As you may know, I’m currently writing what is known as “biblical fiction” (the term makes me cringe, because if it’s biblical, the biblical part shouldn’t be fiction). My current book is about Sarah. Nearly every story in it either came from the Bible or from The Book of Jasher, an ancient text that is not considered inspired, but boy, is it interesting!
Nearly all of the biblical novelists I know take great pains not to ever contradict Scripture because we believe it is completely accurate in the original manuscripts. We feel free to add texture, thoughts, dialogue, and actions that are in line (i.e., not implausible) according to the biblical account. But we freely admit that our contributions are the fiction that comprises biblical fiction.
These days I read a lot of opinions that the Bible is a nice collection of myths and stories, but it’s not historic or scientific, and therefore it’s not trustworthy.
But it IS.
The Bible claims to be the word of God. Over forty different men who came from all walks of life wrote the sixty-six books of the Bible. But since those men were human and humans aren’t perfect, how do we know the Bible is trustworthy? Isn’t it possible that somehow, in some way, it contains a few mistakes?
Let’s think about it. God cannot lie and he cannot make mistakes. Since the Bible is his word, the Bible cannot contain mistakes. The belief that God’s word is perfect, true, and without mistakes in the original manuscripts is called inerrancy.
The men who wrote the Bible knew God could not lie:
“For you are God, O Sovereign Lord. Your words are truth . . .” (2 Samuel 7:28).
“This truth gives them confidence that they have eternal life, which God—who does not lie—promised them before the world began” (Titus 1:2).
The Bible itself promises that its words are true:
“The Lord’s promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over” (Psalm 12:6).
“Your eternal word, O Lord, stands firm in heaven” (Ps. 119:89).
Jesus said, “Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth” (John 17:17).
The Bible is not an encyclopedia; it does not tell us everything about everything. But in everything it does teach, it is trustworthy. Before you start to think of possible exceptions, let’s back up and review a few considerations:
· Sometimes the writers of the Bible use poetic speech. For instance, I could say, “The Lord is my shepherd” without meaning that I’m an actual sheep, complete with wooly coat and four legs. That’s poetic language in which I’m saying that I’m like a sheep and the Lord is like a shepherd because he guides me and protects me. Just because I’m not a real lamb doesn’t mean the Bible is untrue.
· Sometimes the Bible writers used round numbers. For instance, in Genesis 15:13 God told Abraham that the children of Israel would be strangers in a foreign land for 400 years. He was using a round number. In Exodus 12:40 we learn that the “people of Israel had lived in Egypt and Canaan for 430 years. In fact, it was on the last day of the 430th year that all the Lord’s forces left the land.” In this passage, Moses was being very specific, down to the day. So just because a number is rounded off in one passage doesn’t mean it’s not true in another.
Why do some Bibles use different words than others? Because the Bible has been translated into many different languages and many different styles. The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew and Aramaic; the New Testament was written in Greek. Since you read and speak English, you need to read an English Bible. So whether you read the King James Version, the New Living Translation, the Message, the Tree of Life version, or something else, you should realize that you are not reading the Bible as it was originally written.
So how can we be sure the Bible in our hand is worthy of our trust?
People who translate Bibles are usually extremely careful to get it right—they respect the word of God and do not want to make a mistake. However, because people are human, mistakes do sometimes creep in—for instance, in one King James Version the verse “let the children be filled” was printed “let the children be killed.” (I’ll bet they did a quick reprinting when they discovered that mistake!) That’s why it’s a good idea to consult several different Bibles if you have a question about a particular verse.
Why do people keep printing different versions of the Bible? Different versions are published because language is constantly changing. You know what the web is, what it means to DM someone, and what it means to be Googled, but a few years ago Google and DM meant nothing, and “the web” applied only to spiders! The King James Version of the Bible is lovely and poetic, but it was written in Shakespeare’s day . . . modern people don’t use words like “verily” and “trow.”
Let’s say that Elvis Presley once wrote a song on a napkin. Just for fun, let’s say he gave the napkin to a man who spoke Spanish, and this man went throughout Mexico singing this song in Spanish. The song became such a hit, in fact, that other people sang it, too—in French and Italian, Japanese and Greek. It would sound different in all those languages, right? But no matter how many times you translated it, you could never change the words Elvis wrote on the napkin. They would always remain perfect and complete, just the way he wrote them. However, occasionally a translator might make a mistake.
Translators of the Bible have made occasional mistakes, too. The good news is that we have more ancient manuscript copies of the Bible than of any other book in the ancient world. Comparisons of our modern Bibles and those ancient manuscripts have demonstrated that our modern English Bible is accurate. No original manuscript has ever been found with a mistake in it. Furthermore, the mistakes that have been found in copies are small things that are often corrected in another place in Scripture.
For instance: in your Bible, 2 Chronicles 9:25 says that Solomon had 4,000 horse stalls, but 1 Kings 4:26 may say (depending upon which Bible version you have) he had 40,000 horse stalls . . . and 12,000 horses. Obviously, one passage has a typo. Most modern Bibles have corrected these small errors either in the text or in footnotes.
Thousands of men and women over the years have given their lives to the study and preservation of the Holy Scriptures. God Himself has watched over His Word, and his people have guarded it, even given their lives for it so that others could read the truth about God and his love for them. The Bible is completely trustworthy. You can stake your life on it.
So that’s why I prefer to say I write “historical fiction based on biblical characters.” Because they are real. They lived. And God did miraculous things with their lives.
Have a great week!
~Angie
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The older I get the more I see how trustworthy God’s Word is. Yes, He used imperfect humans to write it down, but just yesterday I came across this reminder of why we don’t have to trust humans to preserve God’s Word, for though the writers were mere men, according to 2 Peter 1:21 “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” I believe God’s Holy Spirit is more than able to carry God’s inerrant Word down through the centuries, and our job is to study and “rightly divide the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15) And we can only do that with the help of the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Angie, for your careful handling of His Word and for trusting His Spirit.
Thank you, Deb! :-). Great points!
Amen and Amen. Actually, I don’t mind saying biblical fiction because the biblical part is true and the fiction is what I imagined to surround that truth. I’ve written three novels with biblical settings, two New Testament stories (widow who gave the two mites in the temple and one inspired by the Star of Bethlehem) and one Old Testament (Queen of Sheba). I have to say that I loved writing those stories so much because my research was all about digging deeper into Scripture and the customs and manners of the place and time. In other words, getting to know God better and better.
It is fun–the more we learn, the more we want to learn! :-). Thanks, Robin!
Wow, that is an amazing article. I agree 110% with you. The way you explained it is truly awesome and touched my heart. Thank you for starting my day off wonderfully. I can’t wait to read your new book on Sarah. Have a blessed day and God Bless you.
Thank you, Caroline! So glad you found the blog piece worth reading. God bless you, too!