Re this:Alright, to finish this response, I really have a genuine question that is not intended to offend anyone. Who decides what is symbolic and what is concrete in the Bible? How can you know what is to be interpretted and what is to be taken literally? And, how do you know that your interpretation is correct when the Bible does not state what is?
I'm not a particularly religious person, though I have done more to study religion then most because I envy people's firm belief in a single semi-coherent religious school of thought. That be as it may, for any system of writing, as soon as it's out of the author's hands it's pretty much fair game. People just have to make the best decision and hope that it's correct.
You could apply the same thing to the United States Constitution, as who actually gets to decide the things isn't listed in the constitution.