The Bible : Myth or History ?

” Have you found God ? “

That has to be one of the most annoying questions ever . I , myself , find some Christians too tactless in their attempts of evangelization .

When it comes to the interpretation of the bible , there are two extremes . Most evangelists , even Catholics , are the embodiment of the fundamentalist extreme ; those who use the authority of the Scripture as their starting point . That is a tactical error that is questionable for three reasons :

 

1. They deem it necessary to begin convincing us of the authority of the Scripture because they think that natural human reason alone , apart from Scripture , is not strong enough or good enough to direct unbelievers to belief .
2. They think that therefore , the only right order in apologetics is first to prove the authority of Scripture and then use that as a foundation for the other apologetic questions .
3. They think special standards must be used to understand and interpret Scripture since , unlike other books , it is not just man’s words about God , but God’s word about man .

In short , they progress as follows :

 

1. Scripture is infallible .
2. Therefore , Christ in infallible .
3. Therefore , Christ is divine .

In fact , they should realize that the more convincing order is :

 

1. Scripture is reliable as historical record ; as data .
2. Christ’s claims to divinity are found in Scripture .
3. Then comes the argument for the truth of these claims .

On the other side of the fence , if fundamentalists worship the bible , modernists trash it . Here , it is important to note that both extremes share a common mistake . Prejudice ; Both sides use special standards to judge the bible , standards that are not used to judge other books .

Modernists feel the need to deny the authority of Scripture for an obvious reason : It clearly contradicts modernist theology on at least five crucial points :

 

1. Do miracles happen ? Is the supernatural world real ? Are there angels and devils ? Does God ever reach down and ‘interfere’ ?
2. Is there a supernaturally-given moral law ? Did God , not just Moses invent the ten commandments ? Are there , then , any moral absolutes , unyeilding moral laws that do not change when our feelings or societies change ?
3. Is Christ divine and thus infallible and absolutely authoritative in everything He says ?
4. Is human life on earth spiritual warfare ? Is there real Heaven or Hell at the end ? Do our choices matter much ?
5. Is there one objective and true way to Heaven as Jesus himself claims (John 14:6) or are all religions of the world equal and thus the generic human sincerity and niceness the only requirements requirements for salvation ?

Scripture unequivocally and repeatedly answers yes to all the questions above when the typical modernist mind answers no .

Unbelievers say (1) that Christianity is what the New Testament teaches and (2) that Christianity is false . Christians say that (1) Christianity is what the New Testament teaches and (2) that Christianity is true . Modernist theologians want to make peace with both sides , so they say (1) that Christianity is not what the New Testament , at face value , teaches but instead is what modernists have selected out of the New Testament (the love ethic without the miracles) as something that will be acceptable to both unbelievers and believers and (2) that this redefined Christianity is true .

But does Scripture itself allow Christianity to be redefined ?

Galatians 1:8 : ” But even if we or an angel from Heaven should preach to you a gospel other than the one we preached to you , let that one be accursed “

There is an immense amount of arguments regarding the alleged internal and external discrepancies within the bible . That is not to say that it is impossible to defend every one of these , but it is a tremendous task . As essential at that may be , i propose an alternative solution . Before you judge the bible , read it first , but interpret it with the help of the proper basic principles :

 

1. Use common standards , methods and approaches ( as you would any other book ) .
2. Read for the author’s intended meaning ; Read out of (exegesis) rather than reading into (eisegesis) . Don’t try to understand the author’s mind through your own colored eyeglasses ; assumptions , beliefs , categories , ideologies or prejudices . Modernists read miracles out of Scripture not because the text tells them to , but because their philosophy tells them that they should .
3. Separate interpretation from belief .
4. Interpret a book according to its genre . Poetry versus law , parable versus biography , myth versus history . The most essential example of this is Darwin versus the author of Genesis . If Genesis were science and the Origin of Species were religion , they would meet and perhaps conflict . However , they do not even meet ; Darwin does not ask who created species or why but only how they appeared . Genesis tells us who and why but not how .
5. Know when to interpret the Bible literally and symbolically . When the biblical author claims he saw something in the external world with his own eyes , or that someone else did and told him about it , then we are to interpret it literally (but remember , separate interpretation from belief and interpretation does not equivocate belief) . On the other hand , when something is invisible to the eye , we cannot interpret it literally . For example , when the object in question is our soul , a vision seen only with the inner eye or in a dream or parables which the author of the parable made up . However , it is also important not to forget that certain passages could be interpreted both literally and symbolically . For example , the Red Sea symbolized death and the Promised Land symbolized Heaven . Language that is not literal , however , can still be true and be of extreme importance . For example , some of the important things we say in life are non-literal : ‘ I was beside myself ‘ or ‘ My heart bleeds for you ‘ .
6. Know which events are historical . This means either literal history ( for example , the court history of the Kings of Israel ) , non-literal history ( Garden of Eden and the Fall ) as well as Fiction (parables) .

It’s uncanny how many people doubt the authenticity of the accounts in the bible when they forget about historical proximity . It’s just a tad far-fetched to claim that the authors of the bible were inaccurate when they wrote it closer to the events than we ever will be , and that centuries later , we reflect that we are better judges than they were .

Some may question the need to address the interpretation of the bible . Recall the tales of the encounters between Jesus and the Pharisees . He was cool as an Oxford scholar when dealing with them but fierce as a mother bear when they were hurting the souls of his beloveds .

Postscript : For more straightforward evidence that the bible is not myth , refer to ‘The Divinity of Christ’ ; the Quadrilemma – Lord , Liar , Lunatic or Myth ?