Is the Bible a myth or just a nice story? Is the Bible true? Has the Bible been changed thousands of times into something unrecognizable?

Many skeptics seem to think so. “Someone probably just made up the Bible.  It’s just a nice story like Santa Claus.”

Rarely, if ever, have these same people looked into the Bible, its history, or contents. Most of them have never even read the Bible. The following is a typical conversation that we have had many times:

Skeptic:  I don’t believe in the Bible.

Catholic Truth: Why not?

Skeptic: Because somebody probably just made it up.

CT:  Who made it up? What was their name?

Skeptic:  Oh, I don’t know. Somebody a long time ago.

CT:  Somebody? Who, exactly? What was their name?

Skeptic: I don’t know.

CT: You make a claim but cannot back it up. How can you make such a claim when you have not studied this matter. As a matter of historical fact, one person did not invent the Bible. It was written over a period of one thousand years by more than 40 different authors, so one person could not have just invented it. Moreover, we know most of the authors along with a good bit about their lives.

Skeptic: You win. You got me there.

More Objections:

People are quick to point out that the Bible is “full of contradictions,” but when you press them as to what these contradictions are, suddenly, they cannot think of any. The vast majority of people who condemn Holy Scripture have not even bothered to read it. Even when someone does attempt to read it, either they don’t understand it or they do so through the hermenuetics of suspicion. In other words, instead of reading the text openly and honestly, they scour the text just looking for something that seems wrong, bad, or silly, regardless of the context, literary style, or actual meaning.

About the Bible

What most skeptics and atheists fail to understand is that the Bible is a library of various books, genres, and literary styles. A person cannot just read through it like it’s all one genre. Each book of Scripture possesses a different literary genre that needs to be properly understood and correctly interpreted. Some of it is history or biography, other books are poetry, apocalyptic literature, wisdom literature, and more. Would someone treat Shakespeare or The Hunger Games as a work of non-fiction? Would they confuse genres? That would be embarrassing, yet, that’s what atheists do all the time with Scripture.

There are also different literary devices to understand as well, such as mythic stories, prophetic texts, rabbinic hyperbole, and so on. It is necessary to understand all of this along with what the author was trying to communicate, and the worldview they possessed.  Too many people attempt to interpret the Bible in English (or your own native language), from a modern day American/European (etc.) worldview without understanding the worldview it was set in with its meanings.

Some reject the Bible because they believe Adam and Eve spoke with a talking snake. Others postulate that the world was created in seven literal days. some claim the sun actually stood still which is scientifically impossible. These and other examples, as well, which reveal a lack of understanding of the biblical texts themselves

Another Objection

Some atheists attempt other arguments:

Atheist: I’m an atheist and do not believe in the Bible.  It’s all a big lie.

Catholic Truth: Why do you say that?

Atheist: There is any proof for it and many contradictions. Your holy book has been proven to be wrong.

CT: Really? Can you give an example?

Atheist: Archeologists can find no evidence whatsoever for the Israelites being in Egypt. Additionally, there is no evidence that a census ever happened as mentioned in the Book of Luke. Therefore, it’s false.

CT: So, you’re saying that you reject the entire Bible because archeologists have yet to provide evidence for two events?Is that correct? I do not see how this disproves anything. The truth is that archeologists have made hundreds of discoveries which confirm the Bible both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. Thus, there is proof that confirms the Bible and outweighs your mere two events.

Atheist: Perhaps that is true, but the fact remains. To date, there is no evidence for the Israelites being in Egypt or of a census.

CT: You should believe in the Bible based on your own logic since there is far more evidence in favor of it. Even so, just because there is not evidence of these events currently discovered, it doesn’t follow that they won’t discover them at some point in the future.

How many times have critics claimed that some person, place, or event was never found, only to later discover that they were, in fact, found. Archeologists have turned up a large number of people, places, and events that were not considered to be true in the beginning. Then, archeologists and others had to reverse their positions.

For example, archeologists have claimed that neither Pontius Pilate or Lysanius the Tetrarch existed. They could find no evidence for these biblical characters. Additionally, Herod the Great,[1] the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and many, many other things were said to be myths, as well. Then, lo and behold, they uncovered all of these things, and the findings are not dispute.

Hundreds of discoveries have confirmed the Bible time and time again. So, to say there is currently no evidence for these two events does not prove anything except that nothing has been found to date. It is important to note that the things being discussed here happened thousands of years ago, and history is still being uncovered daily.

Atheist: That was a lot of information. While I am still skeptical, that actually does make sense.

The Book of Mormon

The two most prestigious historical societies in the United States have officially stated that there is no proof for the Book of Mormon or any of its historical claims.[2] That is revealing. Nothing like this has even been said about the Bible.

In the book, The Case for Christ, it sums up the archeological evidence for the Book of Mormon: “In other words, no Book of Mormon cities have ever been located, no Book of Mormon person, place, nation, or name has ever been found. No Book of Mormon artifacts, no Book of Mormon Scriptures, no Book of Mormon inscriptions, nothing which demonstrates the Book of Mormon anything other than myth or invention has ever been found.[3] 

Now, contrast this with the hundreds and hundreds of historical and archeological discoveries which authenticate persons, places, and events in the Bible. Thus, the Bible is not a myth. It is not something that was just “made up” to scare people. It is based on true history of real people, places and things.

We may note too that the Bible is not the only historical source on Jesus or Christianity.  There are other historical sources that confirm the existence of Jesus and the Christian religion, whereas there is nothing like that to confirm the Book of Mormon.

In Jesus’ day, there were prominent Jewish and Roman historians (Josephus, Pliny the Younger, Tactius, and others) who mention Jesus in their histories. Jesus and Christianity are also mentioned in the Jewish Talmud.  Thus, the Bible is not the only source we have regarding these things.

The Bible is not a myth. There is abundant evidence that demonstrates its authenticity.

Do you know where the Bible came from? God did not just hand it to us from the sky. Check out our article on how we got the Bible.

 

END NOTES:

[1] The Smithsonian: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Finding-Herods-Tomb.html?fb_action_ids=10151847945161117&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_ref=.UjHMAJwqpSk.like&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582,  / National Geographic: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/11/081119-herod-tomb-paintings-missions.html,

[2] http://lifeafter.org/smithsonian/ (The statements can be found on their sites too).

[3] Strobel, Lee, The Case For Christ, Pg. 107.