The dangers of interpreting the Bible too literally?

St. Augustine warns about taking the Bible too literally, he took the view that the Biblical text should not be interpreted as properly literal, but rather as metaphorical, if it contradicts what we know from science and our God-given reason, particularly when the Scripture in question is a book of poetry and songs, not a book of instructions or history; while each passage of Scripture has a literal sense, this "literal sense" does not always mean that the Scriptures are mere history; at times they are rather an extended metaphor; the writers of the Scripture wrote from the perspective of the terrestrial world...



An example of taking the Bible too literally is the Flat-earthers and the Flat Earth Society...



"If the Bible said it's flat, then it must be flat..." is an answer I got from a Flat-earther, but I personally think Flat-earthers misinterpreted and took the Bible too literally...



Samuel Rowbotham supported the notion of a flat Earth, based on literal interpretation of certain biblical passages. After Rowbotham's death in 1884, his followers established the Universal Zetetic Society. In 1956, Samuel Shenton took over the Universal Zetetic Society, which would later become the Flat Earth Society. The Flat Earth Society took the position that the Apollo Moon landings were a hoax, because the photos of Earth taken from Apollo 8 was spherical and not flat. The Flat Earth Society still exists today under president Daniel Shenton...



These are Bible references that the Flat Earth Society think supports the notion of a flat Earth, because if taken literally, according to Flat-earthers, the Bible says the Earth is a flat circle, the Earth has ends, edges and four corners, the Bible tells about a tree so high that it was visible from the ends of the Earth, the Earth is set on pillars and cannot move, I personally think Flat-earthers misinterpreted and took the Bible too literally, what do you think?



Isaiah 40:22: He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth...

Isaiah 11:12: ...the four quarters of the earth.

Revelation 7:1: ...I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth...

Job 38:13: ...that it might take the earth by the edges...

Jeremiah 16:19: ...the nations will come from the ends of the earth...

Daniel 4:11: The tree grew large and strong and its top touched the sky; it was visible to the ends of the earth.

Psalm 93:1 and Psalm 96:10: ...the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved...

Psalm 104:5: He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.

Job 9:6: He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble.

Job 38:4: "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.

Job 37:3: He unleashes his lightning beneath the whole heaven and sends it to the ends of the earth.

Job 28:24: for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.

1 Samuel 2:8: For the foundations of the earth are the LORD's; upon them he has set the world.



Sources:



Flat Earth Society - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth_Society

Flat Earth - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth

The Flat-Earth Bible - http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/febible.htm

Augustine of Hippo - Natural knowledge and biblical interpretation - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Augustine#Natural_knowledge_and_biblical_interpretationThe dangers of interpreting the Bible too literally?
That people actually BELIEVE that the earth is flat in spite of all the evidence to the contrary is beyond me! Are they saying that all of the satellite pictures from space are fake?



The rule of thumb I generally follow in interpreting Scripture is that, if a Scripture contains a certain degree of absurdity when taken literally that becomes clear when taken figuratively, I interpret it figuratively.
We might accidentally learn the truth and begin rejecting the Greek philosophy that has infested Christianity for 2,000 years.The dangers of interpreting the Bible too literally?
Taking the Bible literally is a disgrace to science and logic.
Interesting.



*Didn't read a word of the question.*The dangers of interpreting the Bible too literally?
Taking the Bible too literally is much safer than taking it too loosely.



Did you have a question?
Don't forget that there is more than one bible out there. One I would recomend is the devel's bible. You can purchase one at amazon.com
Becoming a dumb ***, wasting your only life trying to get into Heaven, etc.
And what are the dangers may I ask....whether you think the world is a globe or flat with four corners ...still we believe in NEWS (North East West South)...the news from four corners of this world
I agree with you, it's the same thing with the Quran. Some people take it too literally and twist the words. The holy books were made in another time period and were not meant to be taken in the 21st century circumstance.

kasich

mr tire