Should the bible really be taken literally ?

It cannot be taken literally, or even seriously.

Some of it.  Different parts of it have different literary forms, such as poetry, chronicle, lamentation, and that helps the reader decide how to approach the text.

Of course not, it's obvious myths and fables.
Hint: Animals do not talk in real life.

somtimes there is some good advice in it but most of it is WAY WAY outdated

It is taken as sophomoric fiction, literally. 

 Absolutely not...........

Even the people who say it should be taken literally say there are many parts that are "obviously" not meant to be taken literally. Oddly enough it's often the same parts that were taken literally several centuries ago, like the idea of the firmament being a solid dome over the earth that the sun, moon and stars moved in.

Well, it was written literally, so I'd say yes, as long as you can wade through the many literary tools used by the 40 scribes who did the writing. 

of course not.......................................

Yes.  The Bible is literal.  There are very few metaphors, and when they occur, they are obvious.  But they are extremely rare compared to what is literal.  As for heaven and hell, the Lord Jesus Christ is God and He loves you, and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ means being forgiven all sins past and future, and means going to heaven and not hell.  And all saved people still sin.  See 1 John 1:8.  Death leads to immediate heaven or hell, and it is too late to be saved, after death.  To be in heaven and not hell, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God and who died on the cross and shed His blood to pay for all of our sins in full, and who was buried, and who resurrected from the dead.  The only way to avoid hell is by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, without adding any of your own works.  See Romans 4:5, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, and John 3:16.

Unless its clearly presented otherwise, as with Jesus' parables. And in some visions like Johns as recorded in Revelation.

As literal as if you where reading Lord of the Rings, or any other fictional tale.

take it any way you want, just read it .............................

Some parts are meant to be taken literally, while other parts are not. Protestants claim to take the Bible 100% literally. The result - fragmentation into thousands of conflicting denominations that can't agree with one another about the meaning of a single biblical text. The original and true Christian Church, to which Jesus promised the fullness of God's truth, knows the difference, which is one reason why it remains one in belief, one in teaching, one in worship, one in biblical understanding throughout the world after 2,000 years.

All the Protestants I've known for over 40 years know that parts of the Bible are to be taken literally (Do not steal) and other parts are symbolic (If your eye makes you sin, gouge it out). Some parts are poetry (Song of Solomon), other parts are prophetic revelations (Revelation). Some parts are laws for the Israelites (to be obeyed literally by them), other parts are spiritual (spiritual Israel in the new testament, liberated from the literal law).

Nobody who reads all the Bible could ever think every word is meant to be understood only literally. Those who haven't read it for themselves and who listen to trouble-makers on-line might think Christians take it all literally. Sigh.

No, written by men who at the Time believed it was gods word .

today much of it is Rubbish just like the Koran copies of the Torah and the Bible

Absolutely not................when it says in the fruits:

Love.
Joy.
Peace.
Forbearance.
Kindness.
Goodness.
Faithfulness.
Gentleness.
Self-Control.

We should really:
Hate
Be miserable
Be at war with ourselves
Do whatever we want with our bodies
Be mean to others
Be ugly as hell
Have no faith
Be mean & Hateful
Be out of control

How is that,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,don't do what the bible says, do whatever is right in your own eyes!!!!!!!

It is not all written literally.
eg.   The Lord is my rock.     You are the salt of the Earth

That is a "religious fundamentalist" point of view, that became popularized and mainstreamed in the last few hundred years, or so.  The books of the Bible thousands of years old, and come from the Jewish/Hebrew faith and culture, before religious fundamentalism existed. 

If it wasn't used to condemn someone else that disagreed with your version of what is written in the Bible we would be better for it.

No.  The bible is just like all other so called 'holy books'.  It is nothing more than a collection of fables, myths, fairy tales, ancient superstitious nonsense and woo woo.  By definition magic, the supernatural and deities cannot exist.  If you take these books to be literal, then you have a severe disconnect to reality and your critical thinking and reasoning skills are nonexistent.

No not all parts, man made the bible through the years

It is the word of God. What you do after knowing that is up to you but remember, your eternal soul is in peril if you choose unwisely. 

Should it be taken literally in every passage?
No, of course not.
Obvious example:
- I am the vine, you are the branches.

Should it be taken non-literally in every passage?
No, of course not.
Obvious example:
- Jesus wept.

In other words
like almost all works of literature
the Biblical documents are not intended to be understood entirely literally
and
not intended to be understood entirely non-literally.

You need to hear God's word.

If you haven't got ears to hear then you will not.



Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. 



If you do not hear then you need repentance.

“To be fair, much of the Bible is not systematically evil but just plain weird, as you would expect of a chaotically cobbled-together anthology of disjointed documents, composed, revised, translated, distorted and 'improved' by hundreds of anonymous authors, editors and copyists, unknown to us and mostly unknown to each other, spanning nine centuries.”
― Richard Dawkins

SMILING and AMUSED....... LITERALLY  word use ACTUALLY   TRUE exact manner  just as the words are  printed and written
  "SHOULD " to infer OBLIGATION  DUTY and correctness..........ACCORDING to WHOM  is an issue authoritarianism .....AKA  " CAUSE X said SO " ..  based on  what VERIFICATION  of the proposition  the answer is the MAGIC * BALL  YES NO MAYBE   not today . a certain segment of the  human population HAVE  said   yes .. and another percent  have said  no and  some  have said    a mix .... which goes to DOCTRINE         which is a BELIEF ( the acceptance  and  conviction of a allegation or proposition to BE THE CASE  /TRUE )  and or a  SET set of beliefs HELD and taught by a church political part or group ..... and since  certain religions   have  used the Writings of certain  PEOPLE  that span some 1500 years  in ancient times  the BOOK the bible is the  compiled  stories  of MEN  and bound in 325 CE  by MEN  to promote certain propositions   under the roman empire  with CONSTANTINE  one of two newly appointed  EMPERORS of the ROMAN EMPIRE  employing  300 religious  promoters .... later used by various  groups  and  the British monarchy  producing various version as in the GENEVA bible  51 years before the  KING JAMES version  the KING ALFRED Bible Saxon 871
depends on WHOM a person  adopts as THEIR authority/ authoritarian   controller  rule maker 
  thank you for the inquiry

NO  WAY !!!!!!! 
 
After almost 2,000 years, the Bible and it's principles 
are nothing more than old and expired trash. 
 
Toss it.

Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.”
― Isaac Asimov

It ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand. Mark Twain

most of the time , yes.

the bible is full of wisdom.
wisdom when explained uses euphemisms , analogies and metaphors and even symbolism.

the bible is also full of such things.
the bible is full of idioms as well.

it takes real study to see which is which.
all people need to study MORE.

also knowing the original words is important for edification. 

 the serpent on the pole? why was this done?
why was Israel told to look at the pole with the serpent in faith to be healed?
     (why are we told to look upon JESUS who was upon the cross to be healed)?

a wise person knows why.

Just pick the parts you want to believe and take them literally. 

Should the Koran? The Talibud, the Vedas? The Communist manifesto? 

I prefer to take the bible very seriously and the next document is the USA Constitution. The USA has turned into a sh----t hole since it turned away from religion. Why do you people want to keep digging it deeper and filling it up with more?

If I said "I laughed my head off." would you take me literally?

Avid Bible readers, led by the Holy Spirit, know the Bible is infallibly true - written by fallible men.

What part don't you believe? The history part? The stories? The poems?

Read the book of Mark from front to back... read it three times... get it in ya. Because if you don't know who Jesus is, you won't get anything else about the Bible.

You can take it that way, but then it won't reflect reality.  Reality does not correspond with the declarations of the bible in at least some portions, at minimum, so it would seem to me to be a grievous error to accept the bible in totality as being intended literally.

Seriously, a lot of modern science arose because of the works of people trying to prove the bible literally, and finding out to their own surprise that it could not be taken literally.  Facts did not comply.  So, either reality is different (the world has changed in fundamental ways), or the bible is wrong.

[greetings, keep reading & analyzing each verse, with absolute faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, & most likely He will let you know, whether it is today or years from now.]


King James Version Bible


2 Peter Chapter 1

20. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

21. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake [as they were] moved by the Holy Ghost.


James Chapter 1

5. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all [men] liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

6. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

7. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.

8. A double minded man [is] unstable in all his ways.


2 Corinthians Chapter 4

3. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

4. In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

5. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

6. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Born again Christians who are Spirit-filled have no problem understanding the scriptures because Holy Spirit was sent to lead and guide us into all truth.

Therefore, the Bible needs to be read through the Holy Spirit's filter because He will give us all truth, so that we won't take the wrong parts literally and cut off our ears or pluck out our eyes physically (!) but we will understand the inner truths that God is conveying in His Words, since Holy Spirit does the teaching, comparing spiritual things with spiritual (1 Corinthians 2:13)

The scripture cannot be understood by the natural mind of man. Neither can the natural man know it for the natural mind of man cannot understand the things of the Spirit of God ( It takes spiritual insight from the Holy Spirit ) - 1 Corinthians 2: 12 - 16

[16] All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:            2 Tim 3

The Bible is a book of faith. It is given for inspiration of God and instruction of righteousness. It is not however, a chemistry or physics book. It does not instruct you in math or economics. The Bible is what it was written for: so that you may know God.

I'm not an expert on the literalists view of the Bible. But to paraphrase Augustine (aka Saint Augustine), if a verse contradicts acknowledge science, then it probably should be considered as metaphorical. 

No, absolutely not. Written by a bunch of men on magic mushrooms writing words without any evidence.

the Bible is a mix of Truth and fiction . for every one thing it tells the truth about there is 100 b******* stories made up 

I know people who consider the bible to be the 100% literal 'word of god'.

They have to either ignore glaring evidence to the contrary, or spend considerable time utilizing pretzel logic to try to rectify what it says with objective reality.

I sat and listened to a pastor one time try to claim that because the bible says that water came up out of the earth to water the plants, that it never rained prior to the 'flood'.

He even tried to claim that before the 'ark', that 'boats' didn't exist (I guess because they weren't mentioned in the bible).

It was stunning, because I had listened to biblical literalists and Young Earth Creationist b.s. before, but this guy took it to a whole new level of ignorance.

How else you numbskull? It 'is' literature. Some people.

Except where the bible itself makes it clear that some of it's contents are parables (stories with a meaning to help our understanding but not stories of events that actually happened).  When in doubt just pray, asking God to help you to understand what you are about to read.

I don't take it for toilet paper, except in extreme emergencies,

All historical, scientific, and archeological evidence indicate that none of the major stories in the Bible actually happened.  Some of the bible stories take place in an actual historical milieu, but there is no evidence than any of them actually happened and some evidence that some of them definitely did not happen.

If the author intended his text as literal, then yes.  Whenever an author uses metaphors or other figurative literary devices, then no, of course not.
The Bible is to be considered as we do everything else we read.  We don’t interpret  poetry in the same way as a newspaper.

Not really. Wouldn't say it's a book of nothing or a book written all for nothing but it can be a waste of time. But God is created life?! Life isn't perfect so there's no point. Lol.

Some symbolism is involved at time along with prohetic signs and illustrations and must be read in context but the Word of God is truth and will endure forever 1Peter 1;25 as will His Name Ps 135;13

Although some Scriptures use illustrations difficult to understand at first, they do refer to actual events some of which occurred in the past, some taking place now some will soon take place, a full examination of the Bible will help those studying it that the contents are there for a reason and provided for our instruction, see 2 Timothy 3:16, 17; Romans 15:4 - 6. Revelation uses many creatures that aren't literal but represent real thingswe all need to know about and understand the meaning and how they apply.

WHAT!?  Yet another post implying doubt about the existence of talking snakes? When will this sinful nonsense ever stop?

Nobody takes the Bible strictly, literally. 

At best a fairy story, at worse religious doctrination.

Both the OT and NT were written by men; there was woman who might have written a couple verses in the NT, and all was written for the purpose of making the uneducated slaves and other workers afraid so that they would quickly do as they were told, or they would suffer the consequences. The only things true in the bible are a few real names of certain persons and places, other than this, it is nothing but what I said in my first statement above. Today, it is used to siphon money from the believers.

Depends on what Biblical context you are referring to.

WHY DOES IT MATTER?
The question of Jesus’ existence matters because his teachings matter. For example, Jesus taught people how to live happy, fulfilling lives. He also promised a time when mankind will live in true peace and security, united under a single world government called “the Kingdom of God.”—Luke 4:43.
The designation “the Kingdom of God” is appropriate because this world government will express God’s sovereignty over the earth. (Revelation 11:15) Jesus made that fact clear when he said in his model prayer: “Our Father in the heavens, . . . let your Kingdom come. Let your will take place . . . on earth.” (Matthew 6:9, 10) What will Kingdom rule mean for mankind? Consider the following:
Warfare and civil strife will cease.—Psalm 46:8-11.
Wickedness, including greed and corruption, will be gone forever, along with ungodly people.—Psalm 37:10, 11.
The Kingdom’s subjects will enjoy meaningful, productive work.—Isaiah 65:21, 22.
The earth will fully recover from its present sick state and produce bountiful crops.—Psalm 72:16; Isaiah 11:9.
Some people may consider those promises wishful thinking. But is it not wishful thinking to trust in human efforts? Consider: Even in spite of spectacular advances in education, science, and technology, millions today feel deeply insecure and uncertain about tomorrow. And daily we see evidence of economic, political, and religious oppression, as well as greed and corruption. Yes, the reality is that human rule is a failure!—Ecclesiastes 8:9.
At the very least, the question of Jesus’ existence merits our consideration. As 2 Corinthians 1:19, 20 states: “No matter how many the promises of God are, they have become ‘yes’ by means of [Christ].”
For more information JW.ORG

Jesus spoke in parables so, on that basis alone, there is a strong argument that much of it is literal but an equally significant part is metaphorical or speaks of spiritual truths which, though unprovable in scientific terms, will outlast and surpass all known scientific truths and are therefore, in many ways, more valid. 

For example ... from a scientific point of view this makes little sense but the reality is far from the scientific scrutiny:-

Don’t do as the wicked do,
    and don’t follow the path of evildoers.
15 Don’t even think about it; don’t go that way.
    Turn away and keep moving.
16 For evil people can’t sleep until they’ve done their evil deed for the day.
    They can’t rest until they’ve caused someone to stumble.
17 They eat the food of wickedness
    and drink the wine of violence!

18 The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn,
    which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.
19 But the way of the wicked is like total darkness.
    They have no idea what they are stumbling over.

the bible is the history of man, there was life on earth before humans started to record their lineage, they wrote on cave walls just for one example.  The earth has been destroyed more than once by natural occurring events.  This does not mean there were not intelligent life just because they were destroyed we just have not found the proof of them yet.  Diggings by archaeologists continue to find more questions and have proven what we once assumed is wrong or proven depending on their findings.  I find this work fascinating.  To believe we are the only generations who is only 5,000 years ago compared to the earth being over millions of years old is a bit egocentric and not credible.  

You can vote Dems or Reps. It's your choice!

Biblical literalists believe that, unless a passage is clearly intended by the writer as allegory, poetry, or some other genre, the Bible should be interpreted as literal statements by the author. ... WE AFFIRM the necessity of interpreting the Bible according to its literal, or normal, sense.

No?  You can take is audibly.....Just take it

Almost all of it.
The seven headed beast is really seven men that control ten countries without being their leaders, but they will act in concert and act like a beast.

Scriptural simpletons accept that, except if a section is unmistakably expected by the essayist as moral story, verse, or some other kind, the Bible ought to be deciphered as exacting articulations by the writer. WE AFFIRM the need of deciphering the Bible as indicated by its strict, or ordinary, sense.

NO, not all of it.  A large part of the Bible was written morally, allegorically and anagogical (literal words with a spiritual meaning)  For instance, when God breathe "the breath of life" into man it was not simply the air we breathe.  The air we breathe cannot give life to anything, it only sustains life.  The "breath of life" is the life-giving spirit from God.  James 2:26 tells us: The body without the spirit is dead.  Just before Jesus died he said Father into your hand I commit my spirit.  And he gave up the ghost and died  Luke 23:46

The Bible is to be taken literally, unless the immediate surrounding text clearly indicates otherwise. (ie. a parable, or prophecy, etc...)

Only in some cases.  It contains numerous metaphors and much symbolism, as well as numerous parables.  The Virgin Mary can help one to better comprehend the true meanings of Bible verses especially if he recites the rosary every day with care and sincerity.

The parts to be taken literally.

Mormons believe the Bible as far as it is translated correctly and other faiths feel different and keep in mind a minister is answering this who chooses to respect the faith and culture of others.

Mostly, yes.  It is still possible to build up a consistent theology taking the Bible and other early Christian sources literally where possible.  Read "To the Law and To the Testimony" for one such attempt.

God doesn't write in riddles, so yes.

Generally yes but some parts of the bible are written prophetically, in parables or describe visions.  Using discernment about what was written and the intent behind it was is critical.  This is why we all need to study the deeper things of God (1 Corinthians 2:10) so we can have a full understanding, not a superficial one.  I think you'd find the explanations give in this article helpful https://bit.ly/3qv4wHG