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Do Biblical literalists believe we should gouge our eyes out or cut off our hands?

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Biblical literalism, according to GotQuestions' article What is biblical literalism? , > "is the position of most evangelicals and Christian fundamentalists > [as well as GotQuestions]." In particular, > "Biblical literalism is the method of interpreting Scripture that > holds that, except in places where the text is obviously allegorical, > poetic, or figurative, it should be taken literally." There is a lot of weight put on the word 'obviously' here. Consider that something might obviously seem sarcastic to one person, but obviously serious to another, and to a third they don't know whether the person is being sarcastic or serious. Similarly, someone might take Genesis 1-11 as 'obviously' mythic (I'm in that camp), another as 'obviously' literal. Yet my taking Genesis 1-11 as obviously mythic means *I fit with the above definition of a Biblical literalist*! Matthew 18:8-9 is > "If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it > away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have > two hands and two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. 9 And if > your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is > better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be > thrown into the fire of hell." My question is whether self-identified Biblical literalists tend to view Jesus' expressions to gouge out one's eye or cut off one's hand - or other seemingly extreme statements - as *obviously* figurative? If so, what are the main arguments made by Biblical literalists that it is obviously figurative language?
Asked by Only True God (6934 rep)
Oct 12, 2022, 02:48 AM
Last activity: Oct 12, 2022, 10:38 PM