What does it mean to you to take the Bible seriously? 502-17-

My first response to the question would be to say that the Bible is the inherent word of God. I would point out that there are hundreds of prophecies in the Bible that have been fulfilled providing a historical as well as a spiritual basis for the Bible. However I think this question has more to do with what figures of speech such as allegories metaphors etc. represent.

With thanks to CM from whom I borrowed most of the following:

· A simile is a resemblance as in Genesis 25:25, “The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.” Esau may mean hairy.

· An allegory is a comparison by representation. In Gal 4:22, 24 Paul was comparing Abraham’s sons by two women, his wife Sarah and her slave Hagar as representing two covenants. Hagar was compared to Mount Sinai (legalism) as the mother of slaves.

· A metaphor is a representation, Matthew 26:26, “While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” The Catholic Church takes Jesus literally with the heresy that the wine and bread are the actual blood and body of Jesus Christ.

· A hypocatastasis an implied resemblance or representation. Matthew 7:3, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” is a favorite of mine. How freely people criticize without first looking to themselves.

· A type is a figure or example of something future used by Paul in Romans 5:14, “Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.” With thanks to Adam for this mess we live in.

· An analogy is a resemblance in some particulars between things otherwise unlike. Perhaps this is what part of my answer was to Revelation discussion question #2 Jesus opens and closes the Olivet discourse with what phrase? How can we put this into practice? “The deception of the Antichrist will be somewhat analogous of the spiritual blindness that Jesus pronounced upon Israel when they did not know the time of their visitation. During the tribulation many hearts will have been so hardened against God that it will be like a spiritual blindness.”

Figures of speech aside, I like Paul’s simple message. “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 KJV