Why do people take the bible so literally?

Question

After having been to several churches of different faiths I have come to realize that no one religion is right. What I took away from each is that the people in each religion feels that there way is the right way and that everyone else is wrong.

I believe that the bible is nothing more than a guide, because lord knows we need a guide. Now the whole the earth was created in 7 days in crap, the reason I believe that is there are ummm fossils that are millions of years old. The people that are saying that dinosaurs and humans "co-existed" are out of their damn minds! Their is NO WAY! Humans would not have survived and thus we would not be here. Come on folks get real and lighten the hell up! There are way more important things to take seriously than stories out of a bible.

listen folks....I am never said that I put all my faith in science and I wont simply because there are things that cannot and never be explained by science. I do not take religion seriously as well. I wont, I never said that I did not believe in a higher being nor that I did not believe there wasnt a God, I pray very often if not every day. All I am saying to the bible thumpers out there is relax and stop taking the bible so literally. From the comments that have been posted I see that a great many take the bible too seriously and get offended when some one posts something like I have. If you read the bible with an open mind then you will have a very different view of the bible. In regards to religion and going to church...where exactly does it say in the bible that church services must be held inside of a building? Where exactly say that one religion is better than the other? Does it not say in the bible to....love your neighbor as yourself?

1. Why I dont believe humans and dinosaurs "co-existed" have you ever heard of or seen for that matter human skeletons mixed in with dinosaur skeletons? No you havent and you wont. Thats what I am talking about with dinosaurs and no that does not come from science.

2. OMG when you start talking about religion with some people they go off the damn deep end! I am soooooo sorry if I trampled anyones toes.

3. As I said before I NEVER said that I didnt believe in God or a higher being. I love it when people get in their minds that I said something that I didnt.

4. For you people who take the bible quite literally...Giant as defined by the Merriam Websters dictionary
1 : a legendary humanlike being of great stature and strength
2 a : a living being of great size b : a person of extraordinary powers
3 : something unusually large or powerful

Therefore "Goliath" was taller and therefore bigger than David. We can go all day folks.

Answer 1

*shakes hands*

welcome to adulthood, glad to find another thinker...

Answer 2

Sometimes I think people stay in a closed environment because thinking outside of their box makes them feel frightened and insecure. I agree with you 100% about using the lessons of the Bible as a guide. Just look at all the versions of the Bible! Since the time of Constantine, people have been arguing over what parts are and are not valid. A number of writings were rejected at that time, and only later was it decided to include the records of the Jews (Old Testament). The Bible was copied and recopied by scribes for centuries before there was technology to print them, and many passages were changed over time either by accident or by someone who didn't agree with what was written. Sounds familiar.....people are still doing that to some extent in modern times, which is why we have so many versions.

There is no absolute proof of validity because no original copies of the Bible survived. So, when people get into arguments about scripture, I think it is pointless. In the end, we all have to decide on our own morality regardless of what the scriptures say. The world would be a much nicer place if we simply did that, rather than trying to prove ourselves "right" and the other guy "wrong".

Answer 3

That is what they are taught.

I for one believe dinosaurs did survive down into modern times, tho in relatively scarce numbers, in remote areas, sometimes being called 'dragons', etc. But I see no reason why humans could not have survived among them in their hey-day. Dinosaurs for the most part would have been relatively slow and fairly stupid. If a Tyrannosaur caught a human, it would have to have taken him unaware. They probably did lie in wait for small animals to wander by where they could grab them, and often had to subsist on carrion. Very doubtful that they did battle with the Triceratops the way the movies often show. Now a pack of velociraptors might have been something to fear, but fire and arrows would make a band of humans their masters, as much as a pack of wolves or wild dogs.

Aside from that, you are quite correct that many stories in the Bible are just plain silly if taken literally.

Answer 4

Might I persuade you to read the page on creation here:
http://bythebible.page.tl/Creation.htm

Please contact me afterwards if you are interested in talking about the creation account.
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God made the Bible not like an encyclopedia where anyone may check an entry for a definition or a pre-cooked explanation.

As it says in John 4:24, God desires worshipers that worship him according to spirit and truth. This indicates that an effort is required.

It also means that those that force their own "righteousness" and desires upon the word by not accepting easy to understand scripture are not sanctified by the truth. It seems clear that there has to be some gray area within God accepts various deviations, however, those that reject the Son and the Father are damned.
1 John 2:22 Who is a liar, but he who denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This is Antichrist, who denieth the Father, and the Son. (DRC)

In this way, if I were to claim that Jesus was an ordinary man no different than you or me, I would have denied him. Thus when many say that Jesus is Jehovah and vice versa, they are denying both the Father and the son.

Please do not give up your search for the truth.

Answer 5

Because there are two ways to read the bible:

Literally (literalists) = These people take the bible word for word, assuming everything is true.

Contextually (Contextualists) = This is how the church encourages us to read the bible. In this way you read behind the lines to see the hidden truths and meanings behind passages in the bible.

Hope this helps.

Answer 6

If you want your beliefs to be respected then you need to respect others. Yes there are people who believe that the bible is literal, and there are some that use it as a guide. But you should respect them. I think that everyone has a right to believe what ever they want.

Answer 7

1. Lighten up .... we don't need to take the Constitution seriously.

2. Have you noted that "a day" is not defined in the bible? Could it be that a "day" in Deity terms could be 100 million years?

Keep an open mind my friend and try to learn from every angle.

Answer 8

You put to much faith in science and not enough in God. Carbon dating has been pr oven false, carbon leaves different substances and different rates. Their was a study done that dated a known article from the 1800's as thousands of years old. Quit believing what scientist tell you and believe what God tells you in the Bible.

Answer 9

Well, the bible is not meant literally that's why Jesus spoke in parables. He himself said he didn't mean things literally. I'm guessing you didn't know that.
Isn't man the smartest being on earth?
So, why couldn't we have survived against the dinosaurs. Brains always beats brawn!

Answer 10

If you study "day" can also mean a long period of time, so I believe the 6 days could have been 6 million years or more.

Answer 11

we must take the bible literally. this is the only way to determine what God really is trying to communicate to us. when we read any piece of literature, but especially the bible, we must determine what the author intended to communicate. many today will read a verse or passage of scripture, and then will give their own definitions to the words, phrases, or paragraphs. but, this isn't what God intended. this is why God tells us to correctly handle the word of truth (just because you take the Bible literally does not mean that there are not figures of speech)

Anytime the Lord Jesus quoted from the Old Testament, it was always clear that He was taking it literally

Also, the disciples took the commands of Christ (which are part of the Bible) literally

it was written over a period of 1,500 years, and was finished over 1,900 years ago. we need to understand the culture in which it was written; we must also consider the context of words, phrases, and chapters.