Dictionary of all Scriptures & Myths

DO NOT TAKE THE BIBLE LITERALLY

2 Corinthians 3:6
Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

Paul states plainly that the New Testament is not to be handled at the level of letter, literal interpretation, but at the level of spirit, or the inner meaning.

To be an “able minister” of the New Testament is to read symbolically, inwardly, and spiritually. The literal reading is the one that “kills”; the spiritual reading is the one that “gives life.”

Some will say that “the letter” refers only to the Mosaic Law or the Old Testament. But that interpretation creates a theological contradiction: it implies that God knowingly gave humanity a revelation that would lead to death. If the “letter kills,” and if the “letter” is the Law, then the Law itself would be a divine mistake, a conclusion no one who holds that view is willing to accept.

This is the problem with simplistic interpretations: they avoid the deeper logic of the text. Paul is not attacking the Old Testament; he is contrasting outer religion with inner illumination. The “letter” is any literalistic, surface‑level reading that traps the mind in form. The “spirit” is the inner truth the symbolic text points toward.

When we live by the inner Christ, law of love, the inner law written on our heart, we will naturally fulfill the deeper intention behind all divine commandments. The outer law is then no longer a burden but a spontaneous expression of an awakened soul.

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