Discussion on Meditation 176
Literal and figurative interpretation of the Bible.

by JT

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The Bible takes much of its colour from whoever is reading it,
and it provides a text to support almost every shade of opinion.
Robertson Davies

Thank you for your comments, Barbara.

You do make an important point about literal and figurative interpretation of the Bible.

It is not really Bible study that allows us to differentiate between the literal and the figurative in the Bible, it is just common sense. And implicit in Meditation 176 is a criticism of those who give the bible an overly literal interpretation.

The Bible is full of metaphors, similes and parables. Yet those who read the Bible literally are incapable of seeing them. And the metaphors begin with the very first story in the Bible - that of creation in Genesis.