ALL RELIGION IS OF THE LIFE, AND THE LIFE OF RELIGION IS TO DO THAT WHICH IS GOOD. Every man who has religion knows and acknowledges that he who leads a good life is saved, and that he who leads an evil life is damned; for he knows and acknowledges that the man who lives aright thinks aright, not only about God but also about his neighbor; but not so the man whose life is evil. The life of man is his love, and that which he loves he not only likes to be doing, but also likes to be thinking. The reason therefore why we say that the life is to do that which is good is that doing what is good acts as a one with thinking what is good, for if in a man these two things do not act as a one, they are not of his life.
Emanuel Swedenborg 1763

FAITH IS AN INTERNAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF TRUTH. At the present day the term Faith is taken to mean the mere thought that the thing is so because the church so teaches, and because it is not evident to the understanding. For we are told to believe and not to doubt, and if we say that we do not comprehend, we are told that this is just the reason for believing. So that the faith of the present day is a faith in the unknown, and may be called blind faith, and as it is something that somebody has said, in somebody else, it is a faith of hearsay.

Emanuel Swedenborg, 1763

A Sobering Thought: Did you see where Billy Graham's daughter was being interviewed on the Early Show sometime back about the September 11th terrorist attack and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said "I believe that God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman that He is, I believe that He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand that He leave us alone?"

“Although the style of the Word seems simple in the sense of the letter, it is such that nothing can ever be compared to it in excellence, since Divine wisdom lies concealed not only in the meaning as a whole but also in each word; and that in heaven this wisdom shines forth.”

The true meaning of love of one's neighbor is not that it is a command from God, which we are to fulfill, but that through it and in it we meet God. (Martin Buber)

Whoever hates anyone hates Him who spoke and the world came into existence. (Hebrew proverb)

Love and pity and wish well to every soul in the world; dwell in love, and then you dwell in God; hate nothing but the evil that stirs in your own heart. (William Law)

Charity is therefore an internal affection from which a person wills to do good, and this without any reward. The delight of his life consists in doing it. With those who do good from an internal affection there is charity in everything that they think and say, and that they will and do. (Heavenly Doctrine 104)

Eccl 11:7-8
The light is pleasant, and it is good for the eyes to see the sun. Indeed, if a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all, and let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything that is to come will be futility.NASU

Some people take most of what the Bible says very literally. Others see the Bible as being largely symbolic with a deeper meaning. Sometimes a conflict arises between the two different points of view. One side insists that any search for a deeper meaning comes from a failure to believe what God plainly says. The other side claims that it is only by means of the symbolic interpretation that the Bible becomes meaningful and relevant for today.
The question of how to interpret the Bible is not just a matter of personal opinion. Regardless of whether we prefer a literal or symbolic interpretation, we should look at how the Bible interprets itself. How does God tell us to interpret His revelation? Does He indicate that we should look for a deeper meaning?
John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. KJV

John 4:10-14 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. KJV

One becomes what one is born of.

I found that the Bible in its literal printed form is not completely a accurate history of actual events, many stories are true and other stories depict events that are allegorical. I have found that the Bible does not make itself clear scientifically of the existence of God. I have found that some translations are wanting and yet there are enough translations out there to do some comparison and get the gist.
More importantly though, I have found that the Bible is a book written for our “spiritual nature”, the non-physical self and has been provided for that purpose to bridge the gap between us and God, by God. A book written in a style to enlighten us to a more spiritually centered life away from a more natural, materialistic centered life; a style using historical events, allegories, parables, imagery and literal statements to convey to us a spiritually centered life. 2 Cor 3:6 “as ministers of a new covenant-not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (NIV) That is i.e. Spiritual Life as opposed to spiritual death.