Bill, I have to say that I am with pete on this one. That is in spite of the fact that his lack of courtesy in spelling and punctuation irritates me tremendously.

"....i think that most people start from their own position presupposing certain things,..."

There are nearly infinite possibilities in one's starting position when using "scientific inquiry' on the other hand belief in the Bible as literal truth is much more complex than you have described. There are way too many contradictions for one to be simply 'locked into' one basic set of assumptions and thus, a very limited set of conclusions;

One has to constantly reinforce that belief and to heed external sources of chose to place contradictions out of one's mind when reading the Bible oneself to hold and keep those opinions.... I think.