Dangerous Believers

There are those who say the Biblical literalist is dangerous.  They say the Bible was never meant to be read with a literal view.  People who do so are unreasonable, set in their out-of-date ways, and a menace to the believers who want an honest conversation about what the Word is saying.  The Christian who reads the Bible with the literal view is simply ignoring Biblical research and common sense.  The problem with the literal view is that it allows for no other interpretation than what is printed on the page.    

Of course, the critics of the literal reader want to make something other than the written Word the center of truth.  For them the Bible is subject to modern day research, changing cultural norms, and the reader's individual perspective.  For such people the Word is not the center, but the one doing the reading.  If being a Biblical literalist is a dangerous position to hold, surely it must be said that making the individual the authority is an equally as serious danger.  

What is often missed is that both have some things in common.  Each maintains that there is only one way of interpreting the Word.  Each one lives with inconsistencies in their viewpoint.  One is not likely to gouge out an eye and the other speaks about the authority of Scripture even while giving that authority to culture mores. And finally, for each the system of belief is more important than the One in whom they are called to believe.  Both are dangerous to those who seriously seek to walk the way of Christ.