Science and the belief of literal truth of the bible.

Alright. I've been wondering something for quite some time. We have a surprising amount of (OK, well it's surprising to me) people who believe in a literal translation of the bible. While I cannot even go as far as to say I respect your opinions on this matter at all, I do have something that has always made me kind of smile through my frustration with some posts I've read. I'm just going to simply state my thesis on the subject of science and the bible:

If the Bible is the true word of God, and this word is and has been translated into a modernly discernible script, and such truth takes not only a spiritual but a literal truth, then science must, and will, always follow such truth, and will retro-actively support any claim put forth in the bible.

Now, personally, I don't believe this, and the ease at which this thesis can be ripped to shreds is proof enough It's always surprised me, the fear of science in these, what do we call them, is there a term for those who believe in the literal truth in the bible? Oh, I'll just call them Protestants for the sake of this post. (Or fundamental Catholics too, if you will, but I feel like my post won't be complete without a little bias on my part.) What I mean by this, if you believe that this text takes a literal truth, that these events actually happened, shouldn't you have faith that science will eventually prove you right?

I don't want to make this post so long that it will be ignored, so I'll just close it up saying, since science is nothing more than the continual struggle to find the right answer through various plausible attempts and failed experiments, shouldn't you hold faith that your truth will eventually come out and be believed as scientific theory?

And if it is true, how come there's so much damnable evidence against this?

Ooo! I like it, Mirror Image!

Can't say I have an opinion on the topic, as I am not, as you would call, as "Protestant" (I think the word you are looking for is 'fundamentalist', by the way), but would certainly like to hear other peoples veiw on the matter.

Their claim is, of course, that science has it wrong and by showing that it does not, in fact, agree with a literal interpretation of the Bible they'll drive people away from the faith and damn them forever.

Originally Posted by Sam250

Can't say I have an opinion on the topic, as I am not, as you would call, as "Protestant" (I think the word you are looking for is 'fundamentalist', by the way), but would certainly like to hear other peoples veiw on the matter.

I know very well what I said : p

Originally Posted by GDwarf

Their claim is, of course, that science has it wrong and by showing that it does not, in fact, agree with a literal interpretation of the Bible they'll drive people away from the faith and damn them forever.

Are you saying that they believe that science is trying to prove religion wrong, and therefore it is evil? As far as I knew, science does not operate through any facilities of any religion, and therefore they are not connected at all.

And further, if the literal interpretation is correct, then won't science eventually point to it? Won't they suddenly say "You know what, we have it wrong. The earth is 10,000 years old! We ****ed up." I mean, if it's right, there's a good chance science will eventually figure it out, and if not, shouldn't they be commended for searching for the truth? I'm sorry if this is just rambling, I really want to see this topic discussed and I'm upset that it looks like certain fundamentalists here are going to ignore it due to not having anything worthwhile to say on the subject.

Originally Posted by Mirror Image

It's always surprised me, the fear of science in these, what do we call them, is there a term for those who believe in the literal truth in the bible? Oh, I'll just call them Protestants for the sake of this post. (Or fundamental Catholics too, if you will, but I feel like my post won't be complete without a little bias on my part.)

I believe Protestant smiply describes any denomination of Christianity that isn't Catholic, and I'm also pretty sure that there are plenty of Catholics that believe in a literal translation of the Bible (and plenty of Protestants that do not.)

Originally Posted by Lysis

I believe Protestant smiply describes any denomination of Christianity that isn't Catholic, and I'm also pretty sure that there are plenty of Catholics that believe in a literal translation of the Bible.

I was poking fun at the disposition of protestants to believe in a literal truth of the bible over catholics, not to say that their arent any of the latter. In fact, I know there are quite many. I was poking fun, we'll end it there.

Originally Posted by Mirror Image

Are you saying that they believe that science is trying to prove religion wrong, and therefore it is evil? As far as I knew, science does not operate through any facilities of any religion, and therefore they are not connected at all.

Some say that, yes.

Or rather, they claim that scientists hate religion for various reasons and want to destroy it.

This is, of course, ridiculous, but it always helps to be able to "show" that you're being persecuted.


I should note right now: That is my interpretation of what people are thinking. I don't know for sure, and could be way off, but given what some of these people write, I don't think I've missed the mark by much.

And further, if the literal interpretation is correct, then won't science eventually point to it? Won't they suddenly say "You know what, we have it wrong. The earth is 10,000 years old! We ****ed up."

See, you know how science works.

They do not.

Many people (probably the majority) see science as people in lab coats going around and doing stuff. When they make something new they shout "eureka!" and then try to sell it.

They take this image and combine it with the idea of "evil secular humanists" to paint a picture of scientists as these lone people in labs endlessly toiling away to create plausible-sounding lies to defame the faith.

Now, not all Biblical literalists go that far, some simply claim that scientists are simply wrong, but that by publicizing their wrong conclusions they're driving people away from the faith and, as such, damning them.


Alternatively, you get the claim that scientists are ignoring legitimate evidence simply because they don't like religion, etc.

Really, anti-science types can fall anywhere on the spectrum from considering scientists to be well-intentioned, but mistaken, to seeing them as tools of the Antichrist attempting to destroy the church for their own ends.

Originally Posted by Lysis

I believe Protestant smiply describes any denomination of Christianity that isn't Catholic, and I'm also pretty sure that there are plenty of Catholics that believe in a literal translation of the Bible (and plenty of Protestants that do not.)

The Protestants are the group of Christians that broke off from the Catholic church during the reformation.

Well, that's not quite right. During the reformation three main groups split off from Catholicism. the Lutherans, Calvinists (more commonly known as Presbyterians today) and the Anabaptists.

The other protestant churches mostly broke off from those three.