I know many people say that they take the Bible literally, but I say that is not possible.
Let's start with the folks who hang their hat on being anti-gay. It says in the Old Testament that a man shall not lie down with a man. In the same section it also says a disobedient child should be stoned to death, meat has to be drained of blood and no pork ever, you cannot work on Saturday, you cannot wear clothes made of more than one fiber, etc etc etc. Do you do that and more? If you say you take the Bible literally, why not? Like someone said, imagine an anti-gay person, eating a pulled pork sandwich on a Saturday, wearing a cotton and polyester shirt, while taking a lunch break from work. He just broke at least 4 laws of the Old Testament.
There is a lot of poetry and metaphor, do you take that literally? Jesus told parables to teach principles. Do you take them literally? The people of the area were story tellers, not literal people.
The Bible was written over many centuries by unknown men (except the 7 authenticated letters of Paul). They wrote in Bronze age and Iron age and in Roman Empire days wisdom of the day. In this time, less than 1% were literate enough to read and write elegantly, only the very rich could afford to be educated, so only the top people could have written anything like the various parts of the Bible.They hint at universal truths as they struggle to understand the meaning of life and the spiritual domain. Mostly, they didn't think they were writing scriptures. Often they wrote down the stories and thoughts shared around the campfires generation upon generation. They wrote to share their understanding, to set the record straight (as the author of Luke who wrote to Theophilus both in the Gospel of Luke and Acts).
In the Bible there is confusion and also opposite views. What happened at the empty tomb, who found it, did Jesus meet them in Jerusalem or Galilee, etc. When did he realize he had a profound mission on earth? At his baptism, at birth, at conception, at his resurrection, from the beginning of the cosomos? All of these are presented, not all can be accurate.
There has been great value in the Bible for countless people over thousands of years, including for me. Smugly saying it is literal, while ignoring the impossiblilty of that, misses the deep wisdom that can be found there.
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