[Mia McDavid] #>I stay as far away from most fundamentalists as I can, but I would think #>just the opposite. Close textual analysis may indicate contradictions and #>inconsistencies, and the idea that there would be contradictions and #>inconsistencies is anathema to people who believe that God dictated the #>Bible and that its every word is law. [Andrew Lias] #At the risk of touching off a flamewar, my experience with fundamentalists #would suggest that they do, indeed, read all of the passages most closely in #order that they might then explain all the inconsistencies away. This seems to be a traditional part of study in orthodox Judaism. Of course, many of the explanations propounded depend on assumptions that are totally unacceptable if you aren't starting with Axiom 1, "This is all literally true", and necessary if you are. -- Mark A. Mandel