Is the Bible Fiction or Nonfiction?

The Bible has been determined to be the most popular book of all time. This was discovered by the writer James Chapman, who created a list of the books with the most copies sold, reasoning that the most copies sold would indicate the number of people reading it. According to Chapman’s figures, there have been 3.9 billion copies of the Bible sold in the last 50 years. Guinness Book of World Records disagrees with this, at least as of 1995, but actually to the Bible’s credit, estimating that there has been a total of 5 billion copies sold and distributed. Either way, there is no other book on the face of the Earth that comes anywhere near to its popularity. The Qur’an, which comes in second place, is credited with 800 million copies sold.

Yet, even with these enormous sales, the Bible is still considered by many to be a controversial book. According to Gallup Polls, only 24% of Americans believe the Bible is literally the Word of God. This figure is the lowest percentage in a trend that has been going on for 40 years. At the same time, 26% believe that the Bible is a collection of secular stories. Even so, 47% still believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. That number sounds contradictory to the first statistic that Gallup provides. 

There are a number of different ways that people who don’t believe the Bible try to write its contents off; mostly by saying that it is “the writings of man, rather than God” or calling it “a fictional work of stories.” While those people are entitled to their opinion, that doesn’t make it true. 

Determining the veracity of any document is a challenge which keeps researchers and academics busy. More than anything, they look for outside collaboration which supports the information. That collaborating information can come in many forms, such as other writings that make reference to the original document, other authors who knew and testify on behalf of the original author or historic locations and/or items which appear in the text. 

It’s a bit difficult to find people who were around at the time of the creation account in Genesis, chapter 1 or even the flood that happened in Noah’s time. Nevertheless, there is considerable collaborating evidence to show that various biblical personalities lived. There have been archeological discoveries, where cities mentioned in the Bible were discovered. We can even see that there have even been outside testimonies that collaborate events that happened in the Bible. 

The actual amount of collaborating evidence that supports the Bible is astronomical. There is no way that we could even begin to catalog it all here. But allow me to provide a few examples.

The Creation Story

We can start our examination of the Bible by looking at the creation story itself, located in Genesis, chapters one and two. Many say that this contradicts what “science” tells us, making it untrue. First, in saying that, they are really referring to evolutionary science, which cannot be proven. Therefore, what is referred to as evolutionary science is actually as much a system of religious belief as the story of creation in the Bible. One cannot be used to disprove the other. 

But one can be used to support the other. Looking at the six days of creation, we find that it follows a logical pattern, which is in fact, in agreement with what physics tells us about the origins of the universe. I’m specifically referring to things like sunlight needing to exist before plant life can grow. In each point of the creation story, it matches up with what science knows about the order that things had to happen, if not the time scale that science claims.

On the other hand, there are a number of what are known as “natural clocks” that point to a “young earth” that has existed less than 25,000 years, rather than the billions of years that evolutionists claim. 

• There are “supernovas” occurring about every 30 years. If the universe has existed for billions of years, why are there only about 300 of these in existence? 
• Saturn’s rings are expanding, moving farther away from the planet. If the universe has existed for billions of years, why haven’t they totally left the planet? 
• The Sahara Desert is expanding at a consistent rate, indicating that it is less than 4,000 years old. If the Earth was millions of years old, why hasn’t it taken over Africa? 
• The Earth’s magnetic field has been diminishing. Assuming that the rate of this has remained consistent, the Earth couldn’t have sustained life 10,000 years ago.
• Petroleum under the earth is under high pressure; that’s why they get guizers when they drill. Through time, the weight of the overburden would have caused this petroleum to dissipate, meaning it couldn’t have been there more than 10,000 years. 
• The Mississippi River has been dropping sediment into the Gulf of Mexico. If it had been doing that for more than 8,000 years, the Gulf of Mexico would not exist. 
• The Niagara Falls are wearing away at the cliff edge they go over at a consistent rate. Based upon that rate and the original position of the cliff edge, which is obvious, the falls couldn’t have existed for more than 9,000 years. 
• The “space dust” found on the moon’s surface was expected to be meters deep, due to the millions of years that it had fallen on the surface of the moon. That’s why the Lunar Excursion Module was built with feet that were one meter in diameter. However, upon landing, they discovered that the dust was only ¼ inch deep.

Archeological Discoveries that Support the Bible

There has been much archeological research and exploration in the Middle East, especially in the Holy Land, as well as in Northwest Africa. This makes sense, from a scientific viewpoint, as this area of the world is considered the cradle of civilization. There is an abundance of archeological evidence for scientific discovery and study. Since this is also the area where the events of the Old Testament took place, many of these discoveries incidentally support the veracity of the Bible, by showing that places mentioned in the Bible actually exist. 

• The Dead Sea Scrolls – Discovered in caves by shepherds in 1947, with additional discoveries in following years, the 800 documents that make up the Dead Sea Scrolls back up the Bible by showing that the scriptures are ancient and unchanged. While only the book of Isaiah has been found in its entirety, fragments of almost all of the Old Testament books have been found. 
• Tel Dan Inscription – An inscription reading “BYTDWD” was found at the archeological dig at Tel Dan. Archeologists are convinced that the words mean “House of David” and have dated it to the 9^th century BC. As it was found under a layer of ash, which dated to 733/722 BC, it is sure that it could not have come from any time later.
• Solomon’s Columns – King Solomon erected columns on both sides of the Red Sea, commemorating the crossing site for the nation of Israel, as depicted in Exodus 14. These columns have been discovered. 
• Golden Chariot Wheels – Hidden under the Red Sea, on the line between Solomon’s columns, are the gold shells that were the original gold plating on the priests’ chariots, backing up the army of Egypt being drowned in the sea.
• The city of Ur of the Chaldees, Abraham’s birthplace, has been discovered. 
• Moabite Stone – A fragment of a stone tablet was purchased by a missionary, which had writing on it from ancient times. It turns out that the tablet fragment contained words in the Moabite language, dating back to the 8^th century BC, which stated “I am Mesha son of Chemosh, king of Moab.” 
• The Flood – An Assyrian account of a great flood was found inscribed on tablets in the British Museum. The tablets are dated as mid-seventh-century BC and come from the region of Nineveh. While not the biblical account of the Great Flood, the story is largely in agreement with it. 

There are numerous other tablets which provide supporting evidence for various books of the Old Testament. 

The Resurrection of Jesus

One of the Bible’s key teachings that people dispute is the resurrection of Jesus. Some say that He never died, but was merely unconscious when put into the tomb, making it easy for Him to “rise” once He had recovered a bit. But the more common argument is that His body was stolen from the grave by His disciples and hidden elsewhere, allowing them to claim that He had risen from the dead. Interestingly enough, this is the official Jewish stance on His resurrection. 

(The Chief priests and Pharisees) saying, “Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver  (Jesus) said, ‘After three days I will rise.’ ⁶⁴ Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.” So the last deception will be worse than the first.” ⁶⁵ Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.” – Matthew 27:63-65

This is probably one of the easiest arguments against the Bible’s veracity to destroy. To start with, for that argument to be fact, the guards placed on the tomb would have to have fallen asleep, which is what those who further that line of reasoning say. However, in the Roman Army, the crime of falling asleep on guard duty carried a death sentence with it. What soldier would be foolish enough to think that someone could “fix” this with their commander, for any price?

But there’s an even better argument against the idea that the body of Jesus was stolen by His disciples; that’s the manner in which those very same disciples died. All but one of them was martyred for their belief. All they would have had to do, in order to live, would have been to admit that they had been lying; yet they chose to die for their beliefs. 

• Judas, the one who turned Jesus over to the Pharisees, committed suicide (Matthew 27:5)
• Andrew was crucified, bound to an X-shaped cross at Patrae, Achaia (in modern-day Greece)
• Bartholomwe (also called Nathaniel) was skinned alive and crucified, upside-down, by idolaters of Armenia (western Asia near Turkey) 
• James the Greater (brother of John) beheaded, after being stabbed by Herod Agrippa
• James the Lesser was thrown from the pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem in his 90s. To ensure his death, he was then stoned and his head bashed in by a club
• John (known as the beloved disciple) is the only one who did not die a martyr’s death
• Jude (also called Thaddeus) was killed by beating his with a club, then crucifying him at the city of Edessa (in modern-day Turkey) 
• Matthew (the tax collector, who was also called Levi) was staked and speared to the ground, for questioning the morals of the king of Ethiopia 
• Simon Peter was crucified by the Roman emperor Nero. At his own request, he was crucified upside-down, as he didn’t consider himself worthy of dying in the same manner as his Lord
• Phillip was tortured, impaled by iron hooks and hung upside down to die in Heliopolis, Egypt
• Simon (called “the Zealot) was martyred by crucifixion in modern-day Britain, then sawn in half to ensure his death
• Thomas (also called Didymus) was thrust through by a spear in India
• Mark was dragged to death
• Luke (Paul’s companion who was a physician) was hanged on an olive tree
• Mattias (the apostle who was added to replace Judas in Acts 1:20-26) was stoned and beheaded in Jerusalem 
• Paul was beheaded at the order of emperor Nero in Rome
• James (the half-brother of Jesus) was thrown off a wall, falling 100 feet and then beaten to death with clubs. This act was specifically done in response to his refusal to deny Jesus

There are 16 disciples/apostles mentioned in that list, fourteen of which were martyred for their faith. One committed suicide (Judas Iscariot) and only John died of natural causes. I can think of no greater proof of Jesus’ resurrection than their willingness to die for that belief. Nobody willingly chooses death to sustain a lie. 

The Bible Speaks of Itself 

In addition to these extra-biblical accounts, it is important to see what the Bible says about itself. While the testimony of one about themselves is always considered suspect; we must remember that the 66 books of the Bible were written by a total of 35 separate authors, over a time span of 1,500 to 1,600 years. Creating a conspiracy across that many centuries is virtually impossible. 

While the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, its two major divisions, are separate, they fit together seamlessly. The writings of the Old Testament, which defined the beliefs of the Jews, are built upon by the teachings of Jesus Christ, Paul and the other early apostles, who created the books of the New Testament. The early church accepted the canon of the Old Testament, as they received it from the Jews, adding the 27 books of the New Testament. 

This is not all that was written in either time period. There are books referred to in both the Old and New Testaments, which do not appear in the Bible. Some of these are lost to us, while other still exist. There are more than 100 works, written by bishops and theologians in the first century AD, only a few of which are included in the Bible. 

Nevertheless, the Bible itself declares that the words contained within it are not made up by man, but come directly from God Himself: 

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof for correction, for instruction in righteousness. – 2 Timothy 3:16

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, ²¹ for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. – 2 Peter 1:20-21

Granted, there is still an element of faith in accepting the Bible as fact, even with all the proof of its truth. This is what separates believers in the Bible from those who are not. But it is clear from the evidence given above, and much more, that the Bible is fact, not fiction. It is up to the reader to decide whether or not they believe it and if they do believe it, to what extent they do. 

This is not to say that the Bible is not filled with many interesting stories; but those stories are either prophecies or historical accounts of events that actually happened. Anyone who would try to say that the stories in the Bible are mere fiction, while accepting historic accounts that are included in other ancient texts, is being intellectually dishonest. The fact that they exist and have been believed by and attested to by countless millions of people through the ages, is evidence of their historic accuracy. 

Some stories may be harder to accept as fact than others. The story of the prophet Jonah, who was swallowed up by a big fish, only to be vomited out of the fish’s mouth some three days later is a good example of this. But this is not the only such account. In recent times, a man was swallowed by a fish in the Mediterranean Sea and later spat back out. Could it have been the same sort of fish? 

Dismissal of any biblical account as being untrue, just because one cannot understand how it could happen, shows that the individual dismissing the story is failing to take into account the supernatural. Even if they are not a believer in the Bible, many people accept the existence of supernatural phenomena; why would the supernatural phenomenon in the Bible be any less true? In fact, much that is hard to understand shows us the supernatural. 

To be clear, supernatural doesn’t mean that it has to be spooky or involve occultic practices. Rather, the word supernatural refers to natural things operating in manners that are not natural. God didn’t need to have gold rain down from heaven so that Peter could pay the temple tax, Jesus had Peter catch a fish, which had the necessary coin in its mouth, just as Jesus said it would (Matthew 17:24-27). 

Is that any less supernatural, just because Jesus foretold it? No, that is what proves it to be supernatural. There is a fish in the Mediterranean, which is known as “St. Peter’s fish,” known for swallowing coins. But the fact that Peter caught the fish at such a time, on his first cast, after Jesus told him to catch that fish in order to pay the tax is amazing. The chances of that happening on its own are astronomical. Yet with Jesus’ intervention, not only was Peter able to catch the fish quickly, but catch the right fish, which would have the necessary coin in its mouth. The odds say that it had to have been planned. 

Many such stories in the Bible can be explained away by “natural causes,” except for one thing – they happened in just the right time and in just the right way to fulfill God’s plan. That shows His intervention in the circumstances, making His will come to pass. 

So, enjoy the stories in the Bible, seeing how God moves through them. Let His Holy Spirit speak through those stories, introducing you to how God can move in your own life. Just don’t try to write it off as fiction; because that is not fair to God or to you either.