The Paranoia of Christian Fundamentalism
By Eli of Kittim
Taking the Bible literally, as a standard method of interpretation, can lead to some unrealistic and outrageous conclusions. Various texts show that there are many instances in the Bible where a literal rendering is completely unwarranted. On the other hand, it’s equally important to emphasize that the allegorical approach to scriptural interpretation in no way diminishes the reliability of the Bible or its truth values!
Biblical genres require different methods of interpretation. The Bible has many different genres, such as prophecy, poetry, wisdom, parable, apocalyptic, narrative, and history. It is obviously inappropriate to interpret poetry or parable in the same way that we would interpret history because that would ultimately lead to logical absurdities. Alas, the history of Biblical interpretation is riddled with exegetes who have erroneously tried to force parables and metaphors into a literal interpretation, which of course cannot be done without creating ridiculous effects that you only encounter in sci-fi films. This view creates logical absurdities, such as talking serpents, talking donkeys, trees of immortality that are guarded by aliens with lightsabers, fruits literally producing evil after consumption, mythological beasts with multiple heads that are populating our planet, and the like.
It’s important to stress that a refutation of the literal interpretation of certain passages is not equivalent to a refutation of the “truths” of the Bible. The scriptural “truth values” work on many different levels. For example, truth can be presented in poetic form without necessarily compromising its validity.
Some Christian fundamentalists often try to justify their belief system by using the phrase, “With God all things are possible.” Is that true? No, it’s not! God cannot create evil, nor can he bring into existence logical impossibilities, such as married bachelors, squared circles, hexagonal triangles, or any irrational contradictions which violate the laws of reason. When Jesus says, “All things are possible for one who believes” (Mk 9.23), he’s not thinking of irrational absurdities like talking donkeys or people turning into salt. He’s talking about rational things like healing and spiritual transformation.
Some fundamentalists have a problem understanding what is real and what is unreal. It’s not even a theological or hermeneutical issue because their interpretations are tenaciously maintained despite evidence to the contrary. So they’re actually dealing with an existential or ontological question (or anxiety). And they often end up confusing the supernatural with the superstitious. It is important to note that people who lose touch with reality experience a similar disconnect between fantasy and reality, coupled with firmly held delusions, which often lead to paranoia and mental illness. In a similar manner, but without the associated psychiatric disorders, some fundamentalists exhibit firmly held false beliefs that anything is possible in reality, including angels and demons appearing or disappearing at will, people literally turning into salt, talking animals, and the like. For them, anything goes. This misunderstanding of physical reality, and its limitations, if left unchecked, can lead to serious psychological problems down the road.
But that’s not how God works. This is not how reality works either. In his book Miracles, CS Lewis says that although God’s miracles transcend the laws of nature, they never actually break them. Lewis answers in the affirmative when questioned whether it is logically possible that miracles can occur in principle. For him, miracles are neither absurd nor irrational. Thus, a stable foundation, both psychologically and biblically, rests upon a clear distinction between the supernatural and the absurd.
But some fundamentalists confuse the supernatural with the absurd. They often lump them together. They conflate the rational with the irrational, the metaphorical with the literal, and the supernatural with the superstitious. That's because they often take words out of context. Their insistence on literal interpretations lead to logical contradictions that are incoherent and nonsensical. For example, when Jesus says, “I am the bread of life,” he’s not claiming to be a loaf of bread. He’s using figurative language. Or when he says, “I am the light of the world,” he’s using a metaphor. He’s not claiming to be a lightbulb. Jesus frequently uses metaphors to describe himself as the source of goodness, such as “the good Shepherd” or “the true vine”. But he’s neither a shepherd nor a plant. The apostle Paul also discussed Sarah and Hagar as allegories of the two covenants in his letter to the Galatians.
The truth is, anyone who believes in talking donkeys, people literally turning into salt, or living inside whales, has an immature and superstitious faith that contradicts reason and the laws of nature. The Bible talks about the supernatural, not the superstitious! Belief in the existence of such irrational and absurd things is closer to mental illness than to God’s revelations. It’s one thing to believe in God’s word, but quite another to believe in incoherent nonsense. Fundamentalism is therefore turning God into a fabulist, and the Bible into a collection of fables. Absurd interpretations of things that cannot possibly exist turn the Bible into an object of ridicule. Not only that, but some fundamentalists then try to pass off these nonsensical interpretations as the word of God, egregiously misinterpreting the authorial intent. And they even accuse anyone who doesn’t share in their literal interpretation of the Bible as lacking in faith or not trusting in the word of God. How crazy is that? It is therefore critical to recognize the limitations of this methodology which typically leads to misleading or unwarranted conclusions. These are dangerous misinterpretations and distortions of the said texts.
From young-earth creationism to pre-trib dispensationalism, Christian fundamentalists are often depicted as cranks, who, similar to flat-earthers, refuse to acknowledge both scientific and biblical scholarship:
“Researchers find evidence anchoring Christian fundamentalism with beliefs in conspiracy theories such as modern flat Earth beliefs and linking extreme religious fervour with mental illness.” ——- Wiki
