cancilla said
My wife is reading a book (“The Myths That Stole Christmas”) about the origins of certain Christmas traditions. At one point, the author asserts that some early Christians believed that scripture was perfectly accurate to the point that it didn’t even round numbers. For example, if it said that Moses was 120 when he died, it meant that he died exactly on his 120th birthday — not even a day earlier or later. I hadn’t heard of this belief before and the author does not cite a source.

Does anyone here have more information on this belief? Do we have documentary examples of it? Any details are appreciated.  

People advance a literal teaching of the bible in order to protect those in their church.  Atheists who hate religious believers will latch on to discrepancies in scripture to belittle a person’s faith.  If an average church member is confronted by such a person, he or she will find themselves in a match of wits against someone who is actively hostile towards them and their beliefs.  There’s no reason to talk to someone who hates you as a person.  For this reason, it’s better for church members to simply assert a blanket response of literal perfection and not engage.  It doesn’t make a huge difference if Moses was 120 or 120 and a day.  Moses’s age at death is not where the abuse ends, unless the average church member ends it there.