Whether or not to take the Bible literally has been a major source of controversy between me and many of my friends here. It seems to me like some societal issues we see today come from this, such as homosexuality. It says in Leviticus 18:22 that "A man shall not lie with a man as with a woman, it is an abomination." However, I have heard that this verse directly translated from the Hebrew is referring to temple prostitutes. I may be wrong about this, but in any case, the laws in Leviticus were written for that specific culture. Not to say that the whole book should be entirely disregarded of course, it can tell plenty about the Israelites and can promote a greater understanding of their culture and actions. Be that as it may, I still believe that laws such as "no polyblends" or, "sacrificing in various ways" were specific to the culture and are not necessarily applicable today. In my mind, taking the Bible literally is an all or nothing deal, and if you don't follow the laws of Leviticus, who's to say you should follow everything to a T? I truly believe that the Bible is extremely important, and I'm not trying to disregard that, but I encourage you all as you read, to read it with your eyes, mind and heart wide open.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Wrong to Take the Bible Literally? Not Necessarily....
Whether or not to take the Bible literally has been a major source of controversy between me and many of my friends here. It seems to me like some societal issues we see today come from this, such as homosexuality. It says in Leviticus 18:22 that "A man shall not lie with a man as with a woman, it is an abomination." However, I have heard that this verse directly translated from the Hebrew is referring to temple prostitutes. I may be wrong about this, but in any case, the laws in Leviticus were written for that specific culture. Not to say that the whole book should be entirely disregarded of course, it can tell plenty about the Israelites and can promote a greater understanding of their culture and actions. Be that as it may, I still believe that laws such as "no polyblends" or, "sacrificing in various ways" were specific to the culture and are not necessarily applicable today. In my mind, taking the Bible literally is an all or nothing deal, and if you don't follow the laws of Leviticus, who's to say you should follow everything to a T? I truly believe that the Bible is extremely important, and I'm not trying to disregard that, but I encourage you all as you read, to read it with your eyes, mind and heart wide open.
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I completely agree, I think that many aspects of the Bible are not completely relevant to us today. As you said, not wearing polyblends is completely irrational now. However, what I find difficult is to see what we should take literally and what we should not. Maybe this is something you could address in future blog posts? I would find it very interesting :)
ReplyDeleteyour number one fan- Michelle :)
There is a difference between taking the bible literally and taking the bible in context. I feel like this post is addressing the context of the bible more than whether or not to take the bible literally. You need to understand who the words in the bible are being given to in order to understand whether it could have been meant for us. We need to understand that in reality none of the books address anyone alive today, but the message in many of the books is still relevant today. No matter what the most important command is love. No matter what a person's views we need to love them.
ReplyDeleteok, pretend i said you cant take the bible in context
ReplyDelete