The Bible was not meant to be literally interpreted.

Hmmmmmmmmmm. I would like to thank my opponent for accepting my debate. - Some Christians continue to believe that the Bible should be interpreted completely, or almost completely, literally. But... by the mid-twentieth century, many Christians had come to a different view. Nearly all Christians continue to believe the Bible is inspired by God. God inspired its human authors to deliver His message to the world, and ensured that they delivered it faithfully. But He left it up to them to express that message in their own words and in terms of their own cultures. He did not give the Bible's authors any supernatural knowledge of future scientific discoveries. There is no conflict between the Bible and science because the Bible is a book of spiritual and moral guidance, not a book of science or history. Further, most Christians accept scientific and scholarly study of the Bible as legitimate. Christianity is a religion built on truth (John 8:32, Romans 1:18, James 1:17-18) and whatever we can learn about the Bible adds to our ability to understand the truth of the Bible as it was originally intended. Restricting ourselves to a narrow ideological view, such as strict literalism, interferes with our ability to fully understand God's revelation through the Bible. In the majority view, many of the Bible's stories are historically accurate and should be interpreted literally. But some spiritual truths are revealed through the common literary mechanisms of allegory, parable, simile, metaphor, hyperbole, and irony that were never intended to be taken literally. Such mechanisms serve to "paint a mental picture" of ideas not easily expressed in words. The Bible reveals timeless spiritual truths about God, love, salvation, faith, morals and ethics that transcend the realms of science and history. We can appreciate the beauty of a sunrise whether or not the sun literally "rises" above the earth. In the same way, we can understand and appreciate the lessons of the Bible whether or not all its stories are true in a literal sense. We should accept the Bible on its own terms, rather than try to force its stories into a scientific or historical framework. This leads me to hermeneutics: This new view of the Bible came about partly as a result of discoveries in the fields of astronomy, geology and biology, but also as a result of developments in hermeneutics, the science and art of Bible interpretation, which can be summed up as follows: These four key words-- observation, interpretation, evaluation, and application-- are the heart of all approaches to finding out what the Bible means. They provide the structure of what questions you ask of the text, and when. -Observation: What are the basic facts of the passage such as the meaning of all the words? -Interpretation: What did the author mean in his own historical setting? -Evaluation: What does this passage mean in today's culture? -Application: How can I apply what I have learned to how I live my life? Interpreting the Bible correctly is a two-step process. We must first discover what the passage meant in the day and age of the author. Then we must discover its message for us in today's culture. Observation and interpretation apply to the first step; evaluation and application apply to the second.(SRC 6) Many Christians believe the Events of Genesis Chapters 1-11 are allegories that establish the spiritual foundation of all that follows. The stories of Creation, the Great Flood and the Tower of Babel reveal the essential nature of God, His power, and His relation to us. Trying to interpret these stories as historical events detracts from their true meaning. Using the techniques of hermeneutics, the Genesis account of creation (Genesis 1:1-31, 2:1-3) might be analyzed as follows: Observation: What are the basic facts of the passage such as the meaning of all the words? The creation story is similar to other ancient creation stories, but modified to stress that there is only one God, an all-powerful God, who lovingly created the universe and everything in it, including men and women. Interpretation: What did the author mean in his own historical setting? Genesis was originally written for the Hebrews of Moses' time who were still tempted to worship the multiple gods and idols of their pagan neighbors. The important message was not how or when God created the universe, or how long it took him to do it; people of that era did not know or care anything about science. Rather the intended messages were: There is only one true God who created and sustains the universe; the pagan gods were false gods who had no power and should not be worshipped. Just as God rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:1-3), man should reserve the Sabbath for rest and worship. Evaluation: What does this passage mean in today's culture? All the way from the first chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of Revelation, the Bible tells of one true God who created everything and loves all His creation. We can worship God and receive the benefit of His divine love today as much as in Moses' time (Psalms 8:3-5, 24:1-6, 90:1-2, 96:5-6, Isaiah 37:16, Jeremiah 33:2-3, Romans 1:20, 1 Corinthians 8:6, Hebrews 11:1-3, Revelation 4:11). Application: How can I apply what I have learned to how I live my life? We can examine our own lives to see if we are really putting God above worldly concerns such as today's "false gods" and "idols" of wealth, status, power, success, etc. (Matthew 6:24, Romans 16:17-18, 2 Timothy 3:1-5, Colossians 3:5, Ephesians 5:5). We can be sure to reserve time in our lives for rest and worship and serving God (Exodus 20:8-11, Matthew 12:1-8, Luke 4:16, 13:10-17, Acts 20:7). Just how much of the Bible should be interpreted literally is one of the hottest debates within Christianity today, and there are many different opinions. But, the important thing is that we understand what God is telling us through the Bible and that we don't let arguments about the literal truth of the Bible distract us from that goal. Perhaps, with a bit of humility, we can admit that only God knows all the right answers. -- Sources: 6. Lockyer, pp.160-166