ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about what makes a literal reading of the Bible "literal". It is not uncommon to hear someone say, "Let's just read the Bible literally. Let's forget about all this interpretation stuff and just read the Bible for what it says". Serious interpretation of the Bible takes a lot of effort and sustained study, and sometimes in the end all of this effort seems only to work against certain cherished and long-held religious beliefs. One of the elements often implicit in surface readings of the Bible is the claim that the Bible is an accurate description of what actually took place at some point in the past. This assertion rests on a prior religious claim that governs all other judgments about the Bible: By definition, the Bible is God's true word and the truth of the Bible is understood in terms of descriptive accuracy.
