How do we know that the Bible isn't fiction?

Question

Genuine question; I go to bookstores a lot, I love reading and I read a lot of fiction, but I don't see how the Bible can stand distinctly higher up in the truth factor than... for instance, the Twilight Saga.

I'm not atheist, I'm a theist, so I just believe in a deity; but I want to know as to how come the Bible is regarded as truth when from reading it myself, it seems to be nothing other than a very large book of collected authors.

Any thoughts either way are totally welcome. :)

Answer 1

Some of it is. That doesn't mean its message is false.



The central message of the whole Bible is personified in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ's message was that love was the most important thing we needed to do: love God and each other.



Everything else, whether it's literal or fiction, is only scaffolding for that idea.

Answer 2

I agree with you completely. What you described is Deism, you're a Deist. Deism is famous for being the chosen belief of the founding fathers (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson etc.). It means, while you believe in god, you don't believe in a specific organized religion, just god. But even though the bible is completely made up, it's a great way to make money, and hold power over other people. They basically created a franchise when they created religion. How come there can't just a be a god? Why did a guy have to be resurrected, and a women have a baby without sex, and a guy live in a fish for three days?

Answer 3

Well, what I did was:



a) Compare the Bible history to actual history; do they correlate? If they correlate that adds validity to the Bible. And does the Bible reveal things about the past that we didn't know about?



b) Prophecies. Do they come true and how accurate are the prophecies (i.e. are they specific or are they vague?)



c) Does the Bible not contradict itself? If it doesn't that adds validity to it being the word of one author (i.e. god) because with that many different authors, it should contradict itself.



d) Is it genuinely eye opening and amazing?



Personally, I found the Bible was lacking in these. So I do not believe in it any more than fiction.

Answer 4

Alright sam, it seems like you are a person looking for some truth so hopefully i can lay some down! (: We know that the Bible is not fiction because the Bible is the oldest living book in earths history, looking in the sense that its still around, not to mention the most selling book of all time. The Bible has been persecuted by kings, nations ect...and its stood the test of time...for hundreds and hundreds of years. People have scrutinized the Bible for as long as it has been around, and yet...people cant debunk it. Many have tried, but they fail. There are many convincing arguments from people, and ill give them that, it is in general...a stalemate as to whether God is real or not...but sam I think you can look around at earth and see the answer for yourself (: But ANYWAYS, we know that the Bible is 100 percent truth because of reasons like this...not to mention the fact that all the people in the Bible did exist, and they define our history today. EX- David, Moses, Jesus ect. You will find throughout the Bible hundreds of real life people who existed, and some famous ones.... EX- the queen of sheba, caesar, you see where Im getting at haha. But archaeologists have literally discovered cities because of the accuracy of the Bibles descriptions and things like that. So theres a little tidbit of info! (: Hope it helped. But hey, there are a lot of opinions, and so called "experts" who say they know what the BIble means, but in fact they have never studied the language that it was written in, or the history behind it...so we as americans read it one way, when in fact because of the language it was written in, it actually means a whole other thing...so dont let someone totally confuse you (: the answers are out there my friend! Good luck on your search for truth, and btw...Jesus loves you! haha peace

Answer 5

Archaeologists have unearthed much collaborative evidence for the Bible's history--the stables of Soloman, palaces of the Omron dynasty, beds of ivory, Baruch's personal wax seal, Dead Sea autographs, stepped basins for water immersion, stone cups, and Roman coins. Historical fact appears to intersect with theological fiction throughout the Bible.



EVERY historian puts his own allegorical spin upon history and the Bible writers were no exception. Supernatural phenomona like talking snakes and water-walking had the same entertaining function that THE LORD OF THE RINGS exhibits--the Talmud reads rather dryly in comparison. Aesop's Fables is another ancient example of moral lessons enclosed in phantasmagoria.



The fact that man invented writing and we have access to his ancient texts and theologies is a miracle in itself. What can be more holy than to communicate with people thousands of years in the future? You miss the point when you bicker about factuality; try to percieve the Bible as ancient poetry with a moral purpose.

Answer 6

Of course most of it is fiction. There are some historical facts in it, but unless you really think Eve came from Adams rib, and there was a talking snake in the garden of eden, or that man was created from clay, etc, then of course it's mostly fiction. These are stories that weren't meant to be taken literally. That's the problem with organized religion today; they read every line of the bible as literal truth.

Answer 7

Historical, archeological and linguistic evidence back up the validity of the Bible. You can go walk in Israel the places where King David and Jesus walked with many of the sites having churches built on them. Some years ago a famous British archeologist went to Israel to prove that the Bible was wrong and ended up becoming a Christian. Faith in what Jesus Christ did on the cross to take away our sins is the only way to true peace and joy and millions can attest to that fact.

Answer 8

Some of it is, some of it isn't.

Ruth and Esther are probably novellas, fiction written for the readers of the time and culture.

Though, the history of the Old Testament (From Solomon on) has a great amount of evidence that it actually happened.

The theological aspects of the Bible, of course, are up to the opinion of the reader. I personally believe in God in both the Old and New Testament, though I don't hold the Pentateuch to be literal.

Answer 9

Thats a good, and important question. I cant speak for everyone but I can speak for myself. As a Jew, these arent just a bunch of stories, but the stories of my people. There are multiple reasons we can rule it out as fiction. These stories were witnessed by a whole nation. The Jewish people found them important enough to tell their children, and their children's children. The Passover story for instance. We have been keeping Passover for almost 3000 years. Not because its written in some novel, but because our ancestors experienced and passed it down. The revelation at Mt. Sinai. This didnt happen to one person, and a few people who looked on. G-d revealed himself to all of Israel, roughly 3 million people. You couldnt convince people a few generations later that this happened, and that they should devote their lives to it, without any notion of it coming from their parents. This isnt even getting into the prophecy that Moses laid down, hundreds and hundreds of years prior. Its also important remember that when you just read the Bible, without the Oral Torah and insight that comes from the people who it was intended for, you are getting only a small glimpse into the real purpose of the words.

Answer 10

we think it is not fiction b/c multiple people wrote it and account for the events. its not just one person's word. And i say think b/c we never know exactly what happened in the past. I respect your point of view but i would ask you not to speculate about it being fiction. you can ask the question but be careful. this religion can mean everything to some people.





Charlie: you need to be more respectful, the bible has saved lives and is very importent to a lot of people

Answer 11

The Bible is a collection of myths and legends derived from neighbouring peoples from the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean. Examples include the Sumerian creation epic Enuma Elish from which the Genesis Creation Story was probably derived, probably via the Canaanites/Phoenicians, and the Noah story is almost identical to the story of Utnapishtim in the epic of Gilgamesh.



It's the word of men, not of the mythical supernatural beings that figure in many parts of it.



Belief in God and other supernatural beings is no different from ancient beliefs in gods and goddesses. The idea of the biblical God changes throughout the course of the Bible as does the name, and there seem to be several changes of Deity. For example:



- The God in Genesis creation story, is called Elohim. The Elohim are the sons of El in the Canaanite pantheon. They were ruled by El Elyon (God Most High), and later by Hadad the rain god, who is generally the god referred to by the title Baal (Lord). In Genesis 14:18-22, Abram is blessed by Melchizedek, the Canaanite High Priest of El Elyon and king of Salem, and Abram accepts the god as his.



-The enemy of the Elohim is Yam (the sea), a chaos monster slain by Baal. This might have been derived from the Sumerian creation epic Enuma Elish, in which the god Marduk battles the great dragon Tiamat (the waters of chaos, and mother of the gods) and divides her body to create the heaven and the earth. In Genesis 1, God's Spirit moves upon the face of the waters (verse 2) and then divides them (verses 6-7). Marduk hangs up his bow after his victory over Tiamat, much as God does in Genesis 9:13 after the Flood.



- When Moses encounters God, God introduces himself as Yahweh (I am who am, I will be what I will be, etc). Continuity with previous beliefs is maintained by the claim to be the God of Abraham, Jacob (Israel) and Isaac.



- In Acts 17, Paul further assimilates the attributes of Greek gods into the deity, when he identifies the "unknown god" as the one he is teaching about.

Answer 12

Does it matter? Let's say it is fiction. Since when are truth and fiction mutually exclusive? You can't find undeniable human truths in the works of Shakespeare, Dante, Joyce, or the Bible? Forget about the history focus on the lessons.

Answer 13

We know it's fiction; in fact, we know the very first verse is false.



By the way: out of all the gods described throughout history, do you happen to believe in the one your parents told you was real?

Answer 14

How do we know that books on Columbus, Van Gogh, The Battle of Hastings or The Great Fire of London are fact & not fiction?!....& you know that HE actually painted them do you??

Answer 15

i share your view my friend......i only refrain from this argument with my friends coz thea mostly devout christians so when i try to tell them my ideas they get really really mad.but i think the bible is a fantastic work of fiction.....a real page turner......

Answer 16

Simple. Just compare it to reality.

Answer 17

Me answering this promotes me to level 2. I feel special.

Answer 18

The bible is a horrific fairy tale.

Answer 19

I know a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy, who knows a guy, who says it's all true! So rest easy.