How do you read the Bible? AKA, why nobody actually reads it "Literally"

Ok, up front, I want to make it clear, this is a topic about how people read the Bible differently, not how I read it, or how they read it, but how different people read it differently, and trying to understand why reading the same text in different ways can produce such different opinions on the same text, and how we can better understand both what we are reading, and how other people have read it.

In order to stay on topic, I want to stay away from the more controversial ones, at least in the OP, I am sure we will talk the "Clobber verses" and such in the comments, and that is fine. But for now, lets stick to the less controversial ones to explain the concept.

So the first important principle in how you read the Bible, is that when you pick it up, you have an understanding of what the book IS. For some people, The Bible is the Word of God. For others, it is just an old Book. For others, it is A word of God among many. What you think it is will have a huge impact on what you read, and this is important, you need to understand that other people have different opinions, and they don't know which one you have. That italicized part causes a lot of arguments on here, people like to assume the person they are talking too just instinctively knows what the Bible is to you, when they do not. So if you want to communicate with someone else about the Bible, it is very important to understand where both parties stand on what the Book is. Especially its inerrancy, or lack thereof. It is kind of futile to spend 30 minutes arguing with someone over a detail, only to find out they think the Bible is flawed anyway.

Second principle flows from the first, once you know what the Book is, you need to develop an understanding of what it is trying to say, based on what it IS. As an example, some hardcore Anti-Thiests see the entire Bible as a tool of religious and social oppression, so read deceit and treachery into every line. Of course, most Christians do the opposite, but we all have some basic understanding of what the Bible is trying to tell us, and we read that meaning into each verse. If you think God is a loving, forgiving God, you interpret even the harshest passages in that light, if you think he is a harsh, judgmental one, same thing, it bleeds into the meaning of each verse. I am not telling you which is correct here (I am an Atheist, after all, although I used to be a Christian), I am just reminding you that if your view of God is different than what the person you are talking too has, then you will be functionally reading a different Bible.

The last one is at a more technical level, and it is how precise you think the language is. And this one is where I am amused/concerned by the people who claim they read the Bible "Literally". Because that isn't possible. Again, what you are actually doing is applying the first two principles, but then claiming the text is precise when it isn't. This is also why you should be careful when you say "The Bible clearly says X", because what is clear to you isn't to another.

Let's use as our example, Genesis 4: 9-10.

^(9) Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

^(10) The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.

Now, this is of course, the story of Cain and Abel, everyone knows it. But lets look at the principles here. How you read this story depends ENORMOUSLY, on what you think the Bible is, and it is very important for you to understand you just read those words extremely differently than other people. Some of you will immediately read this as myth, or a fairy tale, or history, or allegory, or spiritual lesson, or something else, and it will HUGELY change the meaning of the words.

But lets talk the precise meanings, for some who say they "Literally" believe it. The Phrase "I don't know" is a lie. It is in the Bible as a lie. So if you believe the Bible is literally true, obviously that part of it still isn't true, Cain is lying. So what is literally true? Is it literally true that Cain said it? Well, not really. Cain wasn't speaking English here. If Genesis is historical, he isn't speaking Hebrew either, he is speaking some Pre-Flood/Pre-Babel language. So what did Cain "Literally" say? Obviously we have no idea. So did what Cain say have this exact meaning? Or did Cain just say something to the effect of "I don't know"? Again, we cannot "Literally" believe this verse, we have to interpret it based on what we already believe, and if we are discussing that, we have to explain HOW we are interpreting it if we want to communicate.

Then let's look at verse 10 "Your Brother's blood cries out from the ground". Now this is God speaking, not Cain, so he isn't lying. But is he telling the literal truth? Uh, probably not, right? This is obviously poetic. Some people might insist Abel's blood is literally yelling human words out of the ground, but most people are going to assume this is poetic. This is a phrase, that means "I know you killed Abel, I am upset about it, and your Brother deserves Justice". It probably doesn't mean Abel's blood is making audible noises from the dirt in despair. But I suppose some people may read it exactly that way.

Hopefully the reason all this is important can be agreed on. What is "Clear" to you in the Bible is going to be very different to others, and even if you think the Bible "Literally says" something, that doesn't mean someone else is going to read it the same type of literally as you are.