If I became a christian, would i have to take the bible literally?

Question

well im just curious.. what if one day i decided i was wrong and decided to accept jesus... do i need to follow everything in the bible or is it more of a "guide" that can be interpreted different ways..?

Answer 1

NO NOT ALL OF THE BIBLE SHOULD BE TAKEN LITERALLY. THE BIBLE USES ANALOGIES/ PARABLES FIGURES OF SPEECH AND SYMBOLIC LANGUAGE

They use analogies, figures of speech and symbolic language that don't ... Some parts of the Bible are designed for a specific situation in a specific ...

www.christianodyssey.com/06/0610bible.

Do you know I never read the bible. I went to church almost every

week.. and I prayed and listed to sermons by our Greek Orthodox

priests but I never read the Bible.. I took several course in Religion Studies at the University of Toronto, and that is when I started to read the bible. ( to pass the course) interpretation of assignments etc.

However, I seem to have known the principles  Christianity better than most, re sermons etc.

You dont have to read the Bible just ( Do as Jesus Did)

Love all as I have loved you. Love your brother as yourself , The Greatest of These is Love. Follow your conscience ( right and wrong) and you will have God. ( do unto others are you would have them do unto you. I am sure you know what is right and wrong .by instinct.

Find a church that preaches the truth .and you will be a Christian.

Mom and Dad never read the Bible but they were the greatest believers

I don't think Greek Orthodox truly read the bible. We listen to the Bible in our liturgies and sermons.

Our Greek Orthodox Liturgies are over 3 hours at times and thus I was exposed to  Biblical Data.

I am still a Greco Orthodox and believe. See all the university pro and con did not change me.

Truly I don't think you have to read the Bible to Know Christ and Be a Christian. Believe in God , follow the teachings of your priest/ or pastor and you will be  a believer and live and Follow Jesus as he said

Come and Follow Me

The Apostles never carried bibles . All learned by listening , believing the Gospels and applying the truth of God.

The Greek Septuaging  ( New Testament)is recognized as the The First Biblos ( Biblos)  penned in Greek too

Copies of Greek Ancient Scriptures all over the World in GREEK

Even Judas / Gospel of Mary etc all unearthed in Greek

Thus I believe we would be told to read the Bible . Usually the priests teach us ( who are our patriarches and teach us as the Apostles did in Christ's time

Answer 2

The bible is a guide that can be interpreted as you see fit.  You won't have to take it all literally, but that doesn't mean you can take advantage of the interpretation either.

Answer 3

Only the parts you feel like.

Answer 4

yes because its the word of god and his son

Answer 5

It is this simple: If you do not believe the Bible, then you are not a Christian.

Answer 6

depends on how close you want to get in your relationship with God

the walk is not just about laws or rules

Answer 7

That's the error of the break away churches.Catholic and Orthodox churches are the originals,and all believe the same basic interpretations.Relying on the holy spirit for their guidance they have remained in tune with each other,even after Nealy 2000 years.

All those that broke from these have all sorts of beliefs.many are extreme and believe everything literally.They also tend to self destruct with internal divisions on various interpretations.This is what Christ vowed to stop by establishing his church.You can see these same divisions in Judaism and islam(with extreme groups such as al qaeda).The consistency and unity of the teaching of the Catholic/orthodox churches over this vast time frame is proof in itself of their divine nature.

The other question for other christian churches is:From whence do they derive their authority?eg.ordaining priests,blessing people etc.If they say the Catholic/orthodox churches are not the true churches,then their own roots are invalid?

This is not to say the followers are any better or worse than a catholic/orthodox believer.Just that it does not lead u to the complete truth.

Answer 8

Not at all; Bishop John Shelby Spong is a Christian I wouldn't mind spending time with.

Bishop John Shelby Spong: The church doesn’t like for people to grow up because you can’t control grown-ups. That’s why we talk about being born-again; when you’re born-again you’re still a child.

People don’t need to be born-again; they need to grow up and accept responsibility.

~

Answer 9

Wouldn't hurt...

Answer 10

Why would you want to become a Christian if you don't believe that the Bible is true?

Answer 11

Do you want to become a real Christian?

Or a fake Christian is name only?

Why would you listen to the advice of someone who admits they have never read the Bible?

Anyway, if you read the Bible literally, that also means in context.

Which means you read it just like you read a daily newspaper.

Context tells you which parts to take literally and which parts are figures of speech which need to be interpreted literally.

And remember that the Bible was written at least 1,900 years ago.  The figures of speech in the Bible need to be understood the way people thought back then.

Let me give you an example:

At one point Jesus said:

Matthew 19:24

Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Mark 10:25

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Luke 18:25

Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Now is the above a figure of speech or something intended literally?

It may shock you when I tell you its meant literally.

However, that's according to 20th or 21st century mentality.

Back in the first century, people knew what the "eye of a needle" is.

We, today, think only of a sewing needle.

In the first century it meant a small door of a walled city that a men could enter at night when the main gates of the city were closed.

A man could walk thru easily but a horse would not fit.

Camels, back then, were the U-Haul trucks of the time.  To get a camel, loaded down with stuff, thru the eye of the needle, you needed to unpack the camel, then get the camel down on his belly, then the camel could scoot thru on his belly.

Then you'd have to haul all the package previously loaded on the camel thru the eye of the needle and re-pack the camel.

Very difficult but possible.

I was a member of a church for 21 years which never bothered to explain that type of thing.

Which is why its important for Christians to join Bible believing, Bible teaching churches so that they will learn these things.

Answer 12

I guess you need to decide then, if the bible is the infallible word of god, or if it isn't.

You can't have it both ways.

If you believe it is the word of god, then why wouldn't you take the whole bible as your guide to life?

If it isn't the word of god, then are you really a christian?

Its something to ponder, and no one can decide that for you except for you.  But I caution you, that it is easy to lie to yourself, and its important that you  do your best to be honest in your thought process.

Answer 13

No, you would have the privilege of choosing the scriptures you like best

Answer 14

Yes, and learn to shout, "You're taking it out of context!". There is more to it but this is a good starting point.

You must believe everything you read in the Bible and everything your preacher tells you because he knows it better than you. Then he preaches something the deacons don't like and gets fired and they bring in another one. Be prepared to change your mind about what you were told because the new one has a different way of looking at the same verse.

In many places the Bible is just vague enough to leave the door open for any and all intrepretations as there are people who read it.

Answer 15

Becoming a Christian means you ADMIT your're a sinner and you SURRENDER your life to Him.

Start with the New Testament (Gospels) and immerse yourself through Jesus' teachings; so you can fully understand Him. If you have difficulties, don't hesistate to ask a Christian friend.

Answer 16

Please, stay sane :)

Answer 17

Nah. The Christians aren't' very picky choosy nowadays.

HOWEVER, you are required to pick at least one scripture you like and post beneath all your answers(even if it's unrelated to the question).