Myth and Make-believe?
—No, Bible history is true.
It is a common belief that much of the Bible, especially the historical content, is myth and make-believe. But is that true? Are the Bible records fact or fable? Some say the stories in the Bible are symbolic of spiritual realities and are therefore valid even if untrue in a literal sense.
A Story for Example
Take for example the story of Samson, the second last judge of Israel (Judges ch 13 to ch 16).
Samson was a Nazirite from birth to death. He was under a vow never to use a razor on his head. His long hair made him super strong.
When a lion attacked him, the Spirit of the LORD came upon him. The lion was in its youth —when a lion is most deadly. Samson tore apart the lion with his bare hands (Judges 14:5-6).
You might believe the story of Samson to be symbolic and not real. However, if you believe in the LORD and his ability to impart miraculous powers, then you can believe the story of Samson to be true and not a myth, notwithstanding that you may also see symbols and types in the story.
As a quick second example, take the story of Abraham's wives, Hagar and Sarah and their sons Isaac and Ishmael. Paul sees an alegory in that story. However he also sees the story itself as entirely true. It is not a myth or fable to him. (Galatians 4:21-31).
Now, from this point of view, let us examine three sets of stories in the Bible: Creation, the Prophets, and Jesus Christ.
1 The Stories of Creation
At the beginning of the Bible, we immediately meet the problem. The Genesis account of creation is called a "creation myth". There are many creation stories from ancient times, and stories about the world-wide flood. It is assumed that these are all myths and fables including the Bible version.
Peter did not believe in myths. He believed that the heavens, earth, and seas, were created by the word of God and later the earth was flooded. Peter says in literal language, "...by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water" (2Peter 3:5-6 NKJV).
The Theory of Evolution
The existence of life, including man and woman, is often attributed to evolution over millions of years. Many also believe that this evolution is undirected, accidental, and without intelligence. The Genesis account, however, attributes creation to the Word of God, and it was all done in six days. (Genesis ch 1).
There is a catch to the theory of evolution. Before evolution could happen, there would need to be a form of life already present. In theory, evolution takes place in living organisms. If there were no living organisms there could be no evolution. So how did the original life come about that then reproduced and evolved?
Can life come from non-life? Can non-living chemicals mix together by accident to produce living cells capable of feeding, reproducing, and evolving?
The Bible says that God commanded the earth to bring forth life and it was so. That is not a myth. It is plain fact.1 The earth wasn't capable of bringing forth life all by itself. It required the word of God (Genesis 1:11-13,24-25).
1Note:— According to Genesis 1, God commanded the earth and sea to bring forth a plethora of creatures "after their kind", not a single-celled creature only.
2 The Stories of the Prophets
The heros of the Bible include the holy prophets and seers, such as Moses, Samuel, David, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and many others. God spoke to the prophets and the prophets taught the people (Hebrews 1:1-2;). Several of the prophets performed signs and miracles.
There were also apostles and prophets in the early church of Christ. They also confirmed their message with signs and wonders (Ephesians 2:19-20; Mark 16:20).
From antiquity, the prophets spoke on God’s behalf. The writings they left behind guide us, even today, and their prophecies have come true (except for the Last Day). However there are many who regard the scriptures with skepticism. They believe the miracles recorded to be myths and the acts of the prophets to be legends. They certainly don't believe the Bible to be inspired by God (2Timothy 3:14-16).
Paul turns that on its head. He says that people will not endure sound doctrine but will turn to fables (2Timothy 4:1-5).
So the Bible claims to be the truth and demonstrates its claim. Those who see it as a book of myths are themselves believing and teaching myths and fables.
The Miracles on Malta
For example, in the account of the shipwreck on Malta, a fire was lit for the survivors. Paul gathered a bundle of sticks. As he laid the bundle on the fire, a deadly snake emerged. It bit Paul’s hand and clung to it. Paul shook the snake into the fire. Amazingly, Paul was not harmed. The people who witnessed this decided Paul was a god.
Now I could say there was no snake, but just a stick that hooked onto Paul’s arm. The heat shimmer caused by the fire made the stick appear to be a snake. Well you could pour scorn on that, couldn't you?.
Then there was the healing miracle that Paul did for Publius the leading citizen of Malta. I could say that Paul got his companion, Luke the physician, to treat the illness medically. But that would mean that Luke is not telling the true story. He says that Paul healed by a miracle using prayer and the laying on of hands. This would be a lie if Publius was in fact healed by Luke’s medicine (Acts 28:1-10).
3 The Stories of Jesus
The stories about Jesus the Messiah, of whom all the prophets wrote, are also "explained away" so that Jesus becomes a good man, and a great teacher, but not the eternal Son of God as the Bible presents him (John 1:1-5,14).
Just staying on the question of miracles, many who claim to be Bible teachers don't believe the many miracles recorded in the Bible. That includes the miracles of Jesus.
Feeding the Five Thousand
(Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17, John 6:1-15).
One of our Lord’s best known miracles is the feeding of five thousand people with only five loaves and two fish. "They all ate and were satisfied".
Some say that when the boy offered the five barley loaves and two fishes, his unselfish generosity inspired other people to pull out the food they had brought with them, and share it (John 6:8-9).
On several counts, that contradicts those who recorded the story. It makes Matthew, Mark, and John liars and false witnesses. It makes Luke guilty of not checking his facts. What use have we for fake news?
- The miracle was done by Jesus, not by the young lad.
- The only food available was five barley loaves and two fish, not thousands of parcels of food.
- The people (except for the boy) had already eaten what food they were carrying earlier that day. They were not concealing food and saying to the disciples that they had none.
- The disciples collected the food from the hands of Jesus, and distributed it to the crowd. The crowd did not provide the food.
- Several other such observations could be added...
The point of the miracle was not just the blessedness of sharing. It was that people might see proof of the divine power of Jesus, and believe him to be the Christ, the Bread of Life everlasting (John chapter 6).
"And Jesus truly did many other signs, in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name." (John 20:30-31 NKJV).
CONCLUSION The stories of creation, of the prophets, and of Jesus, are entirely true stories. They are not myth and make believe. Underlying these stories there is often prophetic meaning and alegory, while on the face of these stories there is true historical fact.