How Should We Interpret Scipture? : Literally…Allegorically?

One perhaps hotly debated topic in even Christian circles revolves around the topic of scriptural significance and meaning: Should the Bible be taken literally? Or is it an allegory? Or possibly a mix?

Where do you go when you want to find out more about the Bible? Sure, there are many textbooks and commentaries that have already been written which cover this topic in great detail. But have you ever stopped to consider…checking the Bible? After many ancient history finds in the middle east, have not many people, places and things been proven Biblically correct, after doubt for hundreds of years by ‘modern’ historians? Does this not mean that we must at least take some of the Bible literally?

Furthermore, are there not only examples, but clear examples for both allegorical and literal interpretation in the Bible? In regards to prophecy from the Old Testament to the New Testament…When foretelling the coming Messiah, were those prophecies allegorical or literal? When there was prophecy in the Old Testament, such as that as the statue described in Daniel chapter 2…were they not obvious word pictures? Was it not later interpreted and explained? Or when Jesus discusses tying a millstone around one’s neck, or gouging out an eye…do we not have similar phrases which we use which are not expected to be taken literally, but to make a point? Perhaps you have heard someone say something like, “I would rather eat a moldy piece of bread instead of clean my room”, or “I’m going to kick your butt/ I’m going to cream you!”. Are those to be taken literally? How do you distinguish the allegorical from the literal?

This may be a more complex problem in some situations and texts, but do we read too much into scripture at times, and start adding our own meanings? If so, why do we do it? When we have conversations with other people…when we read the works of people from 500 years ago…and when we read texts thousands of years ago, do we not all use both allegorical and literal writing? If so, is it usually difficult to distinguish the difference? Do we have great difficulty understanding and interpreting the words of people around us when differentiating between taking something literally or as an word picture? Perhaps most importantly: When we are reading the Bible, do we notice how people in the Bible regarded scripture and prophecy? Did they take it as a word picture, or as literal?

Perhaps especially in the case of prophecy: Do we tend to make most prophecy allegorical in order to categorize it as ‘too difficult’ to understand, so we may therefore take a ‘pass’ and tell ourselves we do not need to pay attention to a topic we will never understand anyway? Or are important things in scripture simply hard, if not impossible to understand?

Luke 11:5-13 describes Jesus teaching His disciples:

“5And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;

6For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?

7And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.

8I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.

9And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

10For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

11If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

12Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

13If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”

If you seek the Lord, and ask Him to reveal Himself and His truths to you, has He not promised to reveal unto you His words and their meanings?

What do you think?

Is History Important or Irrelevant?

A verse in Hosea has stuck in my head for a long time; Particularly, Hosea 4:6. To put it into context, here is the text in chapter 4, verses 1-14 (with bold emphasis mine on verse 6):

“1Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.

2By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.

3Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.

4Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest.

5Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother.

6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

7As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame.

8They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity.

9And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.

10For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.

11Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.

12My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.

13They sacrifice upon the tops of the mountains, and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and poplars and elms, because the shadow thereof is good: therefore your daughters shall commit whoredom, and your spouses shall commit adultery.

14I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom, nor your spouses when they commit adultery: for themselves are separated with whores, and they sacrifice with harlots: therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall.”

At this point, you may be asking yourself, “I thought this article was about history! Why is he talking about ‘lack of knowledge’?”

Well, humor me a moment. What is ‘history‘? According to Merriam Webster online dictionary, it has its roots from the Greek histōr, istōr (“knowing“, “learned“); related to the Greek eidenai “to know“. It provides definitions: 1) Tale; story 2)a: a chronological record of significant events (as affecting a nation or institution) often including an explanation of their causes b: a treatise presenting systematically related natural phenomena c: an account of a patient’s medical background. (Note: bolded words in this paragraph denote emphasis mine)

Have you paid attention to educational debates in the public media the past few years? Numerous news, opinion, and radio commentators have proposed a change in educational strategy for our children. Some say that our children need an education based on more practical knowledge instead of philosophical knowledge, and that programs such as Music, Art, and History must take a ‘back seat’ to subjects such as Science and Math. Some believe that, because we live in an ever-increasing technological world, we must further emphasize numbers and physical science classes to provide a better future career and job market for our children.

Math and Science are surely very important, but what tools do they build within our future generations? Do they provide the main skills necessary for them to flurish in all areas of their lives? At what cost do we emphasize some education, and de-emphasize others? And if this is happening, might this not also be a reflection on society? With all of the challenges of increasing ethical and spiritual questions we continue to face, will future generations be mentally equipped to formulate their own thoughts and opinions on their own ethical and spiritual beliefs?

I am reminded of a debate between Fox News talkshow host Bill O’Reilly in a discussion he had this past fall with GOP Presidential Hopeful Ron Paul. (Link to the video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7JPvbVsDdY

, with special emphasis on the comment by O’Reilly at 2:45). What may be disturbing to some is: Have you noticed any increase in these types of comments? Have you noticed anything similar to “Don’t give me a history lesson” when listening to people debate their stance on various issues? If you have heard similar comments, have you ever wondered what that comment really means in a debate context? Why would a person say (or not say) that comment?

If we cannot understand history, can we actually have any knowledge?

I am reminded of watching football with my father back when I was in gradeschool. My father was teaching me the basic rules of the game as we watched college players on television one Saturday afternoon. At one point, we saw the camera focus in on one player throw another player to the ground after a play had ended on the field. Of course, an official soon came running to the scene and flagged the still-yelling, furious player who had pushed the other to the ground. The scene on screen was shocking enough to my young eyes, but a comment from my father shocked me even more: I still remember when he said, “Watch this. What that player did was wrong. But I can almost guarantee you that the other player started the fight. Rarely does the player who started a fight get flagged. Remember that when you are playing: It’s always the second player who gets caught.” Sure enough, seconds later the color commentators on TV played back a clip from a few seconds before the push we had seen. What was shown? The player who we had seen laying on the ground had run up to the now-penalized player a few seconds earlier and gave a hard ‘cheap shot’ hit to the head of the first player while the play on the field was finishing, and the official had his back turned. But if the commentators had not rewinded the tape, we would never have known that the apparent ‘victim’ laying on the ground was actually the original ‘aggressor’! If we had not seen the situation from a few seconds earlier, would we have ever known who started that fight on the field?

That Saturday afternoon, I learned a lesson that still stays with me to this day and perhaps provides a vital basis for what would later become a keen interest in learning history: Is it smart to judge a situation based on one action? Or would it be more wise to take a look at events around the situation to see what might have caused or enabled that situation in the first place? Is it simply enough to know ‘the results’ or the ‘aftermath’? Can we judge history, or its possible lessons accurately from simply the outcome?

If we de-emphasize history, and choose to instead focus on the ‘here and now’, are we missing out on other information that would be important before we form opinions or make decisions in our lives? Do we normally make decisions without prior thought, instead relying on our current thoughts and feelings? More importantly, are we able to accurately discern scripture or prophecy if we neglect to study both Biblical and world history?

Here are a few opinions from others on the subject of history:

“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” -George Santayana

“If you expect a nation to be ignorant and free, you expect what never was and can never be.” -Thomas Jefferson

“The more extensive a man’s knowledge of what has been done, the greater will be his power of knowing what to do.” -Benjamin Disraeli

“It is when the well is dry that we know the price of water.” -Ben Franklin

What do you think? Do you think history is important? Or is history irrelevant?