"Do you really take the Bible literally?" The person who asks can't believe that I am a reasonable human being in the 21st century. I respond by asking, "What do you mean by 'literal'?" So often we ...

Throughout Christian history, interpretations of biblical scripture have deeply influenced doctrines that shape beliefs, ethical standards, and societal norms. Despite the insistence by many ...

2) figurative / symbolic / allegorical interpretation. 3) a mixture of both. Does either the Bible or Catholicism require, for example, the serpent in Genesis to be taken absolutely literally in all ...

Throughout history, Christians have interpreted the Bible not only as a guide to faith and moral conduct but also as an authoritative source on the natural world. While many of these interpretations ...

The Fathers of the Church recognize that the written Scriptures require interpretation. The written texts occasionally are self- evident in their meaning and can be read at face value, but often they ...

Marking up copies of pages from the Bible may not be typical when studying the book much of the world considers holy, but Rochelle Zell Jewish High School juniors did to better understand the story of ...

How do liberal Christians interpret the Bible? We begin with an understanding that the Bible is not a single book. This is more critical to scriptural interpretation than it might appear. The Bible is ...

As an atheist, I have to agree with Lance McCord's letter ("No divine mandate on ordinance," May 6). The Bible clearly and explicitly denounces homosexuality, just as it explicitly supports slavery ...

It is important for contemporary Christians to have a broad interpretation of God, Jesus, scripture, and theology since fundamentalism can be a dangerous force in our world, denying science, evolution ...