The enormous
success of “The Bible” miniseries on The History Channel has left many
production houses scrambling to get more movies/shows based on Scripture in
production.
The
record-setting ratings give the general faith community something to cheer about
after several years of disturbing trends: overall decrease in church
attendance, an increase in those claiming no religious affiliation, and a
perception that religious people are intolerant and out of touch with
mainstream values.
In spite of
the 11.7 million viewers that tuned into the series finale and the half million
DVD units sold within the first week of release, the real question is: do
people believe these Bible stories to be fact or fiction?
Are they
merely mythological stories that Bronze Age people constructed to communicate
their culture and beliefs, or are they historical events that actually happened?
Remember,
plenty of fictional series today get massive audiences like “Iron Man” and “The
Walking Dead.” Ratings alone are not enough to validate the stories told in
“The Bible.”
Instead, we
need to look at the evidence. I believe, and there is a great amount of
supporting evidence to verify it, that the stories in the Bible are true.
Just look at
the event called Easter, recently celebrated around the world by more than 2
billion people. Is the resurrection of Jesus Christ a nice story that
communicates some allegorical message or is (and was) it a true historical
event?
Let’s start
with the most logical piece of historical evidence: 2,000 years ago a man named
Jesus actually lived. Even popular Bible critic Bart Erhman concedes that Jesus
indeed lived.
The four
Gospels are the primary records that tell of Jesus’ words and actions. They all
agree that He lived, died by crucifixion and rose again from the grave.
It was this
story—a news story, not a bedtime story—that launched the Christian faith three
days after Jesus’ death.
It was
because people knew that dead people usually stay dead that they believed
Jesus’ physical appearance just days after His death was indeed a
miracle.
Ten of the
12 original followers of Christ would die the death of a martyr (not taking
others lives, but being put to death for their faith) because they testified
that Jesus had been raised from the dead.
If something
like the resurrection can be seen as the best explanation of the empty tomb
after Jesus’ death, then all the other miracle stories become plausible.
“New
atheists,” such as biologist Richard Dawkins and physicist Lawrence Krauss, are
quick to hurl the assertion that the Bible is a book of fairy tales, dismissing
the resurrection as one of them.
As far as a
fairy tale, a simple week long trip to Israel would quickly and dramatically
demonstrate to the rational mind that the people and places mentioned in the
Bible are real. You will find very few people living in Israel today, religious
or secular, that think Abraham, Moses, David, and Jesus were fictitious
characters.
Overall,
when you compare the Bible to other ancient documents it stands head and
shoulders above the rest in terms of historical accuracy and archaeological
verifiability. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls showed that the content of
the Bible had been transmitted faithfully throughout the centuries.
Its
extraordinary impact is felt in virtually every aspect of our life and culture,
from education—106 of the first 108 universities in America, like Harvard,
Princeton, and Yale, were founded with a primary goal of teaching and promoting
the Christian faith—to our nation’s view of helping the poor and the
needy.
The
countless hospitals and charities that have dramatically helped millions in
their suffering and pain testify to the power of its principles and teachings.
Far from religious faith being a bad thing, as Dawkins and his followers
suggest, it has been a source of great hope and healing for billions.
Remember,
the Bible is not just one book; it is a collection of 66 books, written by more
than 40 different authors over a period of 1,600 years. The amazing consistency
of its message to mankind points to the reality that it is not just a book that
man wrote about God, but one that God has inspired and given to mankind as a
great gift of light in the darkness.
Given the
evidence, what do you think? Is the historically accurate text that our nation
is built upon a book of fairy tales and myths? Or does the single, greatest
book ever written, whose timeless stories brought in millions of viewers, have
the benefit of being true?
You decide.
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