Can you take the Bible literally?

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Can you take the Bible literally? is a question that people often wonder about. Some doubt that you can. More often than not, those who doubt that you can take the Bible literally aren’t completely sure how to apply the term "literal" to the Bible.

And if you ask the average doubter which passages shouldn’t be taken in a literal sense, if they are able to point out one or two, rarely will they be able to give you a reason why the passages shouldn’t simply be taken at face value.

So for the next couple of installments I want to explain what it means to take the Bible literally, why taking the Bible literally is a reasonable thing to do, and give a few examples of what taking the Bible literally looks like.

Lets begin with what literal means.

The dictionary says that something is literal when it follows the letter or exact meaning of the words used.

Our overuse and misuse of the word literal has added confusion for the average person as to what it really means. Most of us have heard a sports announcer say something like,

The half-back literally exploded through the line, but was finally tackled by the linebacker.

Of course the announcer is badly mistaken when he says such a thing. The half-back may have exploded through the line in a figurative sense, but he certainly didn’t do so in a literal sense. If he had there would have been nothing left of him!

The announcer is simply trying to add emphasis to his point by using the word literal, but instead is changing the meaning of the word. To be literal means to follow the letter or exact meaning of a word, thus the half-back did not literally explode through the line.

To take the Bible literally means to follow the letter or the exact meaning of the words used. That hardly seems an unreasonable thing to do or to believe, unless one has a bias against the Bible, or unless the Bible is saying something a person doesn’t want to hear. In these cases, I suppose a person might have a good reason for not wanting to believe the plain meaning of a text.

Lets take this a step further. Words rarely stand alone. Their meaning is influenced by other words with which they are connected. In other words the phrases, sentences and paragraphs with which words are connected, influence and in many cases completely determine what a word means.

If I say "John is a razorback," you could logically conclude that John is the name of some one's pet pig. However if I say, "John is a Razorback. He's on the Arkansas football team," you now have a better understanding of what "John is a Razorback" means.

In this instance Razorback is defined as the nickname for the athletes who play sports at the University of Arkansas. We know that because of the context of the words in which Razorback is found. Even capitalizing the word Razorback communicates something because of how the English language is structured.

You get the idea.

We'll stop here for today, but let me give you some words from the Bible and see what your thoughts are as to whether they should be taken literally or not.

In John 14:6 Jesus said,

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me.

Nearly all one syllable words. Every one ought to be able to understand them. What do you think they mean? Should they be taken literally? If not, why not? What other meaning could they possibly have?

Ditto for these words from Romans 10:9,

If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.?

In this passage I moved us up a little bit to a verse with a few more two syllable words. But are the words confusing? Should they be taken literally? If not why not? What else could they possibily mean than what they appear to mean at face value?

Be honest with yourself. Frankly how you answer the question of "literalness" could determine your eternal condition and destiny. And I mean that literally.