[dpark]

Only by other Christians pushing their own interpretations. When Ben Carson says that the world was literally created in 6 days, lots of people say he's crazy, but the only people who say he's misinterpreting the text are people who want to push their own interpretation, generally because they want to push the idea of Christianity being totally copacetic with modern science.

[dragonwriter]

> When Ben Carson says that the world was literally created in 6 days, lots of people say he's crazy, but the only people who say he's misinterpreting the text are people who want to push their own interpretation

Yes, it is trivially true, by definition, that the only people who say that someone has an incorrect interpretation is people who would portray a different interpretation is correct. That's what saying an interpretation is incorrect means.

[dpark]

Obviously, but appealing to others' religious beliefs is hardly a compelling argument when trying to make a claim about correctness or truth. My point is that if you look to secular scholars, they are unlikely to be accusing Ben Carson of interpreting the Bible incorrectly. They might call him an idiot, but they'll call him an idiot for his belief that the Earth was created in 6 days, not because he argues that the Bible says this.

When I said it's "hard to accuse someone of misinterpreting...", I meant that it's hard to accuse them in a convincing or sound manner. Obviously it's easy to accuse anyone of basically anything. You just open your mouth and make the accusation. But to do so convincingly takes effort beyond "I don't like their interpretation so they must be wrong". The literal interpretation actually seems like the default, and any other interpretation demands support.

[duaneb]

Sure. And I think the situation here is analogous.

[dpark]

Okay, but that seems equivalent to saying that ISIS isn't actually wrong in their interpretation, just unpopular. :\

The biblical literalists are not wrong when they say that the Bible tells them that God created Earth in 6 days. That is what it says. The more common "metaphorical interpretation" is more recent than the acceptance as a true origin story.

[duaneb]

I think it's fair to say if you read the bible literally, you're missing out on a lot of what it has to say. Is that the same as misinterpreting that? I'll leave that as an exercise to the reader. :P