Question:  Dear Greg,

            I am doing a paper on religion in Appalachia.  One of the characteristics of churches in this area is a literal interpretation of the Bible.  Was it Calvin who started that?  Do you know of any resources that might help (church history, religious rituals, etc.)?

            Thanks,

            Sue

Answer:  Dear Sue,

            First, before we address your question we must define the use of the word “literal”.

            I suspect that your paper is dealing with religion that defined a literal method of interpreting the Bible far differently than Calvin or Luther or John Wesley or the Westminster Confession.  These are all individuals and sources that would espouse a literal interpretation of Scripture, but not necessarily be in agreement with the issue you are investigating.

            You may be better served in trying to grapple with what “literal” (in terms of how to understand the Bible) means to American fundamentalists who are very much a part of the history of religion in Appalachia .  Calvin and Luther would not agree with how these folks often use literal (i.e. without regard to the genre of language that God inspired the original authors of the Bible to use) figures of speech, grammar, cultural and historical backgrounds, etc.  Calvin and Luther often used the term literal to explain the opposite of allegorical, which was a suspect hermeneutic with which they disagreed.

            So I would start by looking at American Protestant fundamentalism—and how they defined and continue to define a biblical hermeneutic.  Hope this helps.

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht