Are the words in the Holy Bible to be followed or interpreted?

Answer 1

Every Christian has to make his or her own decision as to whether to read The Bible literally or interpretively, guided by the person's own church leaders.

The Ninth Commandment, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour", is a very narrow definition of lying, protecting only the reputation of others. I prefer to see this as an admonition against all forms of lying, as do many others. All falsifications with intention to deceive qualify as lies, including even the intentional withholding of information that another person expects you to provide.

The Tenth Commandment seems to protect the property rights of slave owners. I prefer Christians to read this commandment down so that we can demand the release of slaves.

On the creation of the world, the early Church Father, Origen (On First Principles, 3.1.1) said:

"Now what man of intelligence will believe that the first and the second and the third day, and the evening and the morning existed without the sun and moon and stars? And that the first day if we may so call it, was even without a heaven? And who is so silly as to believe that God, after the manner of a farmer, "planted a paradise eastward in Eden", and set in it a visible and palpable "tree of life", of such a sort that anyone who tasted its fruit with his bodily teeth would gain life: and again that one could partake of "good and evil" by masticating the fruit taken from the tree of that name? And when God is said to "walk in the paradise in the cool of the day" and Adam to hide himself behind a tree, I do not think anyone will doubt that these are figurative expressions which indicate certain mysteries through a semblance of history and not through actual events."

And if the illustrious Origen can interpret the story of creation symbolically, I prefer to interpret the entire Bible symbolically.