Is the Bible Literally the Word of God?

If you're an atheist, you definitely feel the Bible is not literally the word of God and don't believe in God.

If you're a devout conservative Christian, there's a high probability that you do consider the Bible to literally be God's word.

But many others are uncertain about the truth. And for some, the answer depends on what one means by literally the word of God.

However, a 2022 Gallup poll [1] found "20% of Americans now say the Bible is the literal word of God."

Common Ground

There's some common ground even between atheists and the Christians who believe the Bible is literally the word of God.

For example, atheists acknowledge that many of the people named in the Bible actually existed. Archaeologists have confirmed the existence of many places described in the Bible. Independent historical records concur with the Bible in various ways.

There are even some sources outside the Bible that discuss Jesus, as noted by a History article [2], among many others. It seems reasonably well supported that Jesus existed and was memorable for what he accomplished.

Even among those who  claim the Bible is literally God's word, many state that parts of the Bible are told as parables, stories not to be taken as literally the truth.

Of course, there are also some atheists who claim to somehow know Jesus never existed, and some conservative Christians who take everything in the Bible to be literally true, including all of Jesus' parables.

Apparent Contradictions in the Bible

Numerous books discuss apparent contradictions contained in the Bible. They state that these contradictions prove that the Bible is not God's word.

However, numerous other books explain that these apparent contradictions are not really contradictions. They offer explanations to reconcile the apparent contradictions.

My View

Personally, I am a Christian. But I only read and write English. I've never read any of the Bible in Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic, which are apparently the original languages it was written in.

Furthermore, there are numerous English translations of the Bible. Also, the Catholic Bible contains certain books and parts of books that are not in the Protestant versions.

Even among my friends who consider the Bible to be 100% literally the word of God, there is disagreement about what it literally means. No two of them agree completely.

Personally, I don't call the Bible literally the word of God. After all, I know that the English translations we have today were translated by imperfect humans, and those who wrote the first written copies in other languages were imperfect humans.

Furthermore, the individuals who decided which particular writings would go into the Bible and which would be left out were fallible humans.

However, I am confident that on several occasions, when I've read the Bible prayerfully, that I've gained true insights from the highest righteous authority available to me, which I call God.

Below is a photo of several of the Bibles I own, including a book that reprints the Apocrypha in the King James Version (KJV). The earliest copies of the KJV contained the Apocrypha, but the Apocrypha was together in one place rather than in the particular books and locations it was in the Catholic Bible.

I've read the Bible three or four times, including once in the KJV and once in the New International Version. However, I am not a Bible scholar.

Closing Thoughts

There may be no way for humans to know for sure if the original Bible in its original languages was literally the word of God, since no original copies exist. If an original copy did exist, would we humans be able to understand it completely? I don't think so.

I do feel that when read prayerfully and interpreted properly, one can obtain blessings and insights from current translations.

Finally, I feel that those insights come from a power so much better than me that I choose to call that power God and those insights God's word.

ENDNOTES:

[1] Newport, Frank; "Fewer in U.S. Now See Bible as Literal Word of God"; Gallup; July 6, 2022; webpage accessed January 10, 2022; https://news.gallup.com/poll/394262/fewer-bible-literal-word-god.aspx

[2] Klein, Christopher; "The Bible Says Jesus Was Real. What Other Proof Exists?"; History; February 26, 2019, last updated December 15, 2025; webpage accessed January 10, 2026; https://www.history.com/articles/was-jesus-real-historical-evidence