“We must take the Bible as it is (aka literal).”
Including the parables? The parables are literal?
“This is the only way to determine what God really is trying to communicate to us.”
But this is YOU telling GOD how he’s talking to you.
“When we read the Bible, we must determine what the author intended to communicate.”
Okay. Every single description of the Earth is consistent with a Flat Earth. So i think the authors thought the Earth was flat. Is that how we do this?
“Many today will read a verse or passage of Scripture and then give their own definitions to the words, phrases, or paragraphs, ignoring the context and author’s intent.”
Oh, definitely. For example, the first time Moses asked for the Hebrews to be released, Pharaoh said Okay. But God wanted to show off his Glory, so he hardened Pharaoh’s heart. That’s what is written. But it does kinda make God an evil dick, what? So apologists tell me that Pharaoh was GOING to say no, so God hardened his heart after pharaoh hardened it first. To make God most of a just creature, not an injust fuckwit.
“But this is not what God intended, which is why God tells us to correctly handle the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). Although we take the Bible literally, there are still figures of speech within its pages that have to be interpreted. An example of a figure of speech would be that if someone said "it is raining cats and dogs outside," you would know that they did not really mean that cats and dogs were falling from the sky.”
Is there any place where the Bible says that cats and dogs rained down?
Can you show a biblical example instead?
“There are figures of speech in the Bible which are not to be taken literally, but those should be obvious to us.”
So, again, it’s you telling God he said literal truth or a figure of speech.
“For example in Matthew 5:30 it says “And if your right-hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away.” Now if we take that as it is we would all be walking around with no hands.”
How do you know that’s NOT what god wants, as a sign of our piety?