Opinions (posted Friday, March 30 2007)

One of the main controversies about the Bible concerns how it is to be interpreted. Is it best read literally or figuratively? How are believers to know the true meaning of a passage in the different translations? As with any scholarly pursuit, some common sense rules will greatly aid the student of the Bible.

What are some of these common sense rules for Biblical interpretation?

Literal or figurative?

A main point of contention among believers and unbelievers is whether the Bible should be approached as literal or figurative. As with so many things in life, this is a fallacy known as a "false dichotomy", which means that a situation is presented in an either/or format, but there are other possibilities. In this case, the Bible is neither wholly literal nor wholly figurative, but in fact many passages are one or the other.

I would stress at this point that this does not affect the fact of the Bible's inerrancy. In everything that it says, the Word of God is completely accurate down to the last detail. However, sometimes these details are presented as straightforward statements and sometimes as poetry, song, vision, or metaphor.

A figurative point of view

Before considering this a vacillation, examine some clear examples. The book of Psalms is clearly a book of poetry and song, such as these two passages.

- Psalm 3:3 But you are a shield around me, O Lord; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.

- Psalm 5:9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted; their heart is filled with destruction. Their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit.

In both of these songs written by David, there are clearly non-literal meanings to be understood from his words. Was God a literal piece of metal shielding around David? Does the Lord literally hold up his head instead of his own neck? Are the throats of the wicked literal graves and are their blood-pumping hearts literally filled with destruction? Clearly, the answer to all of these questions is no, although the ideas of a shield or destruction clearly illustrate an idea in poetic form.

Therefore, there are times in Scripture when a poetic approach must be taken to accurately handle the Word of Truth. Another example would ask if God literally has a hand or an eye or an arm since these words are frequently used throughout the Bible to express His essence? Of course not, as God is a spirit. But by using these terms, dubbed "anthropomorphisms" by theologians, believers may figuratively understand what is being communicated.

A literal point of view

On the other hand, there are times in Scripture when literal truths and facts are communicated. Some brief examples follow, and in these cases a very plain, simple communication is to be understood in spite of the miraculous events described therein.

- Exodus 10:21-23 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt - darkness that can be felt." So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or leave his place for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.

- Exodus 14:21-22 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.

In both of these records of Israel's early history, miraculous events happen but are described in a very plain, straight-forward fashion. The message to us is that these are factual miracles and not metaphors representing some kind of mundane rescue which was later mythologized.

Which method to use?

Therefore, there are Scriptures which are accurately handled in both the literal and the figurative fashions. The truly interested student will want to know how to divide them. I believe that some rules in regular grammar are an excellent guide to discenring the simple meanings passed to us by the Holy Spirit.

Books and passages which are songs and poems and parables are clearly interpretive. This would also include prophecies and visions, and there are legitimate doctrinal differences in the interpretations of these among studious theologians. Some books which fall into this category would include Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the parables in the Gospels, and Revelation.

- Daniel 8:1,27 In the third year of King Belshazzar's reign, I, Daniel, had a vision, after the one that had already appeared to me. [...] I, Daniel, was exhausted and lay ill for several days. Then I got up and went about the king's business. I was appalled by the vision; it was beyond understanding.

- 2 Corinthians 12:1-2 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know - God knows.

Other individual passages which have interpretive elements include clear literary devices such as metaphors and similes, following similar rules to English when one sees the words "like" or "as".

Books and passages which do not fall into the intepretive framework should otherwise, as a rule of thumb, be read literally. It is true that sometimes a literal passage also has an illustrative of symbolic meaning, but this gets into more advanced topics of study which are outside the scope of this article. If believers would take the time to understand the simple literal and figurative readings of Scripture and a few basic tools to find them, many errors and controversies would be avoided.