The quest for meaning in the words of the Bible has taken its readers in various directions, from the time of the early Christian fathers to the present day, leading to different perspectives. Some have pursued a single line of thought to the exclusion of any others. Others have regarded the differing points of view as various facets of a jewel, each providing a new way to find meaning in the Scripture.
The range of these perspectives include the following:
Literal and Symbolic
Clearly many of the stories in the Bible are literally true, such as the historical accounts of the kings of Israel, while others, like the parables told by Jesus, are symbolic. Still other stories like the story of Adam and Eve have inspired a number of different perspectives, some leaning towards the literal and some towards symbolic.
Material and Spiritual
Few would argue that the Bible is a spiritual book with spiritual guidance for us to live our lives. The diversity of readers of the Bible and the variety of their circumstances naturally lead to different perspectives on how to apply these spiritual teachings in a material world.
Story and History
The Bible contains many stories. The fact that many of these can be connected to historical records suggests to some readers that all of the stories in the Bible must necessarily be historically accurate. On the other hand, it has been suggested that the historical basis of the Bible, whatever it may be, is seondary to the moral lessons we can learn from it.
One and Many Meanings
Can a given verse in the Bible have more than one meaning? From one perspective, we know that Truth is one, not many. From another perspective, if we believe that God is omnipotent and unbounded, then we may also believe that He can invest His Revelation with unlimited meanings.
Absolute and Relative Truth
Far removed from the extremes of hardened dogma and slippery relativism proposed by limited human imagination lies the possibility that Truth may have two aspects: firmly rooted in the soil of the Absolute, yet alive and growing in the sunshine, rain, and fresh breezes of the Relative.