The Literal Principle -vs- a "literalistic" Interpretation
The "literalistic" Interpretation of the Bible has led many down distort it teachings and caused many to go astray. On the other hand, interpreting the Scriptures literally means we must understand the Bible in its plain, obvious, and normal sense. We must avoid the traps to allegorize or spiritualize it away in order to find some hidden, mystical, deeper, or secret meaning. The "Literalistic" Interpretation of Scripture leaves too much of the meat (truth) and understanding on the floor of the exegete, as scrap, and God is misunderstood. This behavior, sometimes, make it necessary for one to "exegete the exegete".
Some of the most bizarre interpretations of Scripture come because the interpreter is simply reading into the Scriptures (eisegesis) what they want to see or what they subjectively believe to be true, rather than trying to understand what the writer on behalf of God is actually trying to say (exegesis).
What are the true characteristics of the literal principles of biblical interpretation when applied to a passage of Scripture? CM