If the contents of the bible are NOT to be taken literally then how are to be taken?
548908
It is like most other ancient books – a mingling of falsehood and truth, of philosophy and folly – all written by men, and most of the men only partially civilized. Some of its laws are good – some infinitely barbarous. None of the miracles related were performed. . . . Take out the absurdities, the miracles, all that pertains to the supernatural – all the cruel and barbaric laws – and to the remainder I have no objection. Neither would I have for it any great admiration.
41450
I wouldn't take anything in the bible literally.
228267
Of course.  All of the bible has been translated and re-translated hundreds of times, and all subject to the political and social morals of the monks keeping the records through the centuries. Don't kid yourself about it being "God's Word" and thus unchangeable and infallible.
300429
It is not. Back then, each copy of the Bible had to be handwritten when they were reproduced. This means the scribes had free will to add/change anything they wanted. Also the Bible was translated from Greek and Hebrew to English. So its changed a lot, because there are no originals in existence. KJV went through the hands of countless scribes before being translated.  Even the dead sea scrolls are not the originals, just really old, close to original copies. And no, they're not in English
560917
Of course, we believed that the original Bible that given by God to Moses had already vanished in this world but if it can be found, we cannot follow what lies inside it because the born of Quran executed other Holy Books including Bible.\nWhy we should believed to a book that have been spoiled by reckless people, they manipulate everything, the changed every contents ? We could not consider Bible as the Holy Book anymore... Too many version of Bible and we don't know which one is the right ones !.
1019305
Nothing was "taken out" of the bible. Some things were left out, but they were never "in" to begin with. The bible is a hodge podge collection of writings from many different people. Not one of those people ever meant for or expected their writings to become part of a holy book. Some of them are freaking letters, ffs, written specifically from one person to another, not for the purpose of being scripture. One day a bunch of priests got together and decided that some of it was "the word of god™" and some of it not. How do decide what's "the word of god™" and what isn't, you ask? You don't. You do what they did and pick whatever suits your agenda (power, money) and leave out the rest.
640094
The *Bible* doesn't say.\n\nLawrence\nhttp://www.truebiblesermons.com
161454
Bible, because it's fiction.
401300
:}\nThe Bible is G-d's word.\nI guess you are saying can one accept the Bible as an allegory and not as the word of G-d.\n\nThe answer is: They can and do!\n\nMany liberal churches today, do not believe in the literal accuracy and inerrancy of the Bible but pick and choose which parts are to be understood as literal and which as allegory\n\nThey have a form of righteousness but deny the power thereof.
532799
well, don't read the bible word for word. the person who wrote it probably exaggerated a bit.
459634
I'm sure this is tongue in cheek, but obviously one can be christian and not think that the bible is meant to be read as literal truth in every word.  you'd go crazy reconciling the contradictions.
320873
I am christian and I take the Bible seriously.\n\nReasons for considering the Bible\n\nThe Bible itself says it is from God, mankind’s Creator\n\n2 Tim. 3:16, 17: “All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness, that the man of God may be fully competent, completely equipped for every good work.”\n\nRev. 1:1: “A revelation by Jesus Christ, which God gave him, to show his slaves the things that must shortly take place.”\n\n2 Sam. 23:1, 2: “The utterance of David the son of Jesse . . . The spirit of Jehovah it was that spoke by me, and his word was upon my tongue.”\n\nIsa. 22:15: “This is what the Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies, has said.”\n\nWe would expect God’s message to all mankind to be available around the globe. The Bible, the whole or in part, has been translated into some 1,800 languages. Its circulation totals in the billions. Says The World Book Encyclopedia: “The Bible is the most widely read book in history. It is probably also the most influential. More copies have been distributed of the Bible than of any other book. It has also been translated more times into more languages than any other book.”—(1984), Vol. 2, p. 219.\n\nBible prophecy explains the meaning of world conditions\n\nMany world leaders acknowledge that mankind is on the brink of disaster. The Bible foretold these conditions long ago; it explains their meaning and what the outcome will be. (2 Tim. 3:1-5; Luke 21:25-31) It tells what we must do in order to survive the impending world destruction, with the opportunity to gain eternal life under righteous conditions here on earth.—Zeph. 2:3; John 17:3; Ps. 37:10, 11, 29.\n\nThe Bible enables us to understand the purpose of life\n\nIt answers such questions as: Where did life come from? (Acts 17:24-26) Why are we here? Is it just to live a few years, get what we can out of life, and then die?—Gen. 1:27, 28; Rom. 5:12; John 17:3; Ps. 37:11; Ps. 40:8.\n\nThe Bible shows how we can have the very things that lovers of righteousness desire most\n\nIt tells us where to find wholesome associates who truly love one another (John 13:35), what can give assurance that we will have sufficient food for ourselves and our families (Matt. 6:31-33; Prov. 19:15; Eph. 4:28), how we can be happy in spite of difficult conditions that surround us.—Ps. 1:1, 2; 34:8; Luke 11:28; Acts 20:35.\n\nIt explains that God’s Kingdom, his government, will remove the present wicked system (Dan. 2:44), and under its rule mankind will be able to enjoy perfect health and eternal life.—Rev. 21:3, 4; compare Isaiah 33:24.\n\nSurely a book that claims to be from God, that explains both the meaning of world conditions and the purpose of life, and that shows how our problems will be solved is worthy of consideration.\n\nEvidences of inspiration\n\nIt is filled with prophecies reflecting detailed knowledge of the future—something impossible for humans\n\n2 Pet. 1:20, 21: “No prophecy of Scripture springs from any private interpretation. For prophecy was at no time brought by man’s will, but men spoke from God as they were borne along by holy spirit.”\n\n· Prophecy: Isa. 44:24, 27, 28; 45:1-4: “Jehovah . . . the One saying to the watery deep, ‘Be evaporated; and all your rivers I shall dry up’; the One saying of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and all that I delight in he will completely carry out’; even in my saying of Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’ and of the temple, ‘You will have your foundation laid.’ This is what Jehovah has said to his anointed one, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold of, to subdue before him nations, so that I may ungird even the hips of kings; to open before him the two-leaved doors, so that even the gates will not be shut: ‘Before you I myself shall go, and the swells of land I shall straighten out. The copper doors I shall break in pieces, and the iron bar
1168440
That's because parts of it seem contradictory or counter-intuitive if you take them literally, or out of historical or literal context.  After all, the Bible is a set of books written by different people in different languages thousands of years ago.  It is only reasonable that there would be something lost in the translation, especially given the ambiguity of the English language.  It may also require a great deal of research to resolve the issues you confront them with, and they satisfied themselves of what they believe and do not remember how to explain it to you.  Ignorance and laziness are also sometimes reasons, but there are some people who are able to explain those issues to you.  If you really want good answers to your questions, you should try a few apologetics websites.
1016624
You can't. And if you try, you just get confused and irritate people. The bible in not a science book and science books are not religious texts. Science is about mass and energy, religion is about truth and love.
997202
Rule of thumb\n\nNEVER read a Bible verse.\n\nALWAYS read the whole chapter. \n\nYou can take a verse out of context so easy. It is like looking at a teachers hour long lecture and reading one sentence out of the whole lecture and thinking you can get the info from the whole lecture in that one sentence.\n\nThere is a right way to read any book. You would not read one sentence in Moby Dick or a Tale of Two Cities and think you know the story would you?
764218
Good point. So what should we do? We should check the facts or information given in the newspaper before we decide whether to believe the contents of the newspaper.\n\nThe same with the present Bible, we should check the facts or information given in the Bible before we decide whether to believe or not the contents of the Bibles.\n\nAs we know there is no dispute that there are many versions of the Bible. There is the New King James version. There is the Catholic Authorized Version. And many more.
362940
I have been reading about that as of late and find it interesting.  plausible. The bible has seen a lot gone through a lot in that i mean translations.  It also stands that some books were purposely left out.  With that in mind I don't feel it proves with out a shadow of a doubt that its true.  However it does leave enough room for the thought and probability.