Good question! I would say, “Yes!”
Why? Because the Bible contains not only historically accurate narrative, and theologically specific letters, but also large sections of symbolic poetry (is “symbolic poetry” redundant?) and visionary prophetic material. So if I were to say we should take the Bible “literally,” I would be misinterpreting the intentionally symbolic genres. On the other hand, if I were to say that we should interpret the Bible “figuratively” then I would miss the obvious meaning of the historically precise narratives and the doctrinally instructive letters. What then is the solution? We can interpret the Bible “literarily” as it was intended to be understood.
The Bible contains a number of different genres of literature and each needs to be interpreted in keeping with its genre so as to understand it as it was intended to be understood. Sections intended to be symbolic will then be interpreted that way and sections that are intended to recount historical events will be interpreted accordingly. Fee & Stuart’s How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth, and Duvall & Hays' Grasping God's Word are good resources to get started in this area. Also, our IML presents a 3-term series of Bible Survey & Literature classes as a great way to grasp the big picture of the whole Bible as well as learn how to accurately approach interpreting and applying the different sections of the Bible, the Word of God.
Why? Because the Bible contains not only historically accurate narrative, and theologically specific letters, but also large sections of symbolic poetry (is “symbolic poetry” redundant?) and visionary prophetic material. So if I were to say we should take the Bible “literally,” I would be misinterpreting the intentionally symbolic genres. On the other hand, if I were to say that we should interpret the Bible “figuratively” then I would miss the obvious meaning of the historically precise narratives and the doctrinally instructive letters. What then is the solution? We can interpret the Bible “literarily” as it was intended to be understood.
The Bible contains a number of different genres of literature and each needs to be interpreted in keeping with its genre so as to understand it as it was intended to be understood. Sections intended to be symbolic will then be interpreted that way and sections that are intended to recount historical events will be interpreted accordingly. Fee & Stuart’s How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth, and Duvall & Hays' Grasping God's Word are good resources to get started in this area. Also, our IML presents a 3-term series of Bible Survey & Literature classes as a great way to grasp the big picture of the whole Bible as well as learn how to accurately approach interpreting and applying the different sections of the Bible, the Word of God.
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