Just a quick word to all regarding my last post. I’ve received a couple of responses that pointed out that not all atheists are angry at God. I’d agree, in fact, that’s what I said in the last post “One of the major reasons for doubt…’ — not the only. There is another “stream” of atheism that is philosophic. I was addressing a very common, real, and often expressed reason given for disbelief in God; I have taken the time to ask unbelievers if they were angry with God and why. When they express anger, the reasons are various: sometimes God said no to their prayers, sometimes God let a loved one die, sometimes God condemns a sin they favor and practice, etc.

But onto the main thrust of this post, the marks of myth and history.

We all recognize the way that a fairy tale, myth, or legend begins. “Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a land far away…” or (if you’re a Star Wars fan) “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…” There are two things to notice here: the time and the place are nebulous, vague, shadowy, and obscure.

History is different. As we all know from history classes we’ve all taken, history is chock full of dates, places, events, and people. Specificity of dates, location, events, and people is the very hallmark of history.

What do we find with Bible events? Specificity. The Bible goes out of its way over and over again to provide dates, locations, and cross-referencing historical events and figures. We may find the genealogies of the Bible boring for the same reason we found history class boring, but they are there for a reason — to mark this as history. The prophets often date their prophecies by the kings who ruled that year, or earthquakes that were recorded, or invasions from foreign powers that occurred. The events (miraculous and otherwise) are meticulously located in places around Israel that can be found today. Gentile nations around Israel will often reference kings and events that the Bible also talks about. The only logical conclusion to reach: the Bible is a book of history, not myth.

Of course, those who doubt might be willing to agree on some historical truth being in the Bible — until they get to the miraculous stuff. If you don’t believe in God, or don’t want to believe in God, the miraculous things will be your “proof” that the Bible is a myth.

But consider this, in many cases the miraculous things that happened were witnessed by sometimes scores, sometimes hundreds, and sometimes thousands. Even more, sometimes the miraculous things of the Bible are witnessed obliquely by historical evidence (e.g., Sennecherib’s inexplicable retreat from Jerusalem or the conquest of Canaan by Israel). Will we discount the witnesses, because they tell me things I don’t want to believe? I hope not. I hope you’re not buying that the witnesses were 1) part of a grand conspiracy, 2) a bunch of unsophisticated and naive rubes, or 3) just flat out duped.

There are hallmarks of both myth and history. The Bible, including its miracles, bears the marks history, not myth.