What Is Literal Interpretation of the Bible?
literal : One of the most misused words about the Bible. The word ‘literal’ is defined as ‘what the words say’, or ‘letter by letter’. Yet the same exact word with the same exact spelling says different things in different settings around different other words, using different literary forms. (For instance, ‘love’ means one thing in Jesus’ command to love, and a very different thing in a steamy sex poem, and still another when a child talks about a pet puppy.) A literalist believes that every word of the Bible is not just a part of the divine creative Message (Greek logos), but is also a specific word from God. Yet the human writers of the Bible were inspired by the Spirit to tell stories and histories, write poems and songs, and share visions with their readers. It is literature. And this is the context in which you find out each word’s true ‘literal’ meaning. What many people mean when they say ‘literal’ is ‘face-value’ or ‘in the strictest / narrowest sense’. But the Bible’s writers
