It seems hard to reconcile taking the Bible literally and being an empiricist. Downright impossible if you are a geologist.
As for geology, it's pretty evident that prophets that wrote the "Truth" millennia in the past probably didn't listen when the voices from on high droned on about plate tectonics and such.
http://www.biblica.com/bibles/chapter/?verse=Genesis+10&vers...
I don't believe that, however.
The pentateuch's creation story differs enough from how it appears in modern English translations that I have no problem believing it is literally God's word.