What is a fundamentalist approach to the bible?

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What is a fundamentalist approach to the bible?

        

The word Fundamentalist is commonly used to describe a very conservative and literalist approach to the bible. The original Christian fundamentalists were part of a protestant movement in the USA at the beginning of the nineteenth century, who set out to preserve the fundamentals of the Christian Faith. In their view, this included the inerrancy of the Bible. In this understanding, the Bible is the actual word of God to the extent that it was literally dictated by God, word for word, to the people who wrote it down. All the human authors had to do was to copy correctly the words that were given to them.

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        According to a fundamentalist position, then, every word of the Bible is entirely the work of God and should never be changed, challenged or questioned. The Bible is inspired or breathed into the people who wrote it down in much the same way as the breath of life was breathed into Adam in Genesis it comes directly from God. If society moves to a point were the Bible seems no longer appropriate for it, then for the fundamentalist it is the society which must change and not the book which is in fallible.

        Fundamentalists believe firmly that the Bible ...

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