Reading the Bible Literally

When we first began to read the Bible, all of us read the Bible literally. It was the only way we knew how to read it. We naturally assumed it meant what it said, not realizing there could be more to the text than what it said. We do not learn to look for this “more” until we understand the nature of scripture—human and divine, ancient, Near Eastern, prescientific.

Reading the Bible literally opens the door to several unintended outcomes. It allows us to look for what we already believe rather than for what the Spirit would teach us. In turn, it allows us to use the Bible to validate what we already believe, thereby blocking our spiritual progress. Using the Bible to validate what we already believe, we are prone to use the Bible as a weapon against those who think differently. Arguing “The Bible says!” we block honest dialogue or any other possible understanding. In this way of reading the Bible, we pull verses out of context, ignoring the original meaning of the verses. In addition, we treat all texts as having equal authority rather than recognizing that some texts reflect a fuller understanding of God and the ways of God. The end result is spiritually damaging. We create God in our own image. We make ourselves the ultimate judge of truth. We create a me-centered spirituality that blocks healthy spirituality. We remain unchanged, stuck in old ways of thinking and living, spiritually blind and spiritually immature.

Reading the Bible literally makes us resistant to the work of the Spirit. One dimension of the work of the Spirit is to teach us spiritual truth—the things of God Jesus taught (John 14:26; 16:12–15). As a result, we learn to think differently. We move beyond the way the world trained us to think and live into thinking shaped by the character of God and the ways of God. The apostle Paul called this new way of thinking “the renewing of the mind” (Romans 12:2) and “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). This renewing of the mind results in spiritual progress, a spiritually transformed life. In contrast to this life-transforming process, reading the Bible literally keeps us stuck in the ways we have always thought and lived, using the Bible to validate those ways.

A literal reading of the Bible is frequently presented as an expression of faith. While such a perspective is indeed an act of faith, it is a misplaced and misinformed faith. The true object of faith is God, not the Bible. The key question of faith is about God, not about the reliability of biblical facts: is God who Jesus revealed God to be as recorded in scripture? To view the Bible as beyond error (inerrant, infallible) also reflects a misinformed faith. It denies the human dimension of scripture while emphasizing only the divine dimension. It refuses to do the hard work of thinking and discerning that is an inherent part of interpreting the Bible.

(This post was first published as an appendix in my book Why the Bible Is So Hard to Understand … and tips to understanding it – Revised and Expanded Edition. The book is available on my website – pastorstevelangford.com – or from Trafford Publishing – Trafford.com - as well as from Amazon.)