Do You Interpret the Bible Literally?

When helping ordinary people learn to study the Bible, the question is inevitable:

Do you interpret the Bible literally?

This is a hard question to answer, and Justin Taylor explains why. He taps into some insight from Vern Poythress—who, coincidentally, endorsed Knowable Word—to list 5 different ways one could interpret a passage “literally.”

1. Determining the meaning of the words in isolation.
2. Accepting obvious and explicit figures of speech, but taking a literal meaning if possible.
3. Discerning the meaning intended by the original author.
4. Reading the text as if it were written directly to us.
5. Discounting any possible figurative use of language.

It’s not easy to answer the question of whether we interpret the Bible literally without knowing what the questioner is actually asking. Because of this complexity, Justin Taylor would like to do away with the word literally in discussions about the Bible. What do you think?

Check it out!