How Shall I Understand the Word, the Logos, Later Made Flesh?
Throughout my life, starting from my teen years when I started to pray and speak in tongues during prayer and meditations, I have been on a journey to understand the fullness of the Gospel and the core question I now realize has been "Do I take every word literally or not?" In that I have been on a long and winding journey from the Roman Catholic Faith I grew up with and now realize I never really knew to not too long ago Conservative, really Conservative Pentecostal, as I have always been a writer of poetry, song and loved writing, had lots of aha moments, and when I would get songs come to me, even poems, the melody would accompany them, always very spontaneously. It could happen in the middle of dinner, as I was walking along the street, in the shower, anywhere, often the poems etc... had to do with a Biblical passage, or a member of the Trinity. I was drawn to the Pentecostal and I got caught up in the whole Scripture Alone thing and the Catholic Church is Babylon, the harlot etc.. all that jazz. I also caught up in the wrong view of feminism, the yuk, Gloria Steinem brand of feminism, which of course is not true feminine or feminism, and is a crime against women, children, family and humanity overall. Was I going to take every word literally? Was I supposed to? Please let me make clear that in now way am I denying the overall message and theme of God's inspired Word, that sin came into the world through the first human beings and that humanity requires justification, sanctification, redemption, which can only be had through accepting Jesus Christ. I wanted to make that clear. I am coming to understand some important points about how to read and understand the Bible.
We often will say things that we assume people know not to take literally, but that still have a grain of wisdom to adhere to in that phrase. For example if I say to someone "Remember, the early bird, gets the worm." or "Get some wind in your sails before that important meeting." They know not to eat a worm and that they can't put win in their sails because they are not a boat. Yet, they understand the wisdom in those phrases, provided they are familiar with our culture, right. Even someone outside of the US culture, if I said "He gives me wings to fly" would know it's not to be taken literally, but figuratively, or if I say "His face shines bright like the morning sun." If it shone that bright, you couldn't look at his face because you'd go blind, so again they would figure out it was not literal. When we read the Bible, we need to have a combination of faith and reason to discern what is literal/historical seed with a grain of symbolic, and what is strictly allegory and metaphor. If we don't, we can be completely led astray and it has happened, for example, with people calculating the Rapture and selling all their property etc... and getting really crazy about that, ending up either killing themselves or destitute, disillusioned. I was myself getting caught up in the whole "when is the rapture going to take place and am I prepared?" I realize that I really need to do thorough research into the matter and discern what can be taken literally and not literally from the Bible, so I don't get caught up in what I don't need to get caught up in and focus on what matters.
The Bible authors, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but not robots just jotting down and taking dictation, which is why it is an inspired work, and truly of God, sought to convey literal events, and such within the context of a larger spiritual message. Did the walls of Jericho literally come tumbling down exactly as related in the Bible? Maybe not to that extent and in that way, but as with every story and piece of literature or art, there is a nugget of truth and veracity. That nugget, in the case of the Bible was placed into the context of a larger spiritual truth that God wanted, through the writer to convey, the understanding that whatever the wall, the struggle, the obstacle, if you stand strong, in courage, not fear and in faith, seek a spiritual solution along with wise strategy, you can overcome that wall, obstacle and conquer whatever it is that is holding you back from God's intended vocation for you, what he has placed in your heart, spirit, soul, even if it takes time. One has to discern that it is from the Lord, and how we are meant to reach the goal, so that we do so ethically, honorably and morally at all times. This is where contemplation, and prayer come in, as well as God's Word. If we engage our heart, mind, and look at the Word from a perspective of this is a combination of history, allegory and symbolism, using the inspirational insight of the Holy Spirit, along with proper context of the text from a cultural and historical perspective, not just looking at that one passage but also cross referencing passages, we can gain insight on God's perspective on any number of life's issues and how we are to proceed as Christians.
Fundamentalist Protestants especially get all bogged down in detail, in this fanaticism I am realizing of it has to be taken literally word for word creates a problem and puts God in a pigeon hole, a straight jacket. Again, I am in no way denying the main message of the Bible, but what I am realizing is that I have to really look at the early Church fathers, the saints, their wisdom, and also discern very carefully what parts of the Bible are to be taken absolutely literal, as literal with grains of symbolism, as allegory alone, as symbol alone. That's not an easy task and the fact that there are the writings of the early Church fathers, the saints and the theologians, so many in the Catholic Church to refer to, including the book that Pope John Paul II wrote on the dignity of the human person is an incredible and very valuable. I will be reading my Catholic Study Bible very carefully, as well as pursing my theology studies with the St. Paul Theology Center, online and read the works of the early Church fathers and saints over the next few years, as well as finishing up the Third Millennium Studies I started. God gave us the ability to create a plethora of musical instruments, recipes, songs, poems, writings in a variety of genres, so his Word is not one or two dimensional, but three dimensional and to not realize that and to say that every word must be taken only literally and one is not to take into account the personal experiences of the writers, the historical context of the times and such is silly, detrimental to one's spiritual growth and one's relationship to Scripture and the Trinity. Now, as I read the Bible, I am going to looking at all dimensions and really seeking to discern whether that chapter is to be taken word for word literally, and if not all of it is, what part of it is to be taken literally, or is there as I said before, a nugget of history placed inside of a larger spiritual lesson context? I also wont be so quick to dismiss customs of the Jewish faith that we adopted into the early Christian faith, which the Eastern Orthodox seem to have maintained with continuity and appreciation, but Catholics have forgotten and Protestants decided to throw into the trash to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
As I make this journey I will remember that the Bible is not meant by God to be a book of history or science, but his way of conveying spiritual truth in his own way to those he chooses to reveal it to. I will cherish all I learn and come to understand more in depth throughout my life's journey as a Christian and as I revisit my Catholic faith.
Shalom and Amen
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