Proof that reading the OT literally is a mistake.

[Hare_Geist]

In the Book of Judges there is a story about a man named Samson. He was so strong that he destroyed an entire army with nothing but a donkey's jawbone, wrestled a lion and destroyed a building singlehandedly. However, when his hair was cut, it turned out that it was the source of his strength and he subsequently loses it.

Now I'm questionable of the sanity of anyone who can honestly believe that cutting a man's hair causes him to lose his strength and that a man is singlehandedly capable of slaying an entire army with nothing but a donkey's jawbone.

However, if the story is not read literally and history is studied, then it makes perfect sense.

In the Old Testament times, there were men called Nazarites. They grew their hair long and kept it uncut as a symbol of their devotion to God. Now, interestingly, Samson is a Nazarite. If read metaphorically, then, the story is stating that with faith in God one could have the strength to get through life, and the cutting of Samson's hair, therefore, is a metaphor for what happens when one loses their faith.

If I am correct, then surely this is evidence that a literal reading of the Old Testament is wrong. St. Augustine (who I have been reading lately) believed that the Bible wasn't concerned with facts of science (which could be argued to include geography and history), if I am not mistaken, but with spiritual truths and that therefore when a Christian is seen harping on about how, for example, evolution is false because it contradicts a literal reading of the Bible, he is doing a great disservice to the religion of Christianity.

So, I would love to hear people's opinions on this.