What to Do If You Encounter a Biblical Literalist
Four tips to reduce stress
When you encounter someone who believes the Bible is the literal word of God, that person may seem very grim and serious. You may even find yourself thinking you should probably avoid making any sudden moves. But after studying this personality type for years, I’ve got a few tips that can help you maintain your composure.
Tip 1: Don’t assume the literalist disagrees with your conclusions
Suppose someone tells you they believe the Bible is the literal word of God. You immediately tense up, ready to disagree with them about whether:
- The sun stopped moving in the sky for about a day once during the Shang Dynasty in China.
- The sun moved backwards in the sky once during the time Homer was writing the Illiad and the Odyssey.
- Zombies roamed the streets of Jerusalem once during the time of the Roman Empire.
Relax. Biblical literalism isn’t about specific beliefs. It is, instead, a specific process for using the Bible to support what you already believe and dismiss what you don’t. It’s a common mistake to believe that biblical literalism is some agreed-upon collection of conclusions such as:
- The flood was global.
- Philip could teleport.
Making that mistake can create unnecessary stress for you.
For example, you and the biblical literalist may both agree that rape is bad. You read the Bible and find passages suggesting God is disturbingly unconcerned about rape. The Bible literalist will argue that if you read all those passages correctly they do support the conclusion that rape is bad. Thus, you and biblical literalist are actually agreeing on the same conclusion.
Another example: you and the biblical literalist may both agree the earth is spherical. You read the Bible and find passages suggesting a flat earth covered by a hard dome. But the biblical literalist knows how to read those same passages to match the conclusion you both share: the earth is spherical.
So relax. Don’t assume disagreements that may not exist. The biblical literalist you are talking to today may have completely different beliefs about what the Bible says than the biblical literalist you talked to yesterday.
Tip 2: Don’t assume the discussion is actually about what the Bible says
Based on tip 1, you might decide to focus your discussion on the process the biblical literalist is using. This is a very tempting mistake. The arguments are often so illogical and inconsistent that they seem to demand refutation by you.
But it’s a mistake to assume that the arguments made by biblical literalists are intended for your consideration or for your response. If you can instead, keep in mind what the biblical literalist actually intends, you can avoid becoming frustrated.
For starters, the biblical literalist is certainly not attempting to present arguments that might change your mind. They are not really talking to you or thinking about you at all. If you set yourself the goal of changing their mind, you are already operating at cross purposes.
The statements made by biblical literalists typically fall into one of two categories:
- The biblical literalist is trying to convince themselves that they are right.
- The biblical literalist is virtue signaling to other biblical literalists that they have reached the point in their faith that they are at ease making blatantly ridiculous public statements.
Consider this hypothetical. Someone forms a social club requiring every member to assert that Pluto is a planet. Club members ridicule those outside the club who won’t assert this and convince themselves that those “others”, those non-planet-Pluto believers, are a threat to society.
Something like this hypothetical is the case with biblical literalism. Adherence to biblical literalism is a social marker; it identifies group membership. That identification is very important to the biblical literalist. However, it has nothing to do with holding beliefs of any practical significance, or even with holding beliefs that match those of other biblical literalists.
So tip 2 is to understand that the things a biblical literalist says are basically celebrations of their own personal group membership. They are not ultimately about the Bible itself. And they are not really intended for you to respond to. Don’t take it personally.
Tip 3: Don’t assume biblical literalism is legitimate just because it’s popular
Don’t be intimidated by the fact that some famous men and women throughout history have espoused biblical literalism. And lots of thick, scholarly books seem to have been written in support.
I once read a highly respected, 500-page book by Richard B. Hays. (It came out about 30 years ago.) This book is known for, among other things, its carefully reasoned, scholarly argument against homosexuality based on the Bible. Then, on page 401, appears the following amazing sentence:
(Insofar as the church fails to teach clearly about heterosexual chastity outside marriage, its disapproval of homosexual coupling will appear arbitrary and biased.)
This sentence — and please note that it appears in parentheses in the book!— pretty much acknowledges that the reasoning presented is ultimately inconsistent with how the Bible is typically interpreted. Interestingly, a new edition of the book is coming out soon that reverses the position on this issue.
You may think of Martin Luther as a guy who took the Bible very seriously. But remember that, after he proof-texted his way to his own personal theology, he then redefined the concept of “Scripture” itself to eliminate parts that didn’t fit his views. We are told that “[a]ll Scripture is God breathed”. We just didn’t find out what Scripture actually is until 1500 years later.
The point is, don’t be intimidated by the existence of lots of books and famous people defending a literal reading of the Bible, and conclusions drawn from that assumption. Their arguments may be just as insubstantial as the arguments one finds on the internet.
Tip 4: Focus on the framing of the discussion
Based on the first three tips, it might seem that talking with a biblical literalist is about as useful as a dog barking at a mirror. But such discussions can be useful if you have the courage to challenge the framing of the discussion.
For example:
- When the biblical literalist suddenly changes the subject, call out the subject change directly and immediately. Ask if they are willing to return to the original topic.
- When the biblical literalist suddenly hits you with several points at the same time, immediately and directly ask which of these new topics they want to discuss next — and what happened to the current topic.
- When the biblical literalist makes a statement, directly connect their statement to actual reality, such as other things they’ve said or other passages from the Bible, or to their own life or to your own life.
- When the biblical literalist argues for a specific conclusion, directly ask if other conclusions that would follow from the same reasoning must also be true.
The ultimate framing question arises when you remember where the biblical literalist is coming from. It’s not enough for biblical literalists to be correct in whatever they are currently arguing — for example that a certain Bible prophecy was fulfilled. For them, the Bible has to be correct about every prophecy. Just ask what would happen if you conceded the current point but also presented a clear example of a different prophecy that failed. What does it matter if that one prophecy came true?
Conclusion
When talking with a biblical literalist, it is easy find yourself thinking you should probably avoid making any sudden moves. But it’s not because they might hurt you. The danger is that they’ll suddenly run off like a frightened woodland creature.
