Thank you for the question on biblical events, “Why are the stories in the Bible taken literally by some people, when if they were written today, they would be immediately understood as fiction?”
Here are some thoughts for one’s consideration,
A. The Bible states that the events were witnessed by individuals.
The Apostle John wrote in I John 1 these words, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” (NIV).
The Apostles of Jesus and others witnessed the words and works of Jesus. In Acts 1 when the 11 Apostles decided to replace Judas Iscariot, they found two men among the other men who fit their qualification who witnessed the life of Jesus from the time of John the Baptist to the resurrection of Jesus. Luke further writes that other individuals have taken to write the account of what has happened among them. The life and words of Jesus was not a secret but a public displayed which was even questioned by the religious leaders as being authentic. The religious leaders couldn’t dispute the miracles of Jesus.
B. The witnesses are prohibited from bearing false witness.
Whether in the Old Testament or in the New Testament, both Jews and Christians are commanded only to speak the truth in love. Lying is prohibited. Thus the witnesses account that is recorded are not fable accounts but factual accounts.
C, The creation of animals and man is not implausible.
Today geneticists are on the verge of growing organs from stem cells. Can it be that scientists be able to make a person from the RNA/DNA from the bone of a person as God did? It is likely since research is on the human genome. There is the continual research to restore prehistoric animals.
D. The supernatural calamity has some scientific bases.
Some scientists think that some of the Ten Plagues can be explained by natural events as with the dead frogs would lead to fleas/fry or their rotten bodies may cause disease on animals and man.
The parting of the Reed Sea or the Jordan is plausible due to wind factor or a landslide that caused the river to go dry. The timing is supernatural.
It is considered implausible because one has already concluded that the Universe is a closed system whereby natural laws can’t be violated. However, today those seemingly “miracles” in the past are not as implausible today. Can a person be healed if the proper RNA/DNA can be transferred to that person? Can a limb be restored even as today we can make things from a printer?
One last thought, the Bible speaks of a future Antichrist who will perform miracles on national and international news. The skeptics of the past may well have to reconsider the implausibility of past miracles for they are being done at the time of the Antichrist.
SUMMARY: The past is not fiction but a preview of what can happen in the future.
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