Bibliomysticism

I'm sure we've all had the wonderful experience of having a vague concept of something suddenly solidified by the discovery that our language actually has a word for it. That is precisely what happened to me today when I encountered the word

bibliomysticism

on a linguistics blog that I frequent called The Language Log, where contributor Eric Bakovic defines it as "the belief that the printed-on-paper word is somehow endowed with power that cannot be replicated otherwise."

The primary context in which I have noticed this phenomenon is in hearing people talk about the Kindle (and ebooks in general). I'm a proud Kindle owner myself, but I've heard many people speculate that they might not like the Kindle because there's "just something" about the printed-on-paper book, some nearly mystical quality, that outweighs the plethora of advantages offered by e-readers, such as easy storage, not having to hold your page, and ridiculously fast access to books, to name a few.

Personally, I'm fine with some aspects of the bibliomystic mindset, as long as it is acknowledged that this "mystical" quality is primarily a type of nostalgia and has very little to do with anything inherent in the paper form itself.

Li [b/t] eral

As a Christian, there are a number of beliefs I consider important, and I believe them in the most literal sense possible.

I believe that God literally created everything in existence.

I believe that in the historical person of Jesus of Nazereth, God literally became a human being.

I believe that Jesus literally healed people, drove out demons, and preached about the Kingdom of God.

I believe that Jesus literally died by crucifixion.

I believe that Jesus literally resurrected from his tomb after being literally dead for 3 days.

I believe that Jesus literally ascended into Heaven.

I believe that Jesus will literally return to Earth again to literally carry out the judgments of God.

I believe that Jesus has literally sent the Holy Spirit during these last days to empower the Church to spread the Gospel.

I believe in a literal Heaven and a literal Hell.

I believe that God exists in 3 persons, The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Literally.

Yet somehow, for some segments of Christianity, all of this is still not quite literal enough. Weird.