Does SOM interpret the Bible?

I am a Hasidic Jew, but I am wanting to understand other faith traditions' beliefs specifically their literalism of sacred texts. As Jews, the interpretation of the text is somewhat open, however Judaism is textually oriented when looking even at shapes of letters in the Torah. It is still very important. I'm curious, how does the Science of Mind philosophy, which has its roots in Christianity, interpret the Christian Bible? What are your views about Hebrew Scriptures and how do they relate to the SOM teaching?  

How does the Science of Mind philosophy which has its roots in Christianity, interpret the Christian Bible? 
The Science of Mind informs us through all the great faith traditions' books including the

Christian Bible. There is no simple way to answer this question. There is no way for us to prove that much of the Bible is factually true. Should we even try? Does it matter? In my view, a debate about the literal truth of the Bible misses the entire point.Is the Bible the literal word of God? That is purely a matter of faith. No human has ever heard the word of God unfiltered through his or her own mind and senses.We all hear the still small voice of God in our minds giving us direction, comforting and counseling. But do we receive God's word from without -from the heavens - or from deep in our own being? Are we not all direct revealers of God's Truth; if we are open to receive it? 

The Bible clearly states that God is a Spirit, not a superperson. This Spirit is everywhere present and therefore is in us. We are told to seek the Kingdom of God within ourselves. Do not look here or there but within!  Human beings wrote every word of the Bible. They may have been inspired by the Holy Spirit, as we like to call the God Spirit within, but Biblical authors were totally human and as such were fallible. They wrote what they believed and what they felt and it was their Truth.

The lessons taught by the parables and stories in the Bible are Truth, the greatest Truth every told. The facts of the stories are most certainly not the literal Truth.

The truth lies in the meaning of the stories not in the stories themselves. Was Jonah swallowed by a whale? Was Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt? Did Sarah give birth at 80 years of age? Did Jesus walk on water?

The Bible was written in parable. A parable is a story told to teach a great moral or spiritual lesson. The ancient hearers of these parables understood that they were not to be taken literally; the lesson was the point of the story.

  

The people who gathered to hear Jesus speak were Aramaic speakers and they understood perfectly that the facts of the story meant nothing - it was the moral and spiritual Truth the story taught that was the message. The story was the vehicle in which Truth was conveyed to the listener and had no other value or purpose.

The Bible is an indespenisble book of God's Truth but was never meant to be taken literally. The Truth behind the stories and events in the Bible is the message and it is a message for the ages. 

Excerpted from: Awakened Heart Ministries: Rev. Dore' Jacques Patlian, 2006

 

What are your views about the Hebrew Scriptures and how do they relate to the SOM teaching?
Just as mentioned up above, the Hebrew Scriptures relate parables and metaphor that help us in our lives.  For example, the story of the burning bush. 

So there story goes: Moses was tending sheep on Mt. Horeb in the desert when he saw a bush on fire, that did not seem to burn up.God called out to him and asked him to take the sandals from his feet for he was standing on holy ground. God said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. Moses hid his face for he was afraid. God told him he knew of the affliction of his people in Egypt, has heard their cries, and has come down to deliver them to the land of milk and honey. God said he would send him to Pharaoh to deliver his people.  Moses said, "Who am I to deliver the people from Pharaoh and deliver the children of Israel?" And God said to him," I will be with you." Moses asked God, "When I go to the children of Israel and they ask me who sent me for them, what name shall I say sent me?" God said, "I am that I am. I am AHIAH ASHAR High, the Living God. This is my name forever."

What we can learn from this story metaphysically is:
The desert represents a place in consciousness of man that seems lack of substance and life. But in truth these deserts do not exist because there is no lack and God is inexhaustible resources. The desert is sometimes where we go in consciousness when we are in fear, struggling with our faith or remembering we are connected to the Divine. 

The burning bush and the Angel of the Jehovah that appears to Moses represents what is within the consciousness of us all. The flame and light of God always burns inside of us, it is inexhaustible, and no substance is lost, hence the reason the bush didn’t consume itself in the fire. The bush is the “nerve center” through which this universal life runs.

The poet, Elizabeth Browning put it like this:

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING, Sonnets from the Portuguese

Earth's crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God;

But only he who sees, takes off his shoes, (limited thoughts)

The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries,

And daub their natural faces unaware.

The angel is the light and God that is ever present in our lives.  It also means that the inner fire within us, can be approached by spiritual thought. We are connected to God and it is always within us.  This was a reminder to Moses that this light is always there, even when we are out in the desert and all we see is lack and struggle.

The sandals that Moses took off represents symbolically the taking of all material concepts. “the words with which understanding (Truth) is clothed. When holy ground or substance in its spiritual wholeness is approached by man he must put off from his understanding all limited thoughts about the absolute-he must put his shoes off his feet.”

So this bush is the reminder that God, the light is always within and we are never consumed by it and it never goes out.  The true reality must be brought into our consciousness (children of Israel) and we must go to the Pharoah, which is our subconscious thought and see what we are planting in thought.  His name that he tells Moses, the Living God, is the reminder for us all to be grounded in that knowing, that God is always with us.

We can use these parables as teaching tools for our own lives as we see here with this story.