The Bible: Isn’t The Bible Just Myth?
INTRODUCTION
This series has a HUGE starting assumption. The assumption is that you are engaged with people in a dialog about their faith and have an opportunity to share your faith. With that assumption, we know that sooner or later some people might genuinely ask, “So, why do you believe the Bible?”
For many Pocket Testament League Members, our interaction is often brief encounter – we are planting a seed.
This series about for the times we are blessed to have a longer engagement, even an ongoing conversation with a person. Our suggestion is that you always start a dialog about faith with the person of Jesus—that is why we are such strong advocates for using the Gospel of John.
Our experience shows that a positive, open dialog about faith will lead to people asking questions about the Bible—being prepared is wise—which was the point of Part 2.
However, not all interactions with someone are going to lead to a question about the Bible where this is truly a genuine interest in your answer.
Again, our experience tells us that some, not many, interactions are a bit bristly, and even fewer are openly hostile.
We should not be surprised. And, there is no need to be fearful or angry. We simply need to be prepared and “prayed up”!
Returning to Romans 1… We are not merely engaging a person’s intellect that is singularly captured by human reason. No, we are engaging—in fact trying to dislodge and destroy—spiritual strongholds.
This is why, even if people are being polite, this fight is so intense. The enemy knows if they lose their stronghold over a human’s mind regards the Bible, they have lost. The enemy is working tirelessly to keep a person from not only ignoring the Bible but mocking it. If they succeed, then they have strategically isolated that person from the most powerful book in the world.
One way the enemy isolates a person from considering the Bible is by labeling it a “myth”.
WHEN YOU SAY “MYTH”…
Depending on your personality, when someone pokes at God’s Word, you might want to respond strongly, quoting verses about God’s Word.
Yet, just as our Lord did with his antagonists, you might respond with a question. Consider genuinely asking, “When you say myth, can you tell me what you mean?”
In the past, a story was often categorized as a myth because it was telling deep truths beyond our grasp.
Now the Bible is not a myth, but the above definition at least cast God’s Word in the positive light of containing deep truths.
Those days are gone. Nowadays, when the word myth is used, especially regards the Bible, the label is derogatory.
Oxford Languages hosted by Google lists five definitions. The first two below make clear their definition is one that is not complimentary when the word myth is used to describe the Bible, the other three definitions are even worse.
· 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. You may think this one not bad until you look up their view/definition of supernatural beings.
· a widely held but false belief or idea.
Let’s come back to the person you have engaged. Before you jump on their choice of the word “myth”, you might next ask, “What in your experience of Jesus led you to that conclusion?” (NOTE: bring the discussion back to Jesus.)
Here you will learn much about them, their experiences, and who/what has influenced them. I pray you are truly interested in learning about them. You might hear:
1. They like Jesus, just not the Bible (or church, or religion).
2. They may have no experience of the Bible, they just “heard this somewhere”.
3. They reached this conclusion because they had a Bible quoting parent or relative that abused them, and so they link their abuse and negative effects all to the Bible.
None of these answers are theoretical. I have had them said to me.
I would suggest each answer requires a different response but a common strategy: get them to engage with Jesus.
Let’s look at each.
They like Jesus, just not the other “stuff”
You might say, “I like Jesus too! In fact, I love him.”
You might note that the life of Jesus is reported in the Bible and other historical writings, butit is in the Bible where you meet the Jesus you love—and the Jesus who loves you (and them).
Ask them if they have a favorite Jesus story. Expect they may misquote, or even wrongly quote, the Bible.
Let’s say they point to the woman caught in adultery and they say, “I love how Jesus does not judge her.”
What would you do? I suggest you read it together with them (have the PTL APP (so you can share a Gospel with them) on your phone and a Bible APP).
As you read it together, be praying that the Holy Spirit will open their eyes and the eyes of their heart.
And then ask them, what do they think. Don’t be surprised if they say again, “See, he does not judge her”.
Here you can gently note he in fact does judge her; he tells her to go and sin no more. What he does not do is condemn her.
This could lead you to a wonderful discussion.
I would suggest you then ask if you can read together one of your favorite stories. Have it be a story from John’s Gospel (to set up sharing a small, manageable book of the Bible).
You are raising their curiosity, and most likely they are experiencing the Bible for the first time.
The next section deals with the “issue of myth”.
They have no experience of the Bible
If they have no experience, see the section above where you can read a story about Jesus with them.
Always start with Jesus.
After a few stories about Jesus, you can note, it is in the Bible where you meet Jesus.
At some point you can lean into pieces of the earlier post “Why I Believe The Bible”, picking portions of your answer to fit the situation.
Keep it short, keep it a conversation.
You might say, “When I think of a myth, I think of _________,” What do you think of? (You fill in the blank.)
For example, they may have used the word myth because they have not thought through the idea what does the word “supernatural” mean?
Many folks associate “myth” with DC or Marvel Comics—complete with the movies that represent these fantasies so well—which plants in their mind that the Bible which reports supernatural events is in the same category as fantasy.
Here you might lean into the historical accuracy of the Bible, or the eyewitnesses.
Or you might just give them your definition of supernatural. Do you have one?
A supernatural event is an event that, when it happens, violates all the natural laws that govern and describe how our world works.
When someone reports a “supernatural event” it means they have seen, or heard, or experienced something that makes no natural sense.
Now, of course, the further the space probes go into the universe, the bigger our natural world becomes. The deeper scientists dig into the order of the world, the more they find out about the natural world.
Here many people want to go to the Creation narrative of Genesis, and we will deal specifically with that later.
For now, keep the focus on Jesus. You could have a wonderful conversation, again bringing them back to examples of Jesus—and that he really was crucified and rose again.
An engagement like this is best when it is done over several meetings, even inviting them to read stories from the Gospel of John booklet you’ve given them.
Before we go to the third example, I want to caution you against one common error Christians have fallen into; it is called “God in the gaps”.
God in the gaps
For years Christians would note that there were gaps between what science understood, and what we experienced—and we would say the reason we could not explain something was…God…He was supernaturally causing it.
This “God in gap” approach backfired because scientists would spend time digging and find the answer. That then led them to say to Christians, “See, it isn’t this fantasy God of yours, here is a rational explanation.”
I suggest a different approach. I suggest the approach be, ask yourself “Why is science possible?”
Afterall, science studies all sorts of things—expecting to figure out how something works. We come up with a hypothesis and run tests (over and over and over) trying to disprove the hypothesis. When we cannot disprove it, we conclude it is true (at least but always testing the hypothesis).
What is amazing is we have become so used to “science existing” that we never ask why science is possible.
Why should we think the world we live in is a world that we should be able “figure out”? Why do we think, even if the world could be figured out, that humans are the ones that will “do the figuring?”
To pursue science fundamentally requires you believe you can observe nature, its patterns and expressions, and find underlying root behaviors—be they ordered or chaotic.
All of that presumes someone or something, outside this natural order, put this natural order into existence – we know from the Bible this Someone to be God: Father-Son-Holy Spirit. Further, the Bible tells us we are created in His Image—male and female He created us. He endows us with the ability to pursue science.
So, which events can you be sure are truly supernatural events?
My answers: the ones where the Bible reports God acting and intervening.
The Bible is full of these events. Events, reported by eyewitnesses, of God breaking into His natural world. He caused the Red Sea to part in defiance of natural law. In fact, He, broke into the natural order in the person of Jesus.
In the end, for me, I let science worry about figuring out “how”, and focus on answering the questions of “why”? Why did God make the universe, complete with earth, and even human beings? Why did God send Jesus? Why did Jesus die on the cross? Why did Jesus ascend to heaven?”
They don’t believe the Bible because they have suffered at the hands of a Christian (bible-believing, or not)
In this case you need to shift your mode of engagement – you need to shift to a mode of compassion.
If you think you can handle it, ask them if they want to tell you about it?
They may not.
If they tell you about their story, please just listen. So often we then tell everyone our hurts. This moment is about you being Jesus for them: listening and loving.
Ask them if you can pray, and when they say yes, pray with them and bring them into the throne room of God’s grace.
Show them Jesus. Let God lead. You might invite them to your church. You might schedule another time to meet. You might simply pray.
BEFORE WE CONCLUDE: DRAWING THE LINE
Just one other point. Let’s for a moment assume you find someone truly hostile to the Gospel, what do you do and where do you draw the line?
Perhaps you walk away.
But there is a line for some—and that is when the Name of Jesus or God is blasphemed.
I recently was present when a person was very discouraged saying he would be better off dead. He recounted real hardships in his life. He said it was God’s fault…and then he cursed God.
The evangelists interrupted saying, “Don’t say that, don’t curse God. God loves you. God sent me and these other people to you today because He loves you.”
They continued to review all that had happened in this man’s life in the last 30 minutes, and how it was a sign of God’s love.
“Please don’t blaspheme God, He loves you.”
I was struck by their action. The man had been impolite to them, using coarse language and they took no offense…they took no strong position…until God was blasphemed.
They pressed the point about how God loved this man, all the while being compassionate.
The man admitted he should note blaspheme God.
Within minutes he was smiling, even laughing with them.
They, the evangelists had, with a firm gentle challenge, unlocked this man and his heart opened.
CONCLUSION
The Bible, in all its fullness reveals the mystery of God fully in Jesus Christ.
As we are engaged by others about the Bible, lead with Jesus. Ask questions of the skeptic in front of you. The odds are in your favor. Most people have not read the Bible much. Rather than argue, read a passage about Jesus with them, and simply have a conversation.
As you do this act of love, know where “your line” is with their behavior—and how you will respond.
Finally, you know, I know, the Bible is true, and God is all-powerful. You can be confident and loving from this position.