Fiction in the Bible?

Critics of the Bible often decry it as a massive piece of fiction. Some even deny that Jesus existed at all. The Christian response is often to launch into an effort to convince the non-believer that the Bible is true and, of course, it is.  But angrily rushing at critics is probably not the best way to respond.   

It is a provable fact that the Bible is more historically attested than many ancient secular documents which are themselves almost universally accepted as genuine.  Whether or not the Bible is accepted as a supernatural book, it is increasing being proven as a historically accurate document.  The kings and kingdoms mentioned actually existed.  Many of the places mentioned have been found by digging where the Bible says they were.  The problem for the Christian apologist is that these arguments will probably fall on skepticism-deafened ears.

I recently found an old book from 1946 which gave me an insight about which I had never before thought.   The book is How to Read the Bible, by Dr. Edgar Goodspeed.  Dr. Goodspeed points out that the parables of Jesus were fictional.  Jesus was a master storyteller; it was his “favorite and characteristic vehicle.”  He used his stories, some of which are as short as a sentence in length, to teach spiritual insights in a simple and clear manner.

A very good opening to start with a non-believer might be Jesus’s parables.  Once the non-believer is interested in the parables, the Christian should point out that though the parables are clearly fictional, the Bible itself is historically based.  Even if the non-believer cannot be brought to a place of conviction, they may at least come to a place where they recognize that the events depicted in the Bible actually happened. This is progress which may later bear fruit.

Film Comment: The Big Picture

We've all realized after the fact that we have missed opportunities for witnessing to people; people who were obviously "ready," under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The one who was not ready was us.

The Big Picture (2000) is a short film apparently available only as an extra on the DVD release of Daybreakers (2010), a vampire film with a twist.

In The Big Picture, a young woman politely but firmly rebuffs the supper invitation offered to her by her nerdy neighbor, who sadly walks back home in the rain. He has brought her a flower and obviously has worked for hours, perhaps days, to build up enough courage to speak to her.

At first to her distress, and then to her growing delight, the woman is astonished when her television begins showing her a progression of images taking place in her living room. She sees images of the nerd becoming her boyfriend and then her husband and then the father of her beautiful children. She sees herself, in the living room, with her teenaged daughter and sees herself happily growing old with her devoted husband. Of course, she decides to go across the street to accept her neighbor's supper invitation. It's then that she learns the truth: one must respond to opportunities when they become available or they may no longer be available.

"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and [be] ready always to [give] an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:" 1 Peter 3:15