The Big Question, is the Bible Literal or Symbolic?

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I am a Christian, I wouldn't say by birth but since my entire family was Christian, baptism came to me during my childhood and when I got to 16 I went and willingly got baptized.

There's a really big question and it's one of the biggest debates in Christianity. It gets debated usually when we try to link it with scientific facts or what we observe around us, physically.

Scientists have touched on this topic with their own opinions. Religious people and leaders have also given their views and opinions. So many people have pondered over this great question for hundreds of years.

Should the Bible be read word for word and taken as facts or should it be seen as stories with hidden meaning, interpretation and symbolisms?

There are Christians that actually believe the Bible is 100% literal. I have to be honest I'm not one of those Christians. To them, every story really happened and happened exactly as was written, word for word. They say the world was made in six days, the flood during the days of Noah covered the whole earth and Jonah really survived in the belly of the fish, literally.

They believe that the Bible is the exact representation of God's words and we are to follow them directly. The usual argument this group of Christians have is that if you do not read it literally, you are doubting God’s power and doubting the authenticity of the Bible.

There is also another group of Christians that believe the Bible is symbolic. Of course not the entire Bible but some of the stories and descriptions should not be taken literally but are symbolic of something.

Some see many parts as stories, poems or moral lessons to be learned and not actual history books.

To that group, the six days of creation may not mean six 24 hour days, but a way to explain God’s work in simple words that we can understand.

The story of Jonah may not have happened literally and perhaps it's a story to teach the consequences of running away from God and also finding mercy when we pray.

There is also a middle group and I'll confess I'm part of that group. They say some parts are literal, like the life of Jesus, but other parts or stories are symbolic and never happened exactly so. They usually make a great attempt at balancing both views, using history, culture and science to read the Bible.

Whether we should pair science and the Bible is a good question to ask as well.

So why does this matter? Well, the way you read the Bible shapes the entirety of your Faith. There are Christians that dabble in things that are considered sin but they believe in it and it's stemming from the way they interpret it.

I won't judge Charlie Kirk because the word of God says judge not, right. However the famous statement he made regarding gun violence got be thinking about how that aligns in anyway with God's words.

Charlie Kirk said,

“I think it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God given rights.”

You could agree with him when you read about how in God's anger, he killed a lot of people and you can disagree with him by bringing up the law of not murdering. God values life very highly. Jesus Christ teaches peace, love and turning the other cheek in Matthew chapter 5. So choosing to accept deaths for a law does not clearly match these teachings does it? So in a way, his quote does not fully align with God’s word.

How you read the Bible doesn't just shape your faith but also your scientific views and even your politics.

One thing I realized amongst some of the great scientists that existed centuries ago is that they deal on facts of nature and when they get to a point where they don't understand, they attribute it to the mystery of God.

Isaac Newton discovered gravity and the laws of motion but when he could not explain why the universe existed or why God made it, he said it was a work of God’s design and called it a mystery of God.

Galileo Galilei studied planets and stars using a telescope. He explained their movements entirely with science, but he believed God created the universe and left some things as divine mysteries beyond human understanding.

I've also realized that literal readers most of the times clash with modern science. If you take evolution or the age of the earth, you're entering a rabbit hole of confusion.

The symbolic readers accept science way more but they are the ones who mostly get accused of watering down God’s word and accused of not really believing in the true power of God.

This debate seems endless to me and the only reason I can think of is that there's still so many unanswered questions in both science and religion.

The debate continues in churches, schools, and families. There really isn't a simple answer or a one size fits all answer. I think both sides want to honor God as responsible for creation but they disagree on how to understand the Bible.

I choose not to trouble myself too much with questions even the smartest minds of today can't answer. To make it easier for me, I see the Bible as a message of love, faith and hope.

I think this topic will stay controversial until the last days when God finally reveals himself or until scientists figure out everything about the big bang theory enough to accurately pair it with the Bible or disprove some parts.