Some years ago I met a family on a train journey with a son of about 6 years old. We were discussing how life was in our childhood and the young lad said "things were different then" When asked what he meant he said "everything was gray". He had seen black and white photos of his parents as youngsters and assumed that everything in life was as the photos showed.
Surely this parallels the beliefs of Christians who take the bible literally because "things were different then". Our knowledge of the physical world was very limited and we had to base our opinions on what was known or believed. There is an excuse for a young lad starting out in life but not for the willfull ignorance shown by those people.