We didn’t like the legends of our fathers, so we wrote our own. We designed a new marketplace of ideas and almost every previous form of communication became antiquated and outdated in almost an instant. The church didn’t communicate with us. So, we wrote our own stories, developed our own causes, and forgot about the plight of the previous generations. It’s our fault, and theirs. Thus, my apology continues.
There are a few people today who will say that the Bible is full of myths, and excuse themselves from believing in Christ on that basis. Ah, he is still here; the man with the t-shirt. This is one thing he said. This statement is interesting because the word, “myth,” could mean one of two things formally.
First, a myth could mean “a traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining some natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events.” We wouldn’t know that. We needed to rewrite and reinvent. Tradition meant nothing to us even though we were its product. Most stories concerning the revolutionary war, the founding of Rome, and even stories concerning the founding of individual states would be considered to be myths or would fit into this myth genre. These stories are always past tense and may contain truth and fiction or may be entirely true or fictitious. In this case, the first 11 chapters of Genesis and the Resurrection narrative fall into the “Myth” genre, but that does not necessarily mean the stories in these accounts are fictitious. Since we bucked tradition, we assumed that these stories were of little value. We wanted a current experience and shallow, entertainment based church was born. Though some of those grew rapidly, mostly we saw through the facade. We didn’t bite and we won’t. I know, it looks like there are multitudes of us there when you look from the outside. The truth? 75% of us are still entirely absent. The entertainment experiment failed. It was a blunder to match that of the already established organized church.
Second, a myth could also be “a widely held but false belief or idea.” In this case, the phrases, “Sugar causes hyperactivity,” and “Attention span is getting shorter,” are myths that both parents and children believe even though they are false. These myths are always present tense and always fictitious even though they are perceived to be the truth. This sort of myth abounds because people are gullible in their wretched state of existence.
When stories in the Bible are referred to as myth, people are not usually using either of these formal definitions. Most are forming an entirely new, cultural hybrid definition of the word “myth.” This hybrid definition might be stated in this way: “A story that is believed by some to be true, but is unauthenticated and most definitely false.” This matches more closely the definition of “legend.” We don’t need our fathers’ legends. We are writing our own. We are meeting in places like this and sharing with others the way we think things ought to be over a pint and a game of billiards. Who are you voting for? What about welfare and gun-control? Have you noticed that our opinions are almost always the direct opposite of the previous generations? There is a deep truth to be grasped, here.
From the start, then, we can notice a linguistic problem to the accusation that the Bible is full of “myths.” It may be the case that scholars once identified the genre of myth in the Bible (which does not necessitate fiction), and that popular culture (which held an entirely different definition of the word) interpreted “myth” to mean what it did not. Because of this, people may have believed that the Bible was full of made-up, fictitious stories. It is entirely possible that there was a general lack of understanding and a misinterpretation due to linguistic morphology. The man sitting at that table over there just ordered an Old Fashioned. He was brought a Whiskey Sour. There is a difference between sours and bitters. Misunderstanding leads to the message being transformed into something that it is not. All of the sudden myth becomes legend, and we are writing our own. This is not difficult for us to understand. If I were to ask any person today what I meant when I said, “That is incredible!” I would receive the answer, “You mean that whatever it is you are referring to is awesome or amazing.” This would not have been the case years ago when incredible was properly used to say that something was without credibility. A scholar today may use the word correctly to mean something is not credible, and popular culture might interpret the saying to mean that the scholar is amazed by something that he or she does not actually believe to be true.
Not only, then, must I apologize to my own generation on behalf of the church, but also to the church on behalf of my generation. Before we assume to know what someone else means when they say something, we should strive first for understanding. Truly listening is important, and not many people do so. That’s simply what it means for us to love others. We’ve missed that all around, haven’t we? Just look at that terrible political ad on the television above and behind the bar.
When people say that the Bible is full of myths, we cannot really be sure what they mean. Because of this, I want to change the language of the question for the sake of clarity. Are there any fictitious stories that are presented as truth in the Bible?
In Luke, chapter 7 and verses 41-50, Jesus, yes, the man who is the focal point of all history, tells the story of two men who owed a debt. One man owed a much larger debt than the other, but both debts were forgiven. Jesus used this as an illustration when He was talking with Peter and painted a picture of the idea that those who are forgiven more, have more love and appreciation toward the forgiver. I believe that the Bible is entirely accurate in its telling of the events, but the illustration Jesus' used may be understood as a made-up scenario for the purpose of teaching. When we do find possible fictitious accounts in the text of Scripture, they seem to be illustrations used for the purpose of teaching and understood in light of the text of Scripture as such. Scripture doesn't make those stories out to be true and literal. Nothing, though, that has been presented as truth in the text of Scripture has been proven to be fictitious on any grounds. This book is most likely both authentic and reliable. If it were to be removed as a historical source, so would virtually every other work of antiquity. There, I repeated myself again.
There is one story that has been accused of being entirely fictional in nature: Noah's Flood. Noah's flood is presented as historical narrative in the book, though some claim it to be a made-up story, or legend. It is nearly impossible to prove or disprove any historical event. All evidence is interpreted through the lens of one's worldview. In Genesis, chapter 7, we read that Noah and his family entered the Ark. We read that all animals entered according to their kinds. We read that all the mountains were covered under the whole of the heavens (and I checked the Hebrew to be sure it was the whole of the heavens or sky). It is specified by the text of Scripture to be a literal, global flood.
There are some seemingly reasonable objections to this story. First, that the ark could not have floated. In fact, scientists have produced scale models of the Ark and have put them through the a flood simulator. The models capsized. Ships that were built out of wood and were not as big as the Ark capsized on the ocean without a global flood phenomenon. Of course, this first objection only works for the materialist or for those who are looking for an excuse to discredit God’s existence. Bias. Anyone who believes in any sort of spiritual realm can see that, in the context of Genesis 7, it is God who closed the door of the Ark. It is God who provided safety for Noah's family. It is entirely possible for the God of the universe to carry the Ark, which was not sufficient by the abilities of Noah and his family. The story is about God's deliverance, not the ability of any person. Such is the case with the whole Bible. Yet, we tend to make ourselves the center of the story. Oh yeah, we saw the same tendency with the creation account, didn’t we? Interesting.
Second, there is the claim that no archaeological evidence has been found. It is true that the ark has not yet been discovered (at least formally). This does not, though, mean that the story is fictitious. Third, fossil evidence is questionable. There have been mass fossil graveyards found, but multiple explanations exist as theories concerning their formation. It may have been a global flood, or something else.
Though there is no certain evidence in favor of a global flood, there is also no certain evidence that stands against a global flood without much unhealthy speculation. If the Bible is both authentic and reliable, then we are reasonable in believing the story of the Great Flood. Is there any evidence in favor of this story? Or, will we reject this as legend that needs to be rewritten?
There are fossils of sea creatures found far above sea level today. This evidence is always interpreted through the lenses of a worldview and multiple theories exist to explain it. The Black Sea is thought to have been fresh water at one time, and much lower. 7,000 year-old villages were found about 300 feet under the current sea level. Given the inexactness of the dating methods, this could have been around the time of the Flood, but still does not necessitate a world-wide flood event. Any interpretation of evidence is highly speculative on both sides of the debate. A world-wide flood cannot be absolutely proven empirically. The good news is: Neither can an ice age, an extinction event caused by a meteor, or the former existence of a sort of Pangea; which are all events or formations that most scientists believe to have been. It is by speculation that evidence is interpreted through a worldview to determine past events. We have employed inference through both our inductive and deductive faculties. Most historical claims prior to the recording of history are weak claims even if valid and even if absolutely true.
This means the story of the Great Flood cannot be claimed by science to either be fiction or non-fiction. We are reasonable to believe that the story is entirely truthful.
I have recently been looking into population genetics and the study is fascinating. If an equation is developed to predict human population that is based on current population trends world-wide (A.D. 0-2011), there would be about the number of people on the earth today as there are (around 8 billion) if Noah and his family were the only ones present on the earth according to the biblical timeframe. Furthermore, if Adam and Even lived 8,000-10,000 years ago, then the population of the earth just before the Great Flood would have been around 10 billion (which most experts agree is the max number of human inhabitants the earth can support).
This is also highly speculative (I just find it interesting), because natural disasters, baby booms, and medicine cannot be measured accurately by the equation. The world seems to look just how we might expect it to look if there truly was a world-wide flood. This is not the only explanation that might work, but the observations are certainly compelling.
What exactly does this mean for us? First, not everything can be proved or disproved empirically, but that does not make it fiction. Second, everyone accepts historical events on the basis of faith (yes, including the materialist). According to the historical narrative, God takes the matter of sin and human wickedness very seriously. That, my friends, is a message that we should pay very close attention to, especially as we write the legends that will be passed down to our own children. Or, perhaps, we will do what generations before did not do out of fear, the fear that was realized when we forsook the church. Perhaps we will tell the truth after seeking genuine understanding. Maybe we will go back to the church and see reformation in the likeness of Christ. Maybe I’m just dreaming.
That Old Fashioned sounded good, “Please make sure bitters are used. Don’t smash the cherry. Thanks.”