The term has also been used to refer to historical grammatical method in Biblical hermeneutics which is a common practice of conservative Christians. According to the Elwell Evangelical Dictionary, the term literalism describes a practice that "seeks to discover the author's intent by focusing upon his words in their plain, most obvious sense". In this definition, a "literalist" reading of scripture would not take the literal interpretation of allegories, parables and metaphors as found, for instance, in biblical poetry and the parables of Jesus.
The phrase "biblical literalist" is often used pejoratively to refer to those who subscribe to biblical inerrancy, and to suggest that the person or group described as "literalist" would deny the existence of allegory, parable and metaphor in the Bible. Even in its non-pejorative sense, biblical literalism is not synonymous with biblical inerrancy. Whereas inerrancy doctrine deals with the truthfulness of the author's intended message, biblical literalism deals with the interpretation of certain passages being literal.
Modern Usage
Pejorative use
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 [that] 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.
Steve Falkenberg, 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. Taken literally, the Bible says the earth is flat and setting on pillars and cannot move (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)..."
Use by adherents
Few if any people believe in Biblical literalism in the sense described above; furthermore, few if any people describe themselves as Biblical literalists. However, many evangelical and fundamentalist Christians claim a literal understanding of the Biblical scriptures. In this sense, scripture is held to be perspicuous, or simple to grasp by the average person, and it is held that a complex academic analysis is unnecessary for an understanding of at least the most basic concepts in Biblical scripture. Strong emphasis is placed on the intent of the author - understood to be God and the human author - and it is claimed that a literal interpretation of scripture interprets the scripture in the way the author meant. In this way, to say that scripture should be understood literally is to say extra allegorical meanings which were not intended by the author should not be added in to the text.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 parables 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 These views however do not contend the literalistic values that parables, metaphors and allegory are not existent in the Bible but rather relies on contextual interpretations based on the author's intention.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:
References
See also
- Biblical Hermeneutics
- Biblical inerrancy
- Eisegesis
- Historical-grammatical method
- Legalism (theology)
- Science and the Bible
- Textual Criticism - Application
Further reading
- Bullinger, E., W.. "Figures of Speech Used in the Bible". Baker Book House. 1970.
- Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why, Bart D. Ehrman, HarperSanFrancisco, San Francisco, November 1, 2005, ISBN-10: 0060738170
- Bart Ehrman's 'Misquoting Jesus', Terry Gross, Fresh Air, National Public Radio, December 14, 2005
- The Gospel according to Bart: A review of Bart D. Ehrman’s Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why, Daniel B. Wallace, bible.org
- Bart Ehrman: "Misquoting Jesus", The Diane Rehm Show, WAMU, Thursday December 8, 2005
- The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why, Bart Ehrman and Maureen Fiedler, Interfaith Voices, National Public Radio, March 8, 2007.
- Jesus for the Non-Religious, John Shelby Spong and Maureen Fiedler, Interfaith Voices, National Public Radio, May 24, 2007.
- Jesus for the Non-Religious, John Shelby Spong, HarperSanFrancisco, February 27, 2007, ISBN-10: 0060762071.
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Last updated on Saturday October 11, 2008 at 09:20:14 PDT (GMT -0700)
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