Literalism
While categorizing people is always problematic, I think you could divide Christians into three main groups:
1) Literal Protestants
2) Non-Literal Protestants
3) Catholics
Of course, this causes problems, as what of the Orthodox Churches? And Eastern Churches? A fourth group is therefore necessary, temporarily, at least.
4) Eastern Churches
As I am not an expert on the Eastern Churches, I will need a while before I can decide where to place them permanently.
Lets examine the three main groups then. First we have the Literalists. They are mostly Evangelicals, and accept what is in the Bible as 100% true. Overwhelmingly creationists.
The second group, non-Literal Christians, or for want of a better term, Interpretationist Protestants, are those Christians who do not take the Bible literally. Usually Evolutionists.
Then we have the Roman Catholic Church. The official doctrine of the Church holds that while the Bible is of divine origin, it isn't the sole source of knowledge about G-d. In some ways the Catholic Church has components of the first 2 groups in it. It has evolutionists and creationists both. The issue of evolution is something that hasn't yet been decided in full by the Church, and may not be for a while. So until then you will have both types present. From my experience, the difference between the two is based on two factors. The first is their willingness to trust the veracity of the bible. The more literal minded are more likely to be creationists than evolutionists. Secondly, those of a more scientific bent, are, from my experience, tend to be more sympathetic to evolution than those who aren't. For an example of a Catholic view on Biblical Inerrancy, you can go here. Its a rather long piece, but quite informative.
Frankly, I am not sure where to go with this. I suppose I can offer a critique on literalism vs interpretationism, but that will take some thought, and time. In the mean time you can read this take on science, Christianity, and evolution. Hat Tip to Donald Sensing.
1) Literal Protestants
2) Non-Literal Protestants
3) Catholics
Of course, this causes problems, as what of the Orthodox Churches? And Eastern Churches? A fourth group is therefore necessary, temporarily, at least.
4) Eastern Churches
As I am not an expert on the Eastern Churches, I will need a while before I can decide where to place them permanently.
Lets examine the three main groups then. First we have the Literalists. They are mostly Evangelicals, and accept what is in the Bible as 100% true. Overwhelmingly creationists.
The second group, non-Literal Christians, or for want of a better term, Interpretationist Protestants, are those Christians who do not take the Bible literally. Usually Evolutionists.
Then we have the Roman Catholic Church. The official doctrine of the Church holds that while the Bible is of divine origin, it isn't the sole source of knowledge about G-d. In some ways the Catholic Church has components of the first 2 groups in it. It has evolutionists and creationists both. The issue of evolution is something that hasn't yet been decided in full by the Church, and may not be for a while. So until then you will have both types present. From my experience, the difference between the two is based on two factors. The first is their willingness to trust the veracity of the bible. The more literal minded are more likely to be creationists than evolutionists. Secondly, those of a more scientific bent, are, from my experience, tend to be more sympathetic to evolution than those who aren't. For an example of a Catholic view on Biblical Inerrancy, you can go here. Its a rather long piece, but quite informative.
Frankly, I am not sure where to go with this. I suppose I can offer a critique on literalism vs interpretationism, but that will take some thought, and time. In the mean time you can read this take on science, Christianity, and evolution. Hat Tip to Donald Sensing.
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