The Atheist Atrocities Fallacy – Hitler, Stalin & Pol Pot

[dawg]

36. There is no nuance in a yes or no poll question.

Lots of people answer the way they do because they don't want to sound disloyal to their faith. But even their pastors don't take everything literally.

I gave the example of the beast spoken of in Revelation. Pastors endlessly speculate as to whether this will be a U.S. President. Maybe it stands for the E.U.? Maybe it's the U.N.? Maybe it stands for a new Roman Empire?

Likewise, the parables of Jesus. Jesus often taught in parables. The stories were little morality tales. I don't know any Christians who think he was retelling events that actually happened, only that he was using a story to illustrate a point.

Many Biblical scholars think the entire book of Job was a morality play, and was never intended to represent something that actually happened to some poor guy named Job.

And the Book of Genesis is full of rich and beautiful symbolism.

But yes, if Gallup calls the average churchgoer with a landline and asks them if they believe the Bible is literally true, many of them will say yes.