Aparently not only can fundamentalist Christians state the age of the Earth based on a bizarre, but literal, interpretation of the Bible. But they can state the age with such certainty they know the earth was created today.
Mull that over for a minute...
Ok. It took 6 days to create the earth didnt it? Or if you rely on the "other" creation story for your literal interpretation of the Bible it was created all at once. This points out two(2) problems with a "literal" interpretation of the Bible.
One(1), a literal interpretation of the Bible is necessairly an oxymoron. The Bible directly contradicts itself factually and theologically in ways that cannot be reconsiled if you believe it is the literal word of God. The only way to get over this is to impose an interpretation on the words that is something other than literal. However it is possible to be intellictually lazy and not even notice this problem exists. Or, if you are aware of it, you can take advantage of the fact that most people are not sufficently familar with the Bible to call you on it. Especially people who claim to believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible.
Issue two(2), is raised by the first. Who's interpretation do you use? What are the consequences of the answer to the prior question if you believe this should be a "Christian Nation"? One of the reasons the founding fathers concieved of the seperation of church and state was that prior to the founding of the nation there were arguments over whos brand of Christianity was taught in the schools. Remember the early colonists came from a land of religious opression and where people killed each other over the difference between Catholics and Protestants.
No comments:
Post a Comment