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In a sense, however, biblical literalism is not synonymous with biblical inerrancy. ''The Inerrancy of Scripture'' , Kevin Vanhoozer, Latimer House (1992) Whereas inerrancy doctrine deals with the truthfulness of the author's intended message ''The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy'' (1997) , biblical literalism deals with the interpretation of certain passages being literal. The term has also been used to refer to or the Parables Of Jesus . MODERN USAGE The Term "Biblical Literalism" is primarily pejorative. Conrad Hyers, professor of comparative religion at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota , criticized this as "a mentality manifests itself [not only in conservative churches, private-school enclaves, television programs of the evangelical right, and a considerable amount of Christian bookstore material; one often finds a literalist understanding of Bible and faith being assumed by those who have no religious inclinations, or who are avowedly antireligious in sentiment. Even in educated circles the possibility of more sophisticated theologies... is easily obscured by burning Straw Effigies of biblical literalism."Hyers, Conrad "Biblical Literalism: Constricting the Cosmic Dance" Christian Century August 4-11, 1982, p. 823 [http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1332] Steve Falkenberg, Ph.D, professor of religious psychology at Eastern Kentucky University , says, "I've never met anyone who actually believes the Bible is literally true. I know a bunch of people who say they believe the Bible is literally true but nobody is actually a literalist." ''Biblical Literalism'' , Steve Falkenberg, New Reformation, 2002. "Taken literally, the Bible says the earth is flat and setting on pillars and cannot move (1 Chr 16:30, Ps 93:1, Ps 96:10, 1 Sam 2:8, Job 9:6). It says that great sea monsters are set to guard the edge of the sea (Job 41, Ps 104:26)..." LITERALISM VS. INERRANCY AND GRAMMATICAL-HISTORICAL It is commonly taught in the most Conservative Christian seminaries that certain sections of the Bible should be interpreted as literal statements of the author and are not intended as Parable s or as allegorical. These include Creation In Genesis , the Flooding Of The Entire World In Genesis , the lifespans as enumerated by Genealogies Of Genesis , the historicity of the narrative accounts of Ancient Israel , the Supernatural intervention of God in history, and Jesus' Miracles ''Lewis on Miracles'' , Art Lindsley, Knowing & Doing; A Teaching Quarterly for Discipleship of Heart and Mind: C.S. LEWIS INSTITUTE, Fall 2004[http://www.icr.org/pdf/imp/imp-395.pdf#search=%22Genesis%20Flood%20Whitcomb%22 ''The History and Impact of the Book, The Genesis Flood''], John C. Whitcomb, Impact, Number 395, May 2006 These views however do not contend the literalistic values that parables, metaphors and allegory are not existent in the Bible Henry A Virkler (1981) Principles and Processes of Biblical Interpretation but rather relies on contextual interpretations based on the author's intention. ''Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics With commentary by Norman L. Geisler'' , Reproduced from ''Explaining Hermeneutics: A Commentary on the Chicago Statement on Biblical Hermeneutics'', Oakland, California: International Council on Biblical Inerrancy, 1983. As a part of '' Chicago Statement On Biblical Inerrancy '' conservative Christian scholarship affirms the following:
Noted inerrantist Norman Geisler in his commentary on the '' Chicago Statement On Biblical Hermeneutics '' states:
LEVEL OF SUPPORT FOR BIBLICAL LITERALISM Belief in biblical literalism is fairly rare among most Christians. Unfortunately, good statistics are not easy to come by. However, at least for the United States , some information exists. According to a recent study, among the 15% of U. S. Citizens that are Evangelical Protestants , 47.8% believe that the Bible is literally true, and 6.5% believe that the Bible is an ancient book full of History and Legends . About 11% of Catholics and mainline Protestants believe the Bible is literally true, and 9% of Jews believe the Torah is literally true. About 20% of Catholics and Protestants reported that the Bible is a book of History and Legends , and 52.6% of Jewish respondents feel the same about the Torah . ''American Piety in the 21st Century'', Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion, September 2006 ARGUMENTS AGAINST BIBLICAL LITERALISM
REFERENCES SEE ALSO
LITERALISTS REPORTED VIEWS ON SEX
FURTHER READING
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