by jimwalton » Tue Feb 28, 2017 1:54 pm
First, the Bible is a rich literary collection containing music, poetry, metaphor, allegory, archetypes, parable, hyperbole, metonymy, irony, simile, and many other literary forms, as well as genres such as prayer, prophecy, blessing, covenant language, legal language, etc. "Literally" quickly becomes a word with very little meaning or helpfulness. If a poet says the trees of the field will clap their hands and the mountains will jump for joy, is that literal? Of course not, it's poetry. If a man prays, "God, kill all those people", we may all understand that his prayer is inappropriate, and is not blessed by God, but is it literal? Well, how does that word even apply? And how does it apply to archetype, allegory, parable, and all the others? It's a word that should be dropped from the discussion because it doesn't take us anywhere except to the Land of Misunderstanding.
It's better to think that the Bible should be taken the way the author intended it to be taken. If he was using hyperbole, we're to take it that way. So also allegorically, historically, parabolic, poetic, etc. Our quest is to understand the intent of the author. In that case we'll take the Bible *seriously*, but "literally" doesn't take us anywhere.
Second, just a point of correction, the parables aren't metaphors, but parables. Metaphor and parable are different literary types, and shouldn't be confused. A parable is a story (generally not allegorical) with a single point, or moral, so to speak. A metaphor is a figure of speech to suggest a resemblance. They're different things.
In answer to your question, I'm pretty sure the Bible never uses the word "literally," as it likewise doesn't use the word "metaphor" or "allegory." We have to take the texts the way the author intended them to be taken. There are thousands of places where the author intended us to take his writing literally, but he never says, "Hey, take this literally!" But also, since the Bible has layers (like an onion, like Shrek), there is often spiritual meaning behind the literal history. That doesn't detract from its historicity, but in the Bible there is almost more to the text than meets the eye.
> But are there verses in the Bible that explicitly discourage a metaphorical interpretation?
Thousands of them.
Jesus: "I will rise again."
Jesus: "Love one another."
Paul: "Forgive each other as God in Christ has forgiven you."
Jesus: "You are healed."
Jesus: "Follow me." (meant literally and figuratively)
Jeremiah: "Jerusalem will fall to the Babylonians."
Daniel: "Tonight your kingdom will be taken away from you. The Medes and Persians are outside the city walls even now."
David: "I'm sorry for my sin."
Thousands upon thousands of these.
First, the Bible is a rich literary collection containing music, poetry, metaphor, allegory, archetypes, parable, hyperbole, metonymy, irony, simile, and many other literary forms, as well as genres such as prayer, prophecy, blessing, covenant language, legal language, etc. "Literally" quickly becomes a word with very little meaning or helpfulness. If a poet says the trees of the field will clap their hands and the mountains will jump for joy, is that literal? Of course not, it's poetry. If a man prays, "God, kill all those people", we may all understand that his prayer is inappropriate, and is not blessed by God, but is it literal? Well, how does that word even apply? And how does it apply to archetype, allegory, parable, and all the others? It's a word that should be dropped from the discussion because it doesn't take us anywhere except to the Land of Misunderstanding.
It's better to think that the Bible should be taken the way the author intended it to be taken. If he was using hyperbole, we're to take it that way. So also allegorically, historically, parabolic, poetic, etc. Our quest is to understand the intent of the author. In that case we'll take the Bible *seriously*, but "literally" doesn't take us anywhere.
Second, just a point of correction, the parables aren't metaphors, but parables. Metaphor and parable are different literary types, and shouldn't be confused. A parable is a story (generally not allegorical) with a single point, or moral, so to speak. A metaphor is a figure of speech to suggest a resemblance. They're different things.
In answer to your question, I'm pretty sure the Bible never uses the word "literally," as it likewise doesn't use the word "metaphor" or "allegory." We have to take the texts the way the author intended them to be taken. There are thousands of places where the author intended us to take his writing literally, but he never says, "Hey, take this literally!" But also, since the Bible has layers (like an onion, like Shrek), there is often spiritual meaning behind the literal history. That doesn't detract from its historicity, but in the Bible there is almost more to the text than meets the eye.
> But are there verses in the Bible that explicitly discourage a metaphorical interpretation?
Thousands of them.
Jesus: "I will rise again."
Jesus: "Love one another."
Paul: "Forgive each other as God in Christ has forgiven you."
Jesus: "You are healed."
Jesus: "Follow me." (meant literally and figuratively)
Jeremiah: "Jerusalem will fall to the Babylonians."
Daniel: "Tonight your kingdom will be taken away from you. The Medes and Persians are outside the city walls even now."
David: "I'm sorry for my sin."
Thousands upon thousands of these.