With all the press around Kim Davis<\/a> and her refusal to issue a marriage license for gay couples, blog posts like this<\/a> and news articles like this<\/a>, are flying off the proverbial shelves. Each of them defending or dismissing those who \u201ctake the Bible literally.\u201d<\/p>\n May I ask a favor?<\/em><\/strong> That goes for those who say they do read it literally, and for those who say they don\u2019t. In the words of famed linguist Inigo Montoya<\/a>: \u201cYou keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.\u201d It\u2019s confusing.<\/p>\n In fact, I think it\u2019s safe to say everyone I know reads most of the Bible literally. And no one takes all the Bible literally.<\/em><\/strong> So when we say we \u201cread the Bible literally\u201d or that we \u201cdo not read the Bible literally\u201d we are saying nothing important at best, and are wrong at worst.<\/p>\n If we are going to talk intelligently about the Bible it might help to avoid politically-charged catchphrases and start speaking more accurately about what we mean.<\/p>\n When the Psalmist says \u201cGod is my rock,\u201d we do not \u201ctake it literally.\u201d That is, we don\u2019t think that the God we worship is a literal<\/em> rock. That would be weird. Instead, we (rightly) read it figuratively.<\/p>\n The same goes for Jesus\u2019 parables. No one thinks that the Jesus was referring to an actual son who ran away from an actual father in the parable of the Prodigal Son. No historian is spending time trying to find the money that the wicked servant buried in the ground. We (rightly) read those as parables or allegory.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, if it is<\/em><\/strong> allegory or parable, then we would actually be wrong<\/em><\/strong> to read it literally. On the other hand, when we read, \u201cThen David became king of Israel,\u201d we read that literally. We do not think that\u2019s a metaphor for something. We think that the story is trying to say that a man, named David, became a king over a nation called Israel.<\/p>\n Since using the phrase \u201creading the Bible literally\u201d isn\u2019t that accurate, what might be? In my experience, here are three things that people usually mean when they say they \u201cread the Bible literally\u201d (though there may be more, which just furthers my point). (1) \u201cI agree this actually happened.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n (2) \u201cThis injunction is still valid for today.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n (3) \u201cThe correct interpretation is obvious.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n These are not what \u201ctaking something literally\u201d means. So, instead of saying we or someone we disagree with \u201creads the Bible literally\u201d try one of these alternatives:<\/p>\n (1) \u201cI\/they agree historical accounts in the Bible happened in the way the Bible says it happened.\u201d<\/p>\n (2) \u201cI\/they believe certain laws in the Bible are still valid and should be enforced in today\u2019s world.\u201d<\/p>\n (3) \u201cI\/they believe that the Bible is easy to understand so attempts to deny #1 or #2 usually means I\/they probably don\u2019t have enough faith or are uneasy with the demands of Christianity.<\/p>\n Personally, the more I study the less I believe the Bible is easy to understand, but if that\u2019s what you think, then by all means feel free. But just say that<\/em>. Because when you say \u201cI read the Bible literally\u201d you are not<\/em><\/strong> saying that, you are saying something completely different.<\/p>\n The sooner we can leave off with labels and catchphrases, the sooner we can begin engaging in useful dialogue about what the Bible is, what we can expect from it, and then how we should be reading it.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018When I<\/strong> use a word,\u2019 Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, \u2018it means just what I choose it to mean \u2014 neither more nor less.\u2019 \u2018The question is,\u2019 said Alice, \u2018whether you can<\/strong> make words mean so many different things.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
Can we please all just stop using \u201cliterally\u201d to talk about our religious reading habits?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n![\"inigo1\"](\"https:\/\/peteenns.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/inigo1-300x259.jpg\")
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