should be of primary importance. When the people threw down palm branches for the King to walk on, the very stones would have cried out should they have been absent. The afternoon of the triumphal entry, where did it all leave the neighbour? Was God in need of a little me-time that afternoon?
Is this inconsistent? Is there a dichotomy of worship of the Divine and service to humanity where one pauses from service to worship? Or is the fulfillment of my neighbour rooted in the glorification of God.
Not literally I suppose. Singing a round of Shine Jesus Shine won't summon the bread truck...
But then perhaps that's not the literal outcome. Perhaps instead that's the instant one.
I'm not challenging your post. Just thinking out loud.
Posted by: Leslie | July 13, 2008 at 11:50 PM
Well, singing a round of Shine Jesus Shine won't summon the *physical* bread truck.
The declaration of the glory of God is worship, but it is also a testimony and a witness; it's fundamentally an evangelistic action. I'm hard pressed to think of a greater service.
Posted by: scott | July 14, 2008 at 07:58 AM
Joe, have you found a wireless connection that beams into your cabin somehow?
Posted by: Tim | July 14, 2008 at 05:48 PM
You're right, Tim, it's kind of mysterious...
Posted by: Leslie | July 14, 2008 at 08:51 PM
By the way Scott, I liked what you had to say about worship, with the bread truck comment I was only trying to mull over how someone (not me) who holds to a point of view such as is found in this article I just found...
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/234/story_23432_1.html
...how they might interpret the head space of Christ the day of his triumphal entry. The emphasis he places on worship of himself there (the very stones would cry out) appears to sideline the poor or even the neighbor briefly, and in fact appears to catch Christ in an inconsistency with all of his talk about selfless love of neighbour, unless, *unless* there is more to the impact of worship of Christ than meets the eye.
It has me thinking that if we humans spent more time debating "what is the chief end of man" then if we read the Bible literalistically sometimes, things might work out fairly well.
Posted by: Leslie | July 15, 2008 at 11:27 PM