How do Christian Fundamentalists justify a literal interpretation of the Bible?

Question

The Old Testament was written 3000+ years ago, The New Testament was written after Christ's death. Christ left no written words. Both the Old and the New Testaments have been revised and interpreted many times through the years. The official Bible was adopted some time during the 4th Century AD at various Councils sanctioned by Emperor Constantine,with certain transcripts included and others excluded. Given all that, we are to believe that every word in the Bible is inerrant and "inspired by God"?

Answer 1

It's refreshing to see that someone else knows this. I just wish that the fundies would read and consider their words, but I don't think they will.

I was shocked when I finally learned when the Gospels were actually written.

Answer 2

The Bible's accuracy and reliability have been proved and verified over and over again by archaeological finds produced by both believing and nonbelieving scholars and scientists. This included verification for numerous customs, places, names, and events mentioned in the Bible.
One among many examples is the fact that for many years the existence of the Hittites (a powerful people who lived during the time of Abraham) was questioned because no archaeological digs had uncovered anything about them. Critics claimed the Hittites were pure myth. But today the critics are silenced. Abundant archaeological evidence for the existence of the Hittites during the time of Abraham has been uncovered.
Bible scholar Donald J. Wiseman notes, "The geography of Bible lands and visible remains of antiquity were gradually recorded until today more than 23,000 sites within this region and dating to Old Testament times, in their broadest sense, have been located." Nelson Glueck, a specialist in ancient literature, did an exhaustive study and concluded: "It can be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference." Well-known scholar William F. Albright, following a comprehensive study, wrote: "Discovery after discovery has established the accuracy of innumerable details, and has brought increased recognition of the value of the Bible as a source of History."

There are more than 24,000 partial and complete manuscript copies of the New Testament. These manuscript copies are very ancient and they are available for inspection NOW. there are also some 86,000 quotations from the early church fathers and several thousand lectionaries (church-service books containing Scripture quotations used in the early centuries of Christianity). In fact, there are enough quotations from the early church fathers that even if we did not have a single copy of the Bible, scholars could still reconstruct all but 11 verses of the entire New Testament from material written within 150 to 200 years from the time of Christ. Bottom line: The New Testament has an overwhelming amount of evidence supporting its reliability.

God inspired the Bible through sixty-six writers.
Inspiration doesn't mean the biblical writer just felt enthusisatic, like the composer of "The Star-Spangled Banner." Nor does it mean the writings are necessarily inspiring to read, like an uplifting poem. The biblical Greek workd for inspiration litterally means "God-breathed." Because Scripture is breathed out by God - because it originates from Him - it is true and inerrant.
Biblical inspiration may be difined as God's superintending of the human authors so that, using their own individual personalities - and even their writing styles - they composed and recorded without error His revelation to humankind in the words of the original autographs. In other words, the original documents of the their own personalities and literary talents, wrote under the control and guidance of the Holy Spirit, the result being a perfect and errorless recording of the exact message God desired to give to man.
Hence, the writers of Scripture were not mere writing machines. God did not use them like keys on a typewriter to mechanicallly reproduce His message. Nor did He dictate the words, page by page. The biblical evidence makes it clear that each writer had a style of his own. (Isaiah ahd a powerful literary style; Jeremiah had a mournful tone; Luke's style had medical evertones; and John was very simple in his approach.) The Holy Spirit infallibly worked through each of these writers, through their individual styles, to inerrantly communicate His message to humankind.

Answer 3

Biblical inerrancy and divine inspiration can't justify a literal interpretation of the Bible.

Anyone who attempts to take all of the Bible literally is a fool.

Anyone who dismisses the Bible as being just an ordinary book is an even bigger fool.

Answer 4

Well.. aside from being crazy...

They justify it the same way the pharisees did. Year's of building up propaganda, social status and an air of holiness. Follow this up with blind devotees and simple minded folks and you've got yourself a cult... er.. I mean fundamentalists.. >_>

Its not popular to realize that, of course, there's no way to literally express a perfect God's will entirely. Without using metaphor, its absurd to even try it in my opinion.. but hey, if they were right there'ld be almost no way for them to have such numbers!

In short, they don't justify it, they ignore the truth and run away from it with words.

Edit: Oh btw, on translations, the translators are not divinely driven, nor those who decided what's in and what's out. The most reliable source of what's truly God's will is meditating on it and listening for the whispers of the Holy Spirit. Don't be scared of real spirituality so much that you completely miss out!

Answer 5

They realize that if you can find flaw in any part of it, question can be put to any part of it.

And it's just easier to answer 'Because the Bible says so.' than to provide a sound reasoning for your beliefs. It's easier to read and regurgitate than to be educated.

Many of the views expressed in the Bible are defendable without simply assuming that it's right because it says so, but that would require a deeper understanding of their God, their faith and themselves.

There are really quite few people who take the Bible literaly, however. Most of them are on Y!Q&A, that's all.

Answer 6

The Bible: "It is full of interest. It has noble poetry in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and some good morals; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies." --excerpt from "Letters from the Earth" by Mark Twain

This is the best description of the bible ever written.

Answer 7

Well, to me, the fundamentalists make MORE SENSE than the moderates or liberals. At least they're consistent: either the Bible is the literal word of God or it isn't.

I think the means by which they arrive at that conclusion amount to brainwashing, but at least the only commit one fallacy. Liberal theologians have a lot of explaining to do.

Answer 8

The bible is a journey of God and Man together, it is a partnership of love in which God reveals himself to Man and Man chooses to walk with him or just walk his own way....

... the bible tells of the accounts of this jouney and opens doors to the divine realm which we could not have opened otherwise...

... Inspiration is basically God's voice of love into the hearts of his sons, of his affection and devotion to give them his free and unmeasurable love....

... fundamentalists in every religion not only Chirstianity limit God to their own made frame and refuse to open themselves to his openess and enjoy his unmeasurable mercy and love for his sons and daughters on earth....

... in the bible saint Paul teaches us that it is the Soul of the bible that we should follow not the literal words....English is not my first language so I am going to translate from Arabic "The Soul gives life, the letters kill"....

... in that context I understand my bible and live it with my fellow humans everywhere and my fellow Christians in church.

God bless you all.

Answer 9

Because they have not researched what you have. That does not mean there are not good things to learn from the Bible.

Answer 10

Oh I have got to see this one.