Discuss critically the advantages and disadvantages of accepting that New Testament texts are literal.

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Discuss critically the advantages and disadvantages of accepting that New Testament texts are literal.

There are many different views that can be taken in interpreting any religious text, with three main categories being the liberal approach, conservatism, and finally the literalist view. Each of which having their own proponents and advantages, but also their disadvantages.

However, whether a text is literal or not does not just affect a persons understanding and interpretation of the text, but also, their own belief as to where a person might gain revelation of the nature of God. Books from the Old Testament were first written during the time of the Babylonian exile, when there was concern that the Jewish tradition may be weakened during the time away from the Temple, and the New Testament was finalised in around AD130. Some books were included because of claims of authority, and others because they made sense of the faith of the believers. The idea of a divinely inspired and therefore literal text stems from the idea that a person is consumed by the breath of God at birth, and that breath is surrendered at death, with some people (the prophets, for example) being consumed more than others in order to accomplish the mission which was given by God. Therefore, all the authors of the bible are considered to have been divinely inspired in order to complete their tasks.

The univocal, or literal, interpretation of the New Testament was first proposed by Duns Scotus, who believed that “all talk of God is literal” and was further developed by Richardson who said “Univocal is when there is the literal application of language to the reality of God” but there is the risk of anthropomorphising God when a univocal approach is taken, thereby giving God human attributes and personal identifications yet it does claim to refer to something which is cognitively verifiable, even if it does leave itself open to challenges and rejection, as can be seen with the current creationism debate which although started in America, is starting to reach our shores as well, with people such as Peter Vardy proposing to open academies which teach creation over evolution, antagonising harsh materialists such as Richard Dawkins.

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A fundamentalist, literal approach is the belief that the Bible is word-for-word the complete Word of God. Fundamentalists will apply the laws and principles of the Bible as much as they can, and believe that the Holy Spirit has preserved the Bible from any human error. In effect, the writers received a message that they transcribed with utmost faith and accuracy.

If we take into consideration the view that literalists hold regarding creation; that it is a historical account of the beginning of the world, there are sections of the bible that informs the reader that Genesis is ...

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