literal vs non literal understandings

• There are different ways to read and understand the Bible.
• Some Christians

  (known as literalists) believe the Bible stories, including the Genesis account,

  should be taken literally. This means that God, as a matter of fact, created the

  universe in six 24 hour periods
• literalists will not believe in alternate or scientific theory
• Other Christians (known as liberals or non-literalists) believe that the creation

  story should be understood more as a myth or symbolic story rather than a

  historical event.
• They would say that the actual process of creation is not

  important. Instead, what is important is the fact that God is the sole creator of

  the universe and that every aspect of it depends on him for its existence.
• Liberal Christians believe science can teach us things that the writers of the

  Bible had no knowledge or understanding of.
• non literalists may also believe that Darwin’s theory of evolution is correct, but

  that God activated and guides the evolutionary process. This is known as

  theistic evolution.