Of course you can't. The religions are not living beings. They can't die. People can stop practicing them though.
Exactly. And that is what I meant. People will eventually stop practicing those religions that insist on literal interpretations because, as we see in the OP, copper doesn't turn into gold and a literal interpretation instantly invalidates the text and if the faith uses the text as the foundation for justification in the belief, then there is no support for the faith.
This is true of Christianity, as well, and evidenced by the replacement of YEC with GAP, theistic evolution and pre-adamism. A looser interpretation is going to be necessary because these magical aspects of the stories are, to be plain, implausible.
Just as we all can plainly see that copper doesn't turn into gold, we also know that snakes don't have the capacity for human speech, for example, and even Christians are beginning to acknowledge as much.
As I see it, there are two options that can be identified that will allow the bible to continue as "truth" in light of the scientific and historical discoveries that demonstrate these texts to be absolutely false in the stricter literal sense:
1) Alter the text as Cupid Dave does in order to stick to a literal creationism, or
2) Find the allegorical, universal truth in the text that serves as a lesson for us to live our lives and not be so concerned on whether there is historical merit to these lessons.
Are there any other options that are going to prevent a falling away from Christianity in the coming decade when the new crop of Christians become disenfranchised with magical explanations because they stand in the way of the Great Commission and hinder the ability to spread the Gospel?
Not only can people stop practicing certain religions ,but without reasonable answers that don't conflict with our understanding of the natural universe, they don't have an incentive to even start practicing them.
