Question 43 – Did everything in the Bible really happen? 

Continuing with the exploration and reflection through a series of articles written in a conversational language about Catholicism, about God, about Jesus, about the Church and many other faith related topics. Here we present:

Question 43 – Did everything in the Bible really happen? 

The Bible*, Christians believe, is the Word of God*. So it contains no lies. That does not mean, however, that you can take everything in it literally. The Bible contains many different kinds of texts: myths, letters, law books, poems, more or less precise descriptions of historical events, visions, teachings, among others. Therefore, you cannot read all these different texts in the same way. Just like you would read and interpret a news item differently than you would a poem today. Yet you do not say that a poem is a lie.

Thus the story of creation at the beginning of the Bible is not meant as a scientific description of the origin of the world and humanity. Rather, it is a symbolic and poetic expression of the belief that the world was not created by chance but by God’s love. So this is not so much a description of what happened, as it is an attempt to represent its meaning.

The sometimes very detailed stories about the passion and the crucifixion* of Jesus* or about the apparitions of the risen Jesus, have a more historical character. Archaeological research shows that this also applies to a number of other texts from the Bible. Many facts from these bible stories are confirmed by the excavations in the Middle East.

– Do you find it difficult to know what you can or cannot read literally in the Bible?
– What helps you to better understand the Bible?

Watch this space! Coming up:  Question 44 – Can you be a Christian without knowing the Bible? 

Follow these links to go back to previous questions

If you wish to learn more about this resource follow this link  “52 Questions and Answers about faith

 

About the author:

Nikolaas Sintobin, SJ, joined the Society of Jesus in 1989, following a short career as a lawyer. He was trained as a Jesuit in Brussels, Paris, and Santiago de Chile. Today he is a spiritual director who is keenly interested in online ministry and discovering new ways to help people find God.

This text is republished with the permission of Messenger Publications, Ireland. To buy a hard copy of the book click here.