I’m not sure if anyone is interested in this. But it might be good fodder for Biblical scholars. I’ve just been round my parents’ house, and I found a photocopied article on a table. I thought it was good stuff, so I typed some of it up. (My parents are fundies, so don't worry, it's traditional stuff.) The article seems to imply that personal interpretation of Scripture is actually endorsed by Scripture itself, and is consonant with Christian faith.
Here are some snippets from it.
"Does the Bible anywhere say that it is to be taken literally? No it does not. Does the Bible anywhere say that God gave infallibility to the writers? No it does not. 2 Timothy 3.16 says, "All Scripture is God-breathed." Yet God-breathed-inspiration is not the same as dictation. The Bible doesn't say, "All Scripture is written by God"
The term "God breathed" is also implied in Genesis 2.7: "The Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life".
Human beings are "God-breathed", i.e. brought to life, and given life, by God. This doesn’t mean that God dictates every human action. On the contrary, it implies that God gives humans freedom to live and make choices. The breath, or Spirit, of God, gives life, freedom and inspiration, but does not dictate. The Scriptures are God-breathed, and God gave the prophets and the writers of Scripture insights, and raised their minds towards divine reality. But God did not dictate to them what they shall say. God’s Spirit shapes and guides the thoughts of the writers, but does not put words into their mouths.
Belief in Biblical inerrancy is not based on what the Bible actually says. Rather, it is based on people’s opinions that if God inspires Scripture, then God will prevent any errors occurring in it. But that argument is undermined by Scripture itself. There are many small mistakes in the Bible. For instance, Matthew’ gospel says that Mary Magdalene, coming to Jesus’ tomb with ‘the other Mary’, saw an angel roll away the stone from the tomb, (Matthew 28.1-2), whereas John’s gospel says that Mary Magdalene, coming alone to the tomb, found the stone had already been taken away when she got there (John 20.1).
Ironically, the view of Biblical revelation adopted by many Christians is more like that of Islam than it is of Christianity. The Qur’an is believed by Muslims to be the very words of God. The prophet recites the words he hears, but the author of the Qur’an is claimed to be God, and human minds add nothing to the text. Christians often speak as though the Bible is like this, but it is not like this at all. The Bible was written by many different people, at very different times, and in different languages, mainly Hebrew and Greek.
Moreover, the Bible expresses many different points of view. Some books are almost totally pessimistic, like the book of Ecclesiastes: "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the philosopher. "Everything is meaningless!" (Ecclesiastes 12.8). On the other hand, other books are filled with hope, like the latter parts of Isaiah: "I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy" (Isaiah 65.18). There are hymns, poems, proverbs, predictions of disaster and promises of hope, novels, histories, laws and letters. The 66 books of the Bible differ from one another in style and in perspective. They express the responses of many human writers to the inspiring presence and action of God, in context with their own experiences and perspectives.
Many Christians, however, assume that the Bible told one continuous story, from one (God’s) point of view, without any diversity of perspective or human reaction, leaving no room for interpretation or argument. This is not so.
The Bible also highlights the importance of personal experience, which is central to Christianity. Due to the nature of our personal relationship with Jesus Christ, Christians are forced to make up their own minds about how Jesus operates in their life and affairs. Their perspective is personal. In the gospels, the basic facts are agreed, but they give us a diversity of personal responses to the risen Christ, which reflects and validates something of the diversity of spiritual perspectives present within the Church. In this sense, it is no accident that Jesus did not write anything down. The fourfold Gospel of God compels us to respond in a personal way to the living Christ, and we must bring to them our own experiences of God and the reflections of many Christian centuries.
Furthermore, it is in the Church community, gathered in worship, and in a heightened awareness of the presence of the Spirit, that revelations occur. "Revelations" were, along with "knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction", speaking in tongues and interpretation, given to members of Christian congregations. These were "spiritual gifts" (1 Corinthians 14.12), and "messages" (1 Corinthians 14.30), which Paul says we should seek.
Thus, the work of interpretation must continue. ..."
I believe that our interpretation of Scripture is a more organic, flowing (and even a growing) process than many Christians claim. I don’t think that we should be forced to adhere to rigid, literal interpretations. Maybe we should follow the Holy Spirit’s inspiration a bit more, rather than being forced to appeal to OT prophets’ views, especially when it comes to discerning the true, spiritual nature of God. Is God loving, merciful, forgiving and accepting? Or is God vengeful, jealous, and tyrannical? Maybe KFC is right - that the answer is both. It depends on our own personal experience of God. Yet whatever that experience may be, we’ll find it written in the Bible.
But the overriding Christian message is Good News, not bad news. Grace, forgiveness and acceptance is ours for the taking, if we so choose. Love will persevere, for sure.