The Bible, Literally

I frequently note that if I could take just one line away from liberal/progressive/mainline Christians it would be “we don’t take that literally around here.” And if I could take one line away from conservatives/evangelicals/fundamentalists, it would be “the Bible plainly teaches.” To the first group I would simply ask, “How do you take it?” Saying “not literally” really doesn’t tell us much. To the second I say, “If the Bible teaches it so plainly, why don’t you show your work?” There are many “clear” things that are very controversial among Christians.

Craig Adams has a good blog post. I would quibble that “literally” will mean, in practice, what people mean by it, and that the way it is understood is very foggy. I’d like it if the definition in practice was more like he proposes. But his comments on interpretation are well-taken.

Check his work out at Craig L’s Blog, What Does It Mean to Take the Bible Literally?.