You don't get it I suppose.
Both meanings can be valid. We can say Joe died for example and it is probably a physical death we're talking about. But if we say "Joe will die if..." it can mean both physical and/or spiritual death. There are instances where one cannot be certain about it.
None of these verses suggest the earth is flat. fixed and immovable yes, but not flat.
Because you say so.
So, the earth is immobile, placed on pillars and it has a hard hammered mirror as a firmament above it upon which God walks? (Read Job for that last one)
And you say they do not say the earth is flat. Flat earth believers say otherwise. Just as most Christians would disagree with your lso-called literal interpretation of Genesis. Who's right, and by what standard? You cannot claim to simply "be taking God at His word" because that presupposes that your ability to interpret the bible is infallible. Which in turn necessitates your own infallibility. Which is false. You're not God.
The bible says so. Check it out. Are you dismissing that? Because if you do, then you're not reading the bible literally and your following statement becomes a lie in every form and sense:
Because we have no preconceived belief. We simply take God at his word.
No, you don't. You take yourselves at your word. Had you taken God at His you'd be believing what His creation said, and accepted that as fallible creatures you've followed in your ancestor's footsteps and made a mistake instead of holding fast to some interpretation that is neither universally accepted as a literal interpretation nor one that makes sense when God's own creation is considered.
EVERYONE has preconceptions. Culturally induced ideas, hopes, beliefs, and other biases that affect everything we do. It's part of being human.
You claim you're taking God on His word. I say the same thing. You disregard all creation says to satisfy an arbitrary interpretation. I have chosen to believe that your interpretation is incorrect as it does not reflect what we can learn from God's creation and is in fact, if we do believe God to be honest and truthful, falsified in the lab.
Yes, we have no preconceived belief. We simply take God at his word.
No, you don't. You disregard His word. You disregard His command to be humble. You disregard His creation. All to satisfy your adherence to one interpretation which you have no guarantee is correct. In fact it presupposes that God is lying to us through His creation. You say the earth is young, I suppose, which means all we see in the night sky is wrong. Our observations of the geology of this planet is wrong. Our physics are wrong. Chemistry. Biology. Everything - even though it is tested and has given us many technologies and products which could never have worked as they do in the universe you describe. So riddle me this; If God is honest and true, and man fallible and fallen, which is more likely to be true? A world which satisfies you, or a world which honestly portrays it's maker without deceit and lies?
You say you have no preconceptions, well, so do geocentrists claim. Are they right? Are all of our observations that say the earth orbits the sun wrong just because they believe the earth is immobile?
You say you take God at His word. Okay. You probably believe that you do. But it is nonsensical to think you can be certain you have understood it correctly when so many millions of others before you and even contemporaries of you are wrong when they say the exact same thing but with different interpretations.
The bottom line is you can't say you're right because you're right like you have been doing. That's circular reasoning and it is... Extremely poor logic. It does not hold water - at all.
I ask again: Why do you assume infallibility?
Your literal interpretations require you to:
Have perfect understanding of all underlying factors including culture, language, intended message.
It requires you to be perfectly objective while reading it. Uninfluenced by anyone and anything.
It requires you yourself to be able to apply aforementioned perfect knowledge and skills perfectly.
Can you as a human do either of these things? No.
