Where Faith Diverges

The spiritual journey begins at a shared point of origin within the pedagogical framework of Sunday school, where the foundational narratives of the Old and New Testaments establish the initial coordinates for the relationship between God and humanity. Here, we learn the essential stories of Genesis—the six-day creation, Noah’s Ark, and the expulsion from Eden—to grasp the fundamental bond between the Creator and the created. This is complemented by the teachings of Christ, which shift the focus toward the secondary relationship of man-to-man, emphasizing the Sermon on the Mount and the directive to "turn the other cheek." This phase represents a "pre-critical naivety," where the stories serve as a moral compass. However, as the believer matures, a critical divergence occurs. One path leads toward a progressive, academic faith that views these stories through a metaphorical and allegorical lens, integrating them with scientific reality and historical discovery. As Marcus J. Borg argues in The Heart of Christianity: Redeeming the Way of Faith (HarperSanFrancisco, 2003), this path recognizes that the Bible is a "sacrament of the sacred" rather than a scientific textbook. This group embraces the Logos, understanding that a literal global flood is physically impossible; as demonstrated in The Rocks Don't Lie (W. W. Norton & Company, 2012) by David R. Montgomery, the thermodynamic energy required to flood the earth to the height of Everest would effectively vaporize the atmosphere, rendering the survival of any "critters" on a boat impossible.

​The opposing path is taken by those who reach this crossroads and retreat into a rigid, "barely teenage" literalism, effectively anchoring their faith in a state of arrested development. By rejecting abstract thought and linguistic context—such as the original Hebrew and Greek etymologies or the historical formation of the canon—this group treats the Bible as a closed system where no outside knowledge can penetrate. This literalist perspective creates a theological stagnation that rejects the fossil record and the reality of evolution, treating the height of divine revelation as if it were a childhood "Hardy Boys" mystery that requires no further reading. As Peter Enns observes in The Evolution of Adam (Brazos Press, 2012), this refusal to engage with modern science creates a destructive and unnecessary crisis of faith. This group often becomes insular, preaching an exclusionary doctrine where human relationships are contingent upon shared literalist dogmas rather than universal love, effectively ignoring the command in Matthew 22:37 (King James Bible, 1611) to "love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." This literalist anchor stops the believer from learning about science, relationships, and the vastness of God’s creation. To protect the faith from this internal erosion, the progressive believer has a duty to champion a depth of theology that recognizes literalism as an error that destroys the spirit of the text. By following the path of continued learning, we fulfill the mandate of Proverbs 18:15 (King James Bible, 1611): "The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge," ensuring that faith remains a catalyst for intellectual and spiritual expansion rather than a barrier to the truth.