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
Last activity: Oct 12, 2022, 10:38 PM