On a number of occasions someone has come to me as a Bible teacher/pastor, pointed me to a particular passage of the Bible and asked me this searching question, “Pastor John, this passage here… do you take it literally?”

Each time I am asked this, I am quick to answer, “Yes, of course! We should always take the Bible literally.”

This usually leads to a look of confusion on the face of the enquirer, so I then explain what I mean.

The Bible is literature… inspired literature, as we know. All Scripture is God breathed (2 Tim. 3:16). That much needs to be said, but then again, more than that needs to be said.

To take something “literally” means to interpret it “according to its literature.” Let that truth sink in for a moment, because it is a truth that has profound implications. Let me repeat it once again, interpreting something (in this case, the Bible) literally means to interpret it “according to its literature.”

Practically speaking, to take the Bible literally, or “according to its literature,” means that we interpret each verse and passage according to the type of literature it is. Historical narrative passages should be interpreted as historical narrative; parables should be interpreted as parables, poetic passages as poetic, figurative language as figurative, and so on (I am sure you get the idea). This becomes vitally important when seeking to gain the true interpretation of a passage. It is the key to a right interpretation in fact.

As an example, the Book of Revelation is what we call “apocalyptic literature.” It is, by design, a highly figurative book. It is perfectly right to interpret things we find there figuratively, because that is the genre of literature before us in the book.

If I may, let me go further, and suggest to you that passages in the book of Revelation MUST be interpreted figuratively unless there are compelling reasons in the text for us not to. And this is what it means to take the Book of Revelation literally!

In this regard, this short video by Dr. R. C. Sproul is helpful to us in seeking to determine the promises we find in Psalm 91 and passages like them, which tell us that no evil shall befall us.

Whenever I am asked the question, ‘do you take this Bible passage literally?’ my answer is always ‘yes, of course!’ Every verse in our Bible should be taken literally. With this affirmed, something more needs to be said.

The word ‘literal’ means ‘according to the literature.’ To interpret a passage or verse in our Bible ‘literally’ means that we determine its meaning by first acknowledging the type of genre in which it is expressed. This allows you and I as the readers, to interpret the verse according to the purpose and intent of the original writer.

When we come to the text seeking a literal interpretation it means historical narrative should be understood as historical narrative, poetic passages as poetry, didactic (teaching) as didactic, parables as parables, etc. When a gospel writer introduces us to words Jesus spoke by informing us ‘And Jesus spoke a parable to them saying…’ he is giving us the information we need to interpret the words that follow properly. In this case it means that Jesus’ words here should be interpreted according to the literal genre of ‘parable.’

Let us take a passage such as Luke 2:1-7 where the gospel writer (Luke) records historical events surrounding the birth of Jesus. Here, we should not be viewing the names of people and cities in symbolic terms. ‘Caesar Augustus’ refers to Caesar Augustus, ‘Quirinius, governor of Syria’ refers to Quirinius governor of Syria and ‘Bethlehem’ denotes Bethlehem. Luke is recording history and is simply anchoring the events of Christ’s birth in their historical context. No secret or hidden meanings should be sought.

Other passages in our Bibles are highly figurative and need to be interpreted as such. The book of Revelation is apocalyptic literature. Much of the entire book contains figurative and symbolic language. This is significant for us because it means that a true interpretation can only be obtained by recognizing its figurative genre. A verse or passage found in the book of Revelation should be interpreted figuratively unless it is obvious it cannot.