Nothing gives Christianity a bad name as much as the assumption that the Bible must be interpreted literally to be considered the true word of God. Metaphor is often used to describe basic truism about life. In almost everything else this is an accepted statement. However, when it comes to the Bible this assumption becomes a sacrilege.
The problem with this supposition is it presumes that the state of consciousness and awareness of human beings more than 2000 years ago was the same then as it is for us today. We know this is not true. To assume otherwise is to ignore the linear evolution of human consciousness. It is obvious to virtually everyone that over the last two thousand years we have evolved emotionally and intellectually to a completely different mindset then the people who lived in earlier biblical times.
This is not to imply in any way that the mindset of the people in earlier biblical times was less than ours. They were the people of their time, and we are the people of our time. Simply consider the state of our technology and the situation of our more forward-thinking awareness, and you need to say no more.
Why then can’t we accept what the original writers of the New Testament regarded as literal truth in their time, as any less accurate in our time, if we now recognize them as metaphorical representations of the same certainties? Will this make them any less true? I don’t believe so, and here is why.
If God is who we think God is, certainly an all-knowing creator would be aware that the people of our time would be in a different state of consciousness than the people of biblical times. If we are mindful of this fact obviously God is cognizant of the same thing. Therefore, if you are going to proclaim God’s word that is to be understood and accepted through time, the statements would have to be made in such a way that all future ages could accept them regardless of the advancement in linear consciousness of each succeeding generation.
Obviously, fundamentalists would not agree with this. However, I would submit that those of us, who can easily accept biblical truth expressed as metaphors, are no less fundamental in our beliefs. Since I speak from a Christian perspective, I am sure that the same basic principles that most fundamentalists believe are also shared by those of us who do not see the Bible as a completely literal document.
Unfortunately, the issue will always be that if you do not accept God’s written word as stated in the Bible literally, that somehow it will be significantly changed by later generations. I would suggest that these different interpretations are just as likely regardless of which position you personally take. There will always be significant differences in opinions as to what the truth is. Certainty is not what this is about. That is why we call it faith.
The first question that comes to mind; what is God’s role in all of this? As the world’s consciousness expands, and as we become a worldwide, globalized community there has to be some recognition that God is, and was, in a historical sense aware of this inevitable progression of human consciousness. If so, for each of us the process, by which all generations come to accept the written world as true, must go beyond the word itself, regardless of whether we accept it is literal or metaphorical in context. Sooner or later, the realization comes to each of us who believe in a personal, all knowing, loving creator - the truth of His being and word relies on the quality of our individual relationship with Him.*
And of course, we must always acknowledge the "word" expressed in the Bible as necessary and sacred, since for each of us it inspires and allows us to seek our relationship with God in the first place.
To be continued…..
Brother Giovanni and Brother Franco
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