Question

why do you think the Catholic Church was so committed to defending the literal meaning of the Bible passages

Answer 1

The main reason why the Catholic Church was committed to defending the literal meaning of the Bible passages is because they feared that people would stray from the church if they started to develop their own, different interpretations of the Bible.

Answer 2

One important reason why the Catholic Church was committed to defending the literal meaning of the Bible was the fact that the Church believed that if people did not subscribe to the literal meaning of the Bible, they might instead decide to interpret it on their own. This could have catastrophic consequences, as they could start to believe that they were capable of living as a Christian without the guidance of the Church, and the institution would lose its power over its followers.