"But what about the moderates?"

[DeistPaladin]

Why not? Why is there an excluded middle? The Church Fathers believed that the Bible was true, but it would never have occurred to them to ask whether or not the events 'happened as written'. They were interested in what the truth of the passage was, and that is perhaps an approach Xians should rediscover...

Two reasons, one of which was already explored by Rob. If the Bible is "inspired" or "metaphoric", then we must have some means of discerning which parts are divine and which parts are human in origin. If the Bible relates some truth but through metaphoric means, we still need some way of properly translating the divine author's intent.

The second reason has to do with the burden of proof lying with the one making the claim. For example, apologists like to argue that the TF is "partially authentic". They assume the burden of proof to show us exactly which parts are contaminated and which parts are not. When we consider just how dire the consequences are in a false positive (thought to be divinely inspired but actually not), it only underscores the importance of the one making such a claim to prove their assertions.