Agree that it's because of the politics (and probably greed) as much as because of religion that holy wars were fought. I'm just saying that those things could not have happened if people would not believe the bible literary. To believe it literary means not to think for your self. There are many passages in the bible that contradict themselves - so if you take them literary... example:
Two gospels say nothing about this.
One gospel says that when they came to arest Jesus at the last supper one of his desciples grabbed a sword and cut off an ear of a Roman guard.
The last gospel says they just all quietly went away with the guards taking Jesus.
So if you take it literary - what happened to the ear? Walking away peacefully is very different then cutting a man's ear off.
Also some parts of the bible would be completely useles by now - if take literary.
Jesus said: Give to god what is gods and to caesar what is caesars (and he payed the tax - because on the coin there was his image - and when he threw the coin in the air god didn't take it). Now we have no caesars today - so we shouldn't pay any taxes? Or is that part just so obsolite we can leave out?
It's neither. It's a methapohre - that you should give to everybody what is rightfully theirs. In this sence it still works and the message is as clear today as it was 2000 years ago.
Infact if we look at the bible literary - we can see that Neitherladn is a country of wonders. They made damms (can't remember how they are colled - folders or something like that) that pushed the coast line further into the open sea. On the sea-bed that became dry they started planting things. It's like Moses splitting the Red sea for people to cross.
Everytime someone is brought back to life (David Haselhof brought back to life numorous people on baywatch) it's simply a mirracle.
So we are all doing mirracles... But then again in the bible days they didn't have so much technology, so things like that seemed more wonderous.
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