Facebook   Twitter   Youtube   Vimeo

Using the Literal Principle to Understand the Literature of the Bible



Consider, for example, the Lord’s Words in John 2:19. “Destroy this temple,” said Jesus, “and I will raise it again in three days.” The Jews understood Jesus in a wooden literal fashion. They thought He was saying that the temple, which had taken forty-six years to build, could be destroyed in three days, and rebuilt again in that period of time. Jesus, however, spoke figuratively, as the John explained the temple He had spoken of was the temple of His body. Likewise, when the Apostle John describes Satan as a dragon, or variously as an ancient serpent (Rev. 20:2), we’d be seriously mistaken to suppose that he intends to communicate that Satan is literally a smoke spouting snake!


My point is simply this: a literalistic method of interpretation does as much violence to the text as does a spiritualized interpretation that empties the text of objective meaning. So to avoid either extreme, you as a believer, need to adeptly employ the literal principle of biblical interpretation. You need to pay strict or careful attention to what is called form or genre, figurative language, and even the kind of fantasy imagery that the Apostle John uses in the Book of Revelation. Now when we talk about Satan being a dragon, dragons are obviously the stuff of mythology not the stuff of theology.


So you need to exercise your mind to grasp what the author is driving at. Metaphors when we use them, even in common parlance, are used in ways that have significant meaning. They have sharp teeth. It doesn’t mean that when you use metaphorical language that you’re not pointing to something concrete, or something substantive, it means that you have to use your mind to get what the author is driving at. This is certainly true with biblical forms or figures of speech. As a believer you need to learn to read the Bible for all its worth.


More Questions and Answers with Hank

The Week that Changed the World with Paul Maier

Thoughts on the London Massacre and Q&A

Q&A: Free Will, Angels, and the Trinity

Clarity on Transgenderism and Q&A

Ever Increasing Gender Fluidity and Q&A

Best of BAM: The Lenten Season and Q&A

St. Patrick and Q&A

Why Climate-Change Models are so Flawed and Q&A

The Biblical Metaphor of Fire and Q&A

Historical Evidence for Jesus and Q&A

The Importance of the Church and Q&A

Best of BAM: Surviving New Atheism with Graham Veale

Global Warming, Consensus Science and Q&A

EU Nations Funding ISIS and Q&A

Theotokos and Q&A