Calvinism

Calvin was talking in a particular time and context. His approach was prophetic for a depraved, self indulgent, lazy, superstitious, idolatrous church in the Geneva of the time. He really laid it on thick. He needed to. (It worked - look at the effects on Geneva how many generations on !) Like Finney had to in the particular context he was speaking into. Like Jesus did to the Pharisees in that context. But to generalise from that teaching into everyone's situation is, in my opinion, more than unhelpful. Jesus would never say to the man in the street (or the field more like) you brood of vipers. He didn't talk to them about hell, only to the disciples and pharisees. He told them stories about a farmer with amazing quality seed, the employer who made sure no family starved, lost things and so on. As I saw in a recent study on Amos, God's wrath is for the spiritually complacent who take the letter of the law when it suits them but who crushed the poor, weak, foreigners etc. thus neglecting the heart of the law. So I think this way of looking at literal interpretation is very important. I think reading the Bible is so important it's worth doing properly. How many times have the seeds of revival been sown by those who are Bible translators - so called theological nerds who go back and find out what it actually says, now, in my language, understanding their language. Not just looking at what the words seem to say from their current meanings which was the mistake the well meaning Fundamentalists made.

Literal interpretation

Literal interpretation of the bible. Of what bible ? Taking a version in Shakespearean English and taking that literally with a 20th C understanding of the same words ? Taking elements of Middle Eastern texts without any understanding of Middle Eastern Culture ? not taking into account who elements were said to - what was written to employers or employees, the very religious or those excluded by the very religious ? taking one "verse" and making it into a one size fits all rule ?
I think 19th and 20th C western church history has a lot to answer for (very over simplified). European evangelicals were in the spear head of lots of wonderful movements including the labour movement, reform of prisons, work laws, child care and investigation of nature and archeology. I include Darwin himself in that, tho Darwin-ism is quite another matter.European theologians had a theoretically really good idea of applying modern archeology etc to the bible - but it wasn't far enough on to be helpful enough yet so they got rather negative (and maybe more than a little pompous). There was a back swing against this in rural North America. A really good idea to believe the Bible - but limited to an archaic translation, out of cultural context, interpreted with inadequate literacy skills - so they got a bit negative (and maybe more than a little pompous) This Fundamentalist movement had wide reaching effects till the Evangelical movement finally split with it in the 1940s. Both my parents were adversely affected by it. It has still left very deep roots in some denominations.