If you have not read Stories Versus Truth, you may want to read that before reading this. And don't forget where you are going. You get past the questions/attacks so you can proclaim the Gospel. It is the proclamation of the Gospel, not argumentation, that transforms minds. See Give Them the Gospel.

Is the Bible Literally True?

Question:

Is the Bible literally true?

Answer:

If, by this question, you meant to ask, "Is the Bible without error?" then the answer is yes. If, by this question, you meant to ask, "Is the history that is recorded in the Bible real and did these things take place just as the Bible said they did?" then the answer is yes. Perhaps you were wondering whether the account of creation actually took place as written. The answer is yes. Perhaps you were wondering whether God cares about sexual immorality as the Bible says that it does. The answer is yes. Perhaps you were wondering whether God's order for the Church as recorded in the Bible is correct. The answer is yes.

The Bible is without error.

Some parts of the Bible state that they are visions where things like beasts or oil are representative of other things like nations or the Holy Spirit. For example, when Jesus said that out of our innermost being there would be a flowing of water, the Bible says that He was speaking of the Holy Spirit, not literal H2O-type water.

This question, "Is the Bible literally true?" is often posed insincerely, much like the questions the Pharisees and Sadducees posed to Jesus. Rather than open, honest communication, some people like to play games with words.

Polls often ask this question about whether the Bible is literally true, causing confused results. These are examples of polsters who don't know their subject material or insincere polsters who are trying to sway public opinion using bogus polls. There are parts of the Bible that are obvious metaphors. There are parts of the Bible that are obviously literal. The Bible uses figures of speech just as 21^st century scientists do.

Sometimes, it would be impossible to determine, by raw human reasoning (the reasoning of the human mind without the Intelligence of the Creator flowing through the human mind), whether a certain passage of Scripture were to be taken literally or figuratively. The Bible says that the natural human cannot receive the things of the Spirit. None of the Bible can be correctly understood without the Holy Spirit leading the human mind. And, the Bible gives an office in the Church by which the interpretation of Scripture is given. That is the office of the apostles and the prophet as recorded in Ephesians. (read more)