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August 19, 2012 |
| Literally The Bible | ||
Is the Bible literally true? Many people don't believe so. But even among those who do believe so, they understand literal in different ways. In this lesson we will look at whether the Bible is literally true and what that means.
Part of the problem with determining whether the Bible is literally true comes from the multiple meanings of the word literal. The two meanings that apply here are "strictly adhering to the basic meaning" or "without exaggeration"1.
Any writing that strictly adheres to the basic meaning is one where the words mean what they say and only what they say. An example of this is legal documents. Each word is carefully chosen to have exactly the correct meaning so that everyone who reads it will get the same understanding from it. The words are not chosen and the sentences are not crafted to have secondary or hidden meanings.
This is different from writings that have been written to have secondary or hidden meanings. This is common in poetry, but is also found in many other writings. Sometimes the author intends the work to have two meanings, the plain meaning and a hidden meaning. Sometimes the plain meaning is unimportant to the author and the intent was to have a hidden meaning.
So, is the Bible literal in the sense that it is free from hidden meanings and from exaggeration?
The Bible is piled high with hidden meanings. Here is Jesus telling a parable in Matthew 21:33.
33"Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 34When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35"The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,' he said.
38"But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.' 39So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40"Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?"
41"He will bring those wretches to a wretched end," they replied, "and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time."
42Jesus said to them,"Have you never read in the Scriptures: "‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?
43"Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed."
45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables, they knew he was talking about them.
On the surface this is just a little story. It doesn't matter if it is a true story but it may have been. The point of the story is a hidden meaning contained within it. And the Pharisees get that meaning.
So how do we evaluate this part of the Bible?
Is it factual? Yes, we believe Jesus really told this parable.
Is the parable factual? We don't know and it doesn't matter
Is there a hidden meaning? The parable contains a hidden meaning
In this case the text contains words spoken by Jesus and the words are a story with a hidden meaning. So we can say that the story told by Jesus is not literal. Are there cases where the words spoken by Jesus are not a parable but have a hidden meaning? The answer is yes. John 3:8 says this
8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
8 The Spirit breathes where he will, and you hear his voice, but you do not know from where he comes and where he goes; thus is everyone who is born from The Spirit."
We don't see a hidden meaning here because it is lost in translation. In the original language the sentence has a physical meaning and a spiritual meaning. The translators have chosen to show the spiritual meaning.
In this verse "Our Lord used three words with double meanings: [a word that means] Spirit or Wind, [a word that means] Breathe or Blow and [a word that means] Voice or Sound. The verse could be translated, "The wind blows where it will and you hear its sound …", but He obviously speaks in spiritual terms here […]. Nevertheless, it is understandable that Nicodemus was confused by this statement […]."2
So we've seen that the stories that Jesus used to teach can have hidden meanings. And we've seen that his words can have hidden meanings. But can the text itself have hidden meanings? Yes, we covered Romans 2:22 in an earlier lesson.
22You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
In this verse Paul is not accusing the Jews of committing adultery or stealing idols from temples in the normal sense. His true meaning is hidden.
You've seen that hidden meanings exist at all levels but how about exaggeration. Does that exist as well? Yes, Jesus himself frequently uses a form of exaggeration called hyperbole. This is exaggeration that is used to make a point. There are a few examples of this in Matthew 5 and 6.
6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Jesus is using an exaggerated example here to make a point. He is not saying that this is the only way to pray, in your room with the door closed. Even he did not follow that. Another example from Matthew 5 follows.
29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.
Jesus is not saying that you should cut out your eye. He is using exaggeration (hyperbole) to make the point that avoiding sin is extremely important, more important than physical life itself.
1 Encarta Dictionary, Microsoft Word 2010
2 Notes from Aramaic New Testament in Plain English