Theology 101: “That’s just a symbol” is a lazy hermeneutical cop-out. Literally every word on your page is a symbol. That’s the nature of written language. The interpreter’s burden is to determine the meaning of the term; and if a figure of speech or symbolic vision, the referent of the image. Too often I feel people say “that’s just a symbol” to dodge the implications of the likely interpretation or to relieve themselves of the burden of thinking. -Dr. Michael Svigel