The Questioning Christian

Not Everything in the Bible is Literally True: British Catholic Bishops

Written by

D. C. Toedt III

in

According to the TimesOnLine:

The Catholic bishops of England, Wales and Scotland are warning their five million worshippers, as well as any others drawn to the study of scripture, that they should not expect “total accuracy” from the Bible.

“We should not expect to find in Scripture full scientific accuracy or complete historical precision,” they say in The Gift of Scripture.

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In the document, the bishops acknowledge their debt to biblical scholars. They say the Bible must be approached in the knowledge that it is “God’s word expressed in human language” and that proper acknowledgement should be given both to the word of God and its human dimensions.

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Of the notorious anti-Jewish curse in Matthew 27:25, “His blood be on us and on our children”, a passage used to justify centuries of anti-Semitism, the bishops say these and other words must never be used again as a pretext to treat Jewish people with contempt. Describing this passage as an example of dramatic exaggeration, the bishops say they have had “tragic consequences” in encouraging hatred and persecution. “The attitudes and language of first-century quarrels between Jews and Jewish Christians should never again be emulated in relations between Jews and Christians.”

As examples of passages not to be taken literally, the bishops cite the early chapters of Genesis, comparing them with early creation legends from other cultures, especially from the ancient East. The bishops say it is clear that the primary purpose of these chapters was to provide religious teaching and that they could not be described as historical writing.

Similarly, they refute the apocalyptic prophecies of Revelation, the last book of the Christian Bible, in which the writer describes the work of the risen Jesus, the death of the Beast and the wedding feast of Christ the Lamb.

The bishops say: “Such symbolic language must be respected for what it is, and is not to be interpreted literally. We should not expect to discover in this book details about the end of the world, about how many will be saved and about when the end will come.”  

(Hat tip:  Wayne A.)

Comments

One response to “Not Everything in the Bible is Literally True: British Catholic Bishops”

  1. Douglas Anderson Avatar
    Douglas Anderson

    I have placed a link on my site to yours. You bring up some good points. Let me know if you would prefer it removed.
    Of course, these bishops are right. The Bible is often not speaking in literal terms. However they have missed the point on some of these items.
    You have to read the whole of Matthew 27:25 in context. It clearly shows that all of us are guilty of Jesus’ death. He was arrested and condemed by the Jews. He was fradulenty tired and executed by Gentiles. I just wrote about this passage of on October 5.
    The early chapters of Genesis are both symbolic literature. Genesis does not literally mean the earth was created in seven 24 hour periods, nor does it require that there was an actual man named Adam and a woman named Eve. If you go back to the original Hebrew you will find that neither of these are even suggested in Genesis.
    Finally, Revelation is also highly symbolic in its meaning. I don’t believe any of us really understand what it is telling us. I would argue way too much time is spent trying to figure out Revelation instead of doing God’s work as it is expressed in verses such as Matthew 25:34-45 and James 1:27.
    I am really enjoying your blog. Thanks.

    Reply

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