Why would they wish to degrade a holy book in this way? Is it a way to control people? [i.e. "we have the true, literal meaning, so the other people don't. If you look for any other meaning, you are going to hell with them."] is literalism really a means to elevate one group of people above the rest?
2007-09-23 02:57:13 · 32 answers · asked by Jerusalem Delivered 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
People who say that the Bible or other sacred text need to be taken literally frighten me.
If they believe, for example, that it was God who ordered every man, woman and child in Jericho slaughtered, then under what circumstances would they think that God would order something similar in the future? If they believe it was justified for the ancient Israelites to massacre all the priests of a competing religion, what does that idea do for religious tolerance toward those who are "non-believers" of their particular dogma, today?
Some may be making these claims to control people. Others may be deluded. Both kinds are dangerous to the peace and safety of our world.
2007-09-23 05:06:17 · answer #1 · answered by Pascha 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, I believe the Bible is literally the word of God. First of all I would consider the conditions surrounding the creation of the Bible to be extraordinary. The 66 books were written by approx 40 men who came from every imaginable walk of life, from 3 different continents, in 3 different languages, and over 1500 years. Now this circumstance would appear at first to be the very reason we shouldn't believe it, BUT what makes it remarkable is that even though the 40 writers didn't know each other, they spoke of hundreds of controversial topics and what they recorded spoke with harmony and continuity from beginning to end. If you think about it, we would have a hard time getting 10 people living today from the same geographical background, speaking the same language, all in the same line of work, to agree on only ONE controversial topic. The Bible is authenticated by countless fulfilled prophesies (approx 1/3 of the Bible is prophesy). Some of the prophesies were fulfilled right way, others 500 years later, some are to be fulfilled in modern times and some in the future. Just the birth of Jesus alone fulfilled 8 specific prophesies which, when looked at mathematically, is so remote as to be considered impossible. Consider checking out the following websites.
2016-05-21 07:33:08 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Bible was written by men, with a biased towards men.
I would think that if women had taken it literally there would be no Christian women at all. It is very hard following a faith where half the population are seen to be unworthy of anything other than to blame for the evil in this world.
If the Bible were to be taken literally, there would be many people with eyes and teeth missing (an eye for an eye etc), men would have wives and concubines and slavery would still be acceptable.
2007-09-23 03:43:58 · answer #3 · answered by cadenza 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, the point about taking a holy text is literally is fairly important. For example, if you that the creation story literally, then you must be able to defend it from evolution as both contradict each other. If you take it metaphorically then you have problems relating to Original Sin, the need for blood sacrifice and ultimately the need for the Crucifixion. These problems crop up throughout the Bible and cause all kinds of theological problems.
2007-09-23 03:15:28 · answer #4 · answered by Pirate AM™ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Many people do take the Bible or other mythic sacred text of same style literally because they can't think of anything else.
They cannot see that specific Book as the prehistoric "annals" of some tribes of a God's favored people craving for a promised land. They bluntly accept what they hear from church or temple or saturday school, and their brains are dazzled by the impact of the peculiar rituals and the wondrous message preached unto them by their power-seeking priest or similar; their attitude is like that of naive and old-style peasant wives.
Many people are not conscious of any objective heuristic and glowing sciences, not even when they have formally studied science; they are not conscious of the findings of archaeology, they do not know what paleontology is about, or they even repress it in their psyche, because of short-sighted convenience or because of heuristic laziness.
2007-09-23 05:19:27 · answer #5 · answered by pasquale garonfolo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Literalism, in most cases, are done by those making fun of the bible, i.e. "making fun of other beliefs".
But, there are "religious" ones that are blind to the deeper meanings of the book. They may claim "literalism", as to proclaim a superior understanding or to elevate their faith, so yeah, you may be on to something there!
But most people I know that have "Godly" wisdom, do not take it literal, rather with an open mind, have gained great understanding in the truth.
They are usually looked down on by the "religious" community, cause they can not be controlled.
yep, in answering this question, I have concluded that you are definitely on to something!
Keep your mind open and free. Your getting it.
2007-09-23 03:10:46 · answer #6 · answered by Diver Down 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Many Christians choose whether or not so interpret a verse literally or metaphorically to their liking. If there is a verse that prohibits something they really enjoy doing, then they may purposely interpret their way around it by taking it either figuratively or literally. They interpret the verses to their personal taste so that they could lead the least restrictive, most free life. That is not the Bible.
Some verses may sound violent or unpopular, so instead of taking them literally, they take them figuratively and call it a day, relieving the verse of its distaste and "violence", and thus making the religion sound as peaceful as possible, when in reality, they should have interpreted it literally. These are the same Christians who are quick to judge other religions and call them violent and take adavntage of the fact that they interpreted their verses as loosely and "peacefully" as possible.
Just as an example, if the Bible said "be not drunk with wine", then someone might be really upset. So, in reaction they interpret the verse in a way that would grant them the most freedom. "Uh-oh, I really like getting drunk with wine...Hmmm...there must be another way...Ah hah! Then I can be drunk with beer instead! As for wine, I can drink as much as I want as long as I don't get drunk. Yes! Now I can do all that and still be a perfectly good Christian.".
Perhaps most Christians DO interpret the Old Testament literally. But they regard it as violent and it restricts them from doing many things, and they cannot stand that, and thus disregard it as a result, simply acknowledging that it is there and good for learning. They want their pork, they do not want to sound violent with the verses of stoning, they do not want to be restricted, and they want their women (and men), but the Old Testament prohibits them from doing many things that are immoral and unhealthy, but many Christians want to do these things because otherwise they would feel too bounded by their religion and like doing them, and therefore sweep the Old Testament under the rug or simply claim that it is not to be followed as a result; it was old law--the new law gives us so much more freedom! And they like that.
In conclusion I would just like to say that many Christians choose how to interpret verses based on what fits their own personal taste rather than what God truly wants them to do. They pick and choose which verses to follow, yet ignore others that would not appeal to their lifestyle. I realize that not all Christians like this, and I am in no way trying to bash Christianity with this answer, just trying to give insight through my opinion. I rest my case.
Thank you for reading all this if you did, and good luck!
2007-09-23 03:32:41 · answer #7 · answered by Omer 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Bible is to be taken literally in the context it was written in. The history parts need to be read as history, the philosophy as philosophy, the law as law and so on. At no point does it say the entire book is completely literally true as a science book or a philosophy book or anything else. You have to examine what you are reading and change how you read it accordingly.
2007-09-23 03:24:09 · answer #8 · answered by mrglass08 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I believe the bible to be literal, it you spiritualize it you can make say anything you like....this is how cults operate. When the bible is not taken literally it starts to get watered down. The books of the bible are letters written from one person to another, they were written literally anything else and it all begins to fall apart. The only exception would be the book of Revelation which was based on a dream.
2007-09-23 08:09:48 · answer #9 · answered by Andy 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The simple answer is: To stop people from questioning the authenticity of the bible because it is totally unprovable, mainly conjecture, suppostion and guess-work.
It was written by several people over hundreds of years who, if they didn`t or weren`t sure of what they were writing, they would make it up - so easy because no-one until recently queried the truth of the bible. And it was too far back in the past to even begin to query it.
Ony the weak believe the bible stories. They find comfort in it, which cannot be bad, even if is a load of absolute rubbish.
But don`t tell anyone, they won`t believe you!
2007-09-23 03:06:27 · answer #10 · answered by Montgomery B 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋