Read the Bible like a newspaper

"Do you take the Bible literally?" This is a question that I've been asked on more than one occasion and it seems to be a common challenge for the Christian. While my first reaction was to say "yes, of course", I realized this wasn't true. I don't take Jesus' parables literally. I take them for what it seems the speaker and author intended: a fictional story to illustrate a literal truth. I don't take some of the Song of Songs literally. I take it for what it seems the author intended: poetic literature. (I'm certain that Solomon's wife didn't really have a neck like a tower)

I've found that one of the easiest answers to this question is this: "I read the Bible like I read the newspaper". As I considered this further, I found it to be a very effective analogy (though never perfect, as no analogy ever will be). Consider: a newspaper is written by many different authors and in various styles, so different portions must be interpreted accordingly. But the reader can't just interpret the paper however they like. One must read each article and section in the way that the author(s) intended. Consider the confusion if the comics section were taken literally. And just like the Bible, the context of the surrounding page and section helps clarify the author's writing style and intent.

So just as we read and interpret the cover story in the newspaper differently than the advice column and differently than the political cartoons, we read the historical naratives in the Bible differently than the Proverbs and differently than the parables.

And now a couple qualifications for those over-analytical minds. Of course the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and moral authority in Scripture put it on an entirely different level of writing. I use this illustration simply to show how familiar people really are with the concept of interpreting one body of literature in different ways based on context and author's intent. It also serves to show that the reading is not entirely subjective and up to the reader to decide "what it means for them".