Imagine someone 2,000 years from now reading one of my letters which included phrases like "it's raining cats and dogs," and sarcasm such as "you're such a genius." If they didn't know better, they would be thinking cats and dogs must have fell from the sky and I was complimenting a smart person...when in fact I actually meant nothing about cats and dogs and rather meant someone was acting rather stupid. Yes, it is true that I did say "cats and dogs" but I didn't mean "cats and dogs" and I did say someone was a "genius" but I really meant the exact opposite. That would be confusing for someone who doesn't know my culture and language, but for us in America today you know what I'm saying and we use things like this often. But if you were not familiar with my time and culture, you would probably not understand what I was really trying to say.
Now realize for a moment, this is what we have when it comes to interpreting the Bible, a different language which uses figures of speech and hyperbolic metaphors and different reading styles and much more. There are centuries of cultural differences, terminologies and perspectives unique from ours which we need to consider in order to really understand what they meant when their letter was written. It's not always as easy as "this is what the Bible says" cause sometimes it is not actually what the Bible says. A plain reading does not always make for an accurate reading. If you have 21st century eyes and read 1st century texts (New Testament in mind)...you might not get it right. You might be correct though that "this is what it says" but be just as wrong in saying "this is therefore what it means." Sometimes "cats and dogs" don't mean "cats and dogs." What it says might really imply its opposite or be symbolic of something else. Many of the seemingly contradictions will no longer be contradictions when we understand this. The more you can see through their eyes - the more you will see what they intended to imply.
I think there are many examples where this would apply that you already do on a constant basis but may not be aware of yet. For example, Jesus is the rock. Yet, you and I both know He is not a literally piece of granite! Speaking of rocks, scripture also says to build our house upon the rock. Again, we know it's not about physical houses or rocks. When Jesus said to eat of His flesh and drink of His blood - He didn't mean cannibalism. He is the bright and morning star. Is that a literal bright star in the morning or is there a deeper meaning to it? Is the earth really four corners sustained on pillars - or is there something else going on here? Is the seven eyes and the multiple heads found in Revelation literally some alien looking thing with seven eyes or multiple heads - or is it rather symbolic? When Jesus held up the bread and said this is my body broken for you, was He really holding up His own physical body? Jesus is the lamb of God so is He an animal? He is light. So is He the light you see when you hit the light switch? I'm being silly but you get the picture. The Bible is full of things that you can't take literally. In fact, a non-literal reading is sometimes more faithful to the actual meaning of the passages then a literal reading as we have just demonstrated. And that's just the tip of the iceberg - there are far many more figures of speech then most of us have realized yet.
So the next time you find yourself coming across some bizarre passages and wonder how it makes any logical sense, or how can this passage be true to science - take a deeper look at it. Maybe dig into some history and see what language barriers we might need to breach to get the full picture. Was it meant to be taken literally or was there a clever meaning behind it?
Now this doesn't mean everything is not to be read literally. Don't misunderstand me. Should love your enemies be taken literally? I would say absolutely! And it doesn't mean if something is to be read spiritually that it may never have a literal meaning as well for sometimes it does. There are at least 4 different shades of meaning as the Early Church used to imply. But it does mean that there is a world of things you probably don't know yet. A lot more shade of meaning to a single verse then you have imagined. Never think you have it down or your denomination is the only correct one. There is a huge adventure awaiting your discovery and there are others who know certain passages way better then you do yet! You will be spending the rest of your life learning and finding things about the Bible you may have read over and over but never saw before. At this point, I would consider myself an Anabaptist/Pentecostal/Methodist/Angelican/Eastern Orthodox/Charismatic/etc cause I find each one has something unique to add to the mix. I'm not saying anything goes, each has trash to ditch. No one completely has it. Eat the meat and spite out the bones.
All of the above does mean that we should consider treating each other with a little more respect. Consider the Early Church Fathers who lived closer to the time period and who understood the language of their day better then anyone alive. Some of which learned directly from the apostles themselves or from the disciples of the apostles. I really think reading the Patristics and church tradition is important. Not all tradition is bad. What they have written is available for all to read. Many of them did die defending what they believed and lived disciplined lives and were well respected of their time. I was surprised how many things I thought I knew that I hadn't sniffed the cork yet compared to what they already covered on the subject. Not to say swallow everything, but we really do shoot ourselves in the foot sometimes by not heeding what they had to say. We should take Biblical history seriously and study the culture of the time our Scriptures were written in. We should see how the early church understood things as opposed to how we see them today. What I found in my search was they were very Jesus focused in scripture interpretation (especially with the O.T.) and that opened a whole new world for me! Their commentaries are amazing. Learn from their strengths and learn from their mistakes. Examine the fruit in their lives. And during this, ask yourself, why did they believe what they did? How did we adopt the mindset we have today? What fruit does this produce in my life? Why the change? I think you will learn so much richness, find less confusion, and have fun along the way!
"Very often many things are said by the Holy Scriptures and in it many names are used not in a literal sense...those who have a mind understand this." -Saint Isaac the Syrian (Homily 83, p. 317)
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