{"id":3835,"date":"2015-09-22T11:31:29","date_gmt":"2015-09-22T18:31:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newcoolthang.com\/?p=3835"},"modified":"2020-01-09T04:11:20","modified_gmt":"2020-01-09T11:11:20","slug":"the-non-issue-of-biblical-literalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.newcoolthang.com\/index.php\/2015\/09\/the-non-issue-of-biblical-literalism\/3835\/","title":{"rendered":"The Non-issue of Biblical Literalism"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following Clark, I’ll link to Danial McClellan’s post On the Myth of Scriptural Literalism<\/a>. \u00a0In that post, the author reviews Sam Harris’ attacks against religion by undermining Harris’ use of scriptural literalism to characterize the religious believer. \u00a0Now, I am no fan of Harris, but I think the well-worn tactics by which defenders of religion resist scriptural literalism are\u00a0more than somewhat displaced within a Mormon context. \u00a0After all, when Harris accuses those believers who take various scriptures “figuratively” of waffling on their faith, any person who believers in the Great Apostasy has to admit that he’s not totally off base. \u00a0I’m not saying he’s totally right, but he’s not totally wrong either.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, literalism is strongly but not completely\u00a0rooted\u00a0in Christian fundamentalism. \u00a0On the other, to lay this completely on them seems motivated more by rhetorical convenience than anything else. \u00a0Religious believers and Christians in particular have always struggled with how they could (or should) believe the entire written word of God. \u00a0Indeed, the only reason why reading the scriptures “figuratively” seems so natural to us is largely due to St. Augustine’s influence (“metaphorically” was how he taught us to read many parts). \u00a0If, however, we follow the Protestants in rejecting the early church fathers (which the Catholic church strongly accepts), then we are left with a bit of a conundrum: Who has the right to tell us how to read the scriptures?<\/p>\n

The fundamentalists would say that the only person who can authoritatively tell us how to read our scriptures is God Himself through the scriptures. \u00a0In other words, the only way to legitimately read the scriptures figuratively is by taking them\u00a0literally! \u00a0Any other guide simply amounts to a corruption of the pure word – mingling in the philosophies of men. \u00a0It was with this in mind that the “book of nature” was invented as an alternative source of “scripture” that could guide us in reading the written word. \u00a0Outside of Catholicism, then, believers are left with a less than awe-inspiring choice with regards to who tells us how to read scripture: natural scientists (the Galilean option), pagan philosophers (the Augustinian option), or however one feels they should do so (the anarchist option – which is actually the scariest of them all!).<\/p>\n

One can find no clearer attempt at placing unauthorized obstacles and mediums between binding scripture and the reader than in McClellan’s post:<\/p>\n

First, we don\u2019t really know precisely what the \u201cletter of the texts\u201d really\u00a0mean<\/em>. Texts don\u2019t carry inherent meaning…\u00a0This means the meaning of a text resides in and originates from our minds, not the text. The text just provides fuzzy outlines of semantic fields within which we think the intended meaning is to be found, and there are even a variety of ways that an author can actually undermine the expected meaning, violating those semantic fields. It\u2019s a guessing game, really, and the further removed from the cultural and literary context of a text\u2019s composition, the more it is a guessing game. So when we talk about the \u201cletter of the texts,\u201d we\u2019re pretending that the letter and the meaning have a 1:1 correspondence, which they simply and objectively do not.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If one gets the impression that theorists and scholars have managed to invent a problem for which their previous figurative reading of scripture was already the solution, you are not alone. \u00a0Thank goodness we have living literary theorists to tell us what the word of God is and is not! (\/sarcasm) \u00a0Slightly more seriously, I can completely understand why Protestants would concern themselves this much with how the timeless and complete word of God should be read and why they would be concerned about allowing those in power to read it for them…. but how can Biblical scholars concern themselves in this theoretical and systematic manner without making themselves into the very authorities they wish to subvert? \u00a0Put differently, their telling us about what meaning can and cannot be found within the scriptures just is to tell us how we should and should not be reading our scriptures.<\/p>\n

Catholics and Mormons, however, do not need to stress about this since they both believe in living authorities that can tell them how and whether to read dead authorities. \u00a0(The Catholic traditions surrounding timelessness and infallibility, however, give them a bit less flexibility than the Mormons have.) Members of these traditions simply have to follow their living leaders in reading various passages literally, metaphorically, or not at all. \u00a0As soon as we start\u00a0trying to interpret the living authorities “figuratively”, however, is exactly when Mormons and Catholics both abandon their own traditions for the less than reliable Protestant paths paved by philosophers, scholars and other unauthorized free-thinkers. \u00a0(I’m not sure how anybody could ever argue that communication with living prophets doesn’t have a meaning without thereby undermining their own attempts at communicating such an argument.)<\/p>\n

I agree with Sam Harris in that the case for\u00a0Biblical literalism is much stronger than well-educated believers tend (or want) to think. \u00a0That said, I strongly disagree with him when he generalizes a “religion of the book” mentality to those who follow the teachings of dead prophets in maintaining faith in the living prophets. \u00a0Harris and McClellan are both right that we shouldn’t anchor our faith in an uncompromising reading of dead prophets….. But I don’t know why any Mormon would have done this in the first place. \u00a0When it comes to the writings of dead prophets, Mormons are proud cafeterialists, it’s just that we also believe in the living prophets that work as the lunch ladies within that cafeteria.<\/p>\n

Then again, this allegiance to a literal reading of living authorities is exactly what Sam Harris is worried about, the living\/dead distinction being relatively incidental. \u00a0Harris’ argument can basically be put as follows:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. There is some amount of\u00a0irreconciliable contradiction\u00a0between the premodern epistemologies of the Abrahamic religions and modern rationality.<\/li>\n
  2. To extent that the two cannot be reconciled, the Abrahamic mentality, rather than modern rationality or both, ought to go.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I am convinced that (1) is exactly right, while I strongly disagree with (2). \u00a0McClellan (I assume) and many people within the bloggernacle reject (1) and the only reason I can think of for this is that\u00a0they do not want to abandon either tradition. \u00a0(Note that\u00a0it is because of faith\u00a0rather than doubt that they theorize as they do.)