Is the Bible total fiction?

Photo by Lilian Dibbern on Unsplash

The division line between the evangelical Christians and the “liberal” Christians can perhaps be defined by how they interpret the Bible. Evangelical Christians tend to treat the Bible literally, and as the “word of God.” Liberal Christians, on the other hand, tend to take the biblical stories as metaphors, or as myths (although not in a pejorative sense).

Let’s talk about the literal interpretation of the Bible. I have been leading a Bible study group which meets almost every Saturday at my house. I want to take this opportunity to reflect on this experience.

The literal interpretation of the Bible can be silly at times. On this, even many of my evangelical Christian friends would agree. For example, there is a passage in the gospels about Jesus calming the storm:

(Jesus) woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

(Mark 4: 35–41)

A literal interpretation this passage would not make sense. What are the wind and the sea? Are they like puppies for Jesus to command? That…