Is the Bible literally true?

We know that Jesus used parables which are creative works of fiction, at least, they are not necessarily true.

But what about the Old Testament. Is it all full of allegories and stories that are not to be believed literally?

I would say no, it is not. When something is presented as historical, it should be accepted as such.

Still, the Old Testament is rich in imagery and sometimes even allegory --

* The prophet Nathan uses a parable in 2 Samuel 12 to teach David about his sin with Bathsheba. However, it is clearly used as such and should not be equated with stories such as Jonah and the great fish, which are clearly presented as factual.

* The apocalyptic writings in Daniel, and the dreams requiring interpretation in the life of Joseph, are clearly not to be understood literally but to be interpreted.

I like to stick to the idea that the Scriptures are inspired and true according to the authors' -- both human and divine -- intent. We should avoid placing a false literalism or false precision on Scripture where none is intended.

For example, if I say 500 people attended a church service, and another account says 512, is one of us lying? Not necessarily. I may have been just using a round number, and my intent may not to have given a mathematically precise number. The other person who said 512, may have been wishing to be precise. Both accounts may be said to be "true".

A good example of this in Scripture is when Luke or Paul in Acts says "For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing." If taken literally, they never ate, never slept, never went to the bathroom. But this was not the intent of the author, and is taking the literal words to an absurdity.

In some areas, it is hard to know exactly how a verse should be interpreted. Is the tree of life in Genesis literally a tree? Elsewhere in Scripture, it is used figuratively -- see Proverbs.

Is the snake in Genesis literally a snake? In Revelation 12:9 the dragon is revealed to be the snake, which in turn is revealed to be the devil.

We understand that Jesus IS the Lamb of God; at the same time, none of us would suggest that he is or was at any time a barnyard animal. Sometimes words are used to convey spiritual truths, and yet they can be true without being physically true, and yet more than just a metaphor. Calling Jesus the Lamb of God is not metaphorical; He really IS the Lamb of God; it's just that He's not a barnyard animal.

Scripture has a profound integrity to it, and, as we approach the new year, we should remind ourselves that struggling to understand it is one way we love God with all our minds as well as our hearts.

Maybe we should all resolve to read the Bible more in the new year!

And that's the way the Ball bounces.