Wholly Bible: A View from the Pew

Taking the Bible too literally

By RAY WADDLE

Did God really rest on the seventh day after creating the universe in six?

Is it literally true that "all is vanity," as Ecclesiastes says?

Did Jesus actually mean it when he said we must forgive sins against us "not seven times but, I tell you, 77 times?"

Defenders of the Bible are bemoaning the latest Gallup Poll, which says only 28 percent of Americans take Scripture literally anymore. Thirty years ago it was 38 percent.

That might be discouraging news until you ask yourself: Has anyone ever taken the whole Bible literally?

In my experience, most people are strong biblical literalists -- selectively. Traditional literalists want to safeguard the historical Adam and Eve, the origins of sin, and the divinity of Christ. They're literal about those points but often flexible or vague about other details.

Liberals are literalists when quoting Amos 5:24, "Let justice roll down like water, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream," or Jesus' words about blessing the peacemakers and loving thy enemy.

I wish Gallup's poll had offered more choices for measuring faithfulness to Scripture.

Here's what the survey asked 1,002 people last month: "Which of the following statements comes closest to describing your views about the Bible? The Bible is the actual word of God and is to be taken literally, word for word. The Bible is the inspired word of God, but not everything in it should be taken literally. OR, The Bible is an ancient book of fables, legends, history, and moral precepts recorded by man."

How would you answer?

I'd say: Mr. Gallup, here's another response: "The Bible is my guiding authority for life, the book I take the most seriously."

Quarrels over literalism miss the point. They reduce Scripture to a play book for scoring debate points. The Bible is more interesting than that: It's God's story of redemption, teaching commandments to live by, mercy to call on. In the Bible, God defends the underdog and demands action. In Scripture, people are mightily inconvenienced, but God insists on change.

The Lord sees that good triumphs in the end.

To me, that's the Bible message in a nutshell, literally.

--Ray Waddle, a columnist in Nashville, Tenn., is the author of
Against the Grain: Unconventional Wisdom from Ecclesiastes