Why I take the Bible literally

I must be missing something, because your statement seems to have come out of left field. Is this in response to something about the Bible being taken literally?
 
Faithfulservant said:
I wanted to address this to explain why I might be intolerant of those that take the bible out of context or pick and choose passages they like and leave out the rest.

I believe with all my heart that it's God's direct message to me. Think about how Holy and Sacred that would make it that God spoke and the written Word is the result. To deny that is blasphemy to me but I understand that not everyone believes as I do.. but when Scripture is twisted beyond recognition it would be as if I was giving permission for someone to blaspheme God by not answering back.

Ok as to why I take it literally. Question if you were wrong in interpreting it in a way God did not intend and developed a false teachings and shared that teaching with others.. the bible says their blood is on your hands. If I take it literally then when I face God I can stand on the fact that I took Him at His Word and didn't put my Self into it.g it literally I am secure in not fabricating based on mans teaching.

I believe the Bible is complete and doesn't need further interpretation or messengers with a different message. God's plan of Salvation is clear and that's what it's all about. How He is dealing with Mans rebellion and how He made a way for our redemption. I feel secure in my Salvation and it boggles my mind that someone could possibly try to convince me that it's wrong and they have a different truth. Funny right?

What a wild ride this is!
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You've been listening to John MacArthur who teaches a literal 6-day creation which I believe is an absolute abomination. He teaches that God created the entire universe in six 24-hour days. He teaches that the flood was global, and that Noah put two of every animal that existed globally including flying and creeping things including the dinosaurs on the ark! Then, he says at the end of 7,000 years, God will destroy the entire universe! This foolishness is driving people OUT of Christianity and people looking in want NOTHING to do with us!
 
Faithfulservant said:
Firstly.. I can only speak from my Christian perspective as @RJM describes as a literalist non denominational trinitarian 🤭


I answered this in a previous message

How long should these 6 days be? Since plants and trees were created before the sun.. how would that work?

The bible has dinosaurs.. Job has descriptions of leviathan and behemoth. One sounds remarkably like a dragon. 😊




He told Noah to bring 7 of the clean animals because after the flood the consumption of meat would be permitted and 2 of unclean and these were all "after their kind".. so it would not be two lions and two tigers it would just be two Panthera genus or Canis genus for dogs.

I don't believe blindly.. He gave us thinking minds to use and to reason with. In my years of study I had to reason all of this for myself. I have a thirst for knowledge of His Word.. I may not know much of anything else but He has given me more than enough to spend my time on.
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The behemoth is a water ox big guy! The Leviathan is a mythical creature that represents Satan.
 
Faithfulservant said:
You asked which I read and I say I read them all.. if you want to know which I study I use the blue letter bible for side by side comparison that also utilizes the Greek lexicon.
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If you use the lexicons, why is it you don't understand - or maybe refuse to accept, the correct meaning of the word DAY? This issue alone has destroyed common sense Christianity. It's caused me to lose faith in my fellow Christians. Literal 6-day is crazy!
 
Faithfulservant said:
This actually speaks on my personal belief because in the grand scheme of things.. it's not a salvation issue and truly what I believe while taking the bible literally. I dont feel comfortable attempting to change the Word to fit what I think it could mean based on what makes sense to me. His ways are higher than mine and like in the book of Job how can my mind grasp the enormity of God's mind and ways. That's a scary path to go down.
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It is a salvation issue. It's driving good sensible people OUT of this debacle of a religion. Three doctrines are pushing Christians OUT. The diabolical Trinity doctrine, pre-trib, and literal 6-day creationism! Christians are destroying Christianity one foolish teaching at a time!
 
Faithfulservant said:
Probably because I think you are taking this personally. Lol. I see this a lot btw.. it makes people mad. How dare you question science. It's ok my skin is pretty thick at this point.

I never understood why it's easier to believe that the universe is this ever expanding endless thing with hundreds of galaxies and uncountable planets stars and suns than an enclosed environment hanging on nothing fixed and unmoveable Did God really create all this chaos and uncertainty? All the major religions have flat earth believers and have their own ancient cosmology maps. It wasn't until mid 19th century that Americans started adding the globes into schools.

Why would Joshua command the sun and moon to stand still and not the earth?
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That's not true! This is a copy of an uncopyrighted MSN article.

The Flat Earth Myth of the Middle Ages
Contrary to widespread belief, scholars during the Middle Ages were well aware that the Earth was not flat. The misconception that they believed in a flat Earth largely originates from Washington Irving’s fictionalized 1828 biography of Christopher Columbus.
In reality, Columbus’s voyage was not about proving the Earth’s roundness but rather about finding a westward route to Asia. The idea that medieval scholars thought the Earth was flat is a historical inaccuracy, highlighting the importance of critically examining sources and understanding the context in which such misconceptions arise.
 
harmonicat said:
You've been listening to John MacArthur who teaches a literal 6-day creation which I believe is an absolute abomination. He teaches that God created the entire universe in six 24-hour days. He teaches that the flood was global, and that Noah put two of every animal that existed globally including flying and creeping things including the dinosaurs on the ark! Then, he says at the end of 7,000 years, God will destroy the entire universe! This foolishness is driving people OUT of Christianity and people looking in want NOTHING to do with us!
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I don't actually listen to John MacArthur. Sorry.
 
harmonicat said:
It is a salvation issue. It's driving good sensible people OUT of this debacle of a religion. Three doctrines are pushing Christians OUT. The diabolical Trinity doctrine, pre-trib, and literal 6-day creationism! Christians are destroying Christianity one foolish teaching at a time!
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You sound offended. I'm sorry.
 
harmonicat said:
That's not true! This is a copy of an uncopyrighted MSN article.

The Flat Earth Myth of the Middle Ages
Contrary to widespread belief, scholars during the Middle Ages were well aware that the Earth was not flat. The misconception that they believed in a flat Earth largely originates from Washington Irving’s fictionalized 1828 biography of Christopher Columbus.
In reality, Columbus’s voyage was not about proving the Earth’s roundness but rather about finding a westward route to Asia. The idea that medieval scholars thought the Earth was flat is a historical inaccuracy, highlighting the importance of critically examining sources and understanding the context in which such misconceptions arise.
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To each their own.
 
Faithfulservant said:
You sound offended. I'm sorry.
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Wouldn't you be offended if you were told you're not a Christian and going to hell for rejecting Trinity? Christians continue to contribute to my unfavorable opinion of Christianity with their diabolical literal 6-Day Creationism which in my view is a slap in the face to the creator. I burned a total of at least 5 bibles and probably a hundred hard and soft cover resource books over this nonsense, well over $1,000 worth. I gave up and I'm not happy with believers who condemn others in the faith.
 
Faithfulservant said:
To each their own.
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Is that all you've got? So bible interpretation is TO EACH HIS OWN?

Here are the views of several respected scholars on the meaning of the creation “day” (yôm):
* R.A. Torrey (1856-1928), founder of Talbot Seminary and editor of The Fundamentals (12 volumes, published in 1910): “Anyone who is at all familiar with the Bible and the way the Bible uses words, knows that the use of the word ‘day’ is not limited to twenty-four hours. It is frequently used to denote a period of entirely undefined length…There is no necessity whatsoever for interpreting the days of Genesis 1 as solar days of twenty-four hours length.”

* J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937), considered the last of the great orthodox Princeton theologians: “It is certainly not necessary to think that the six days spoken of in that first chapter of the Bible are intended to be six days of twenty four hours each. We may think of them rather as very long periods of time.”

* Edward J. Young (1907-1968), regarded as the epitome of conservative exegetical orthodoxy: “But then there arises the question as the length of these days. That is a question which is difficult to answer. Indications are not lacking that they may have been longer than the days we now know, but the Scripture itself does not speak as clearly as one might like.”

* James Montgomery Boice (1938-2000), chairman of the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy: “[Young-earth] creationists insist that the days cover a literal 24 hours, but this is not necessarily the case. Sometimes the word ‘day’ is used with a broader meaning…it can mean a period of indefinite duration.” “Any view that makes the earth 12 to 20 thousand years old flies in the face of too much varied and independent evidence to be tenable. In my judgment the earth and universe are indeed billions of years old.”
 
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Faithfulservant said:
You sound offended. I'm sorry.
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It's not only literal 6-day that's foolish, offensive, and heretical, it's about my rejection of Trinity. This is from another forum. Would you be offended by a reply like this?

"Actually you'd be correct that ALL Christians DO believe in the Doctrine of the Trinity, for the simple reason that it's clearly, and blatantly taught in the Scriptures. All people professing faith in the LORD Jesus Christ, while denying His LORDship, are deceived, and are members of non-Christian cults. To deny the Trinity and yet claim to be a Christian is like denying the Law of Moses and claiming to be an orthodox Jew. So again, no matter what they might say, no matter what they name their religious organization, they are outside the covenant; strangers to God; under His wrath and curse, and will die in their sins unless they repent (which is a gift of God, and not something a person musters up within himself) and believe upon the LORD Jesus Christ. Anyone reading the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, and taking them as they clearly teach cannot but walk away with anything other than a Trinitarian Doctrine. Those who deny this absolutely essential Doctrine prove themselves to be unregenerate, and as the Apostle John described them, antichrist."
 
Faithfulservant said:
I don't actually listen to John MacArthur. Sorry.
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So which one of his clones have led you into believing this literal 6-day creation account? John Barnett, Kent Hovind, Ken Hamn, Hanky Hanegraaf?

Question. Would you ever change your mind on this and other issues? Or do you believe you have this literal 6 day stuff and everything else right?
 
Faithfulservant said:
Water ox big guy.. hmm ok
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I thought you said you used the lexicons? Just be aware that when using Strong's, the people running it these days have in the last 15 or so years CHANGED the meaning of several things. Why? They are Trinitarian, pre-trib literal six-day creationist and they've become an abomination. Good thing is they can change the original documents. Only their so called understanding of it. On this dinosaur/BEHEMOTH issue, they've completely changed Strong's definition of behemoth from a water ox to a dinosaur! Christians and Christianity is going bad!
 
harmonicat said:
You've been listening to John MacArthur ...
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Ah ... just to point out that MacArthur is a 'non-denominational Christian' therefore doesn't really speak for any denomination. He's an example of what happens when religion becomes a commercial enterprise. I have no time for him, either ...
 
I find it interesting how many bible literalists seem quite unfamiliar with the text...

For instance 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 tells you the books of Moses dull the mind and veil the heart, earlier in the chapter (verse 6) we read that the letter kills but the Spirit gives life... why aren't things like this taken literally?

The whole of Galatians shouldn't be there if the law is to be upheld, but in Mark 2:23-3:6 we see Jesus violate the sabbath and immediately those present want to kill for this in accordance with Exodus 31:15 and we can discuss the conversations between Rabbi's about whether healing is acceptable on the sabbath all we want but the very fact the discussion makes sense says something about this mentality.

There is also Hebrews 7 that tells us Jesus is not actually of the Abrahamic line, he is of the Melchizedek order but it is Yahweh who gave the law. There is also Deuteronomy 32:8-9 that tells us El gave Israel to Yahweh although most translations try to avoid correctly asserting the original meaning because it obviously disagrees with various aspects of their beliefs.

There is also Ephesians 2:11-22 that suggest the meaning of the cross is the overcoming of distinctions like commandments and customs that divide people so that we can come together under one Spirit...

There is also John 17:20-26 that invites us to oneness, sharing the same glory of Jesus in COMPLETE UNITY which today is largely treated as blasphemy... especially by protestants. There is a similar tone to 1 John 4:7-21 where we learn the nature of the oneness is love... elsewhere such as 1 Corinthians 2:10-16 and 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 we learn the extent to which this is to be fulfilled, here we are to have the mind and body of Christ...

Other places have us taking on every aspect of the trinity such that we become its incarnation... this includes Ephesians 4:6, John 17:26, and 1 Corinthians 6:19...

For me literalism is what went wrong in Christianity, it should have been striving to better comprehend what is being said instead of projecting the most simple interpretations possible onto everything.

Christians were never supposed to cling to the texts, they are an attempt to get you to the Spirit.
 
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