One of the world’s most prolific novelists thinks that the Bible is fiction.
On January 11, author and outspoken atheist Joyce Carol Oates responded on X to podcasters who were affirming the Bible. In a vitriolic diatribe, she declared that the Bible is “a work of fiction; or rather, an anthology of fictions.”
Seething with contempt
Curious, I read through these posts on X. Her posts, and those of her followers, seethe with unveiled contempt for Christians. If Oates and her followers represent today’s atheists, any façade of respect and reasoning is gone, replaced with name calling and uninformed falsehoods.
Oates contends that the Bible is undermined on two fronts. First, she says that when Christians select favorite verses to obey and then ignore others, that undercuts their claims of biblical authority. In addition, she argues that if the Bible was, in fact, authentic, other religions would also adopt it as their Scriptures.
From there, her disdain for Christians escalates. Oates asserts that Christians who believe in the authenticity of the Bible are anti-intellectual rubes, practicing blind faith. “It’s pointless to try to reason with persons for whom blind faith is an ideal.” She adds that “what is particularly exasperating is that ‘the’ bible is cited haphazardly & arbitrarily as vindication for virtually anything.”
Of course, she gives no examples to support this claim. Instead, she plows ahead, spurred on by her social media audience, whose scorn for Christians seems to be even greater than hers.
As she insults Christians’ intelligence, she particularly targets Trump supporters: “In fact, only a small portion of Christians believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible & they are also likely to believe that T***p [sic] is heralding the Second Coming.”
A “small portion” of Christians? This is a bizarre claim, especially considering multitudes of Christians across the ages have believed in the authenticity of the Bible long before Trump came along. Again, she advances unsupported claims simply motivated by her hatred for Christians.
So, does it matter if the Bible is fiction or not?
Oates’ extreme prejudice notwithstanding, she raises questions we should address. Is the Bible fiction? Can you trust the Bible, and, if so, how do you know?
And does it matter? Yes, you can trust the Bible. And yes, it matters.
If the Bible is fiction, then we have no obligation to the God of the Bible, or to follow what the Bible says. Or, we can pick and choose what we want to believe, accept, and practice.
And that’s pretty handy if you’re a skeptic. Or a disobedient Christian.
On the other hand, if the Bible is authentic and accurate, we are obligated to take it seriously, obey its precepts, read it often, and trust its guidance.
But—the Bible contains fiction, right?
Does the Bible contain fiction? Yes. It does. For example, Jesus tells fictional stories, called parables, to teach spiritual truths (see Luke 15).
But notice, these stories are acknowledged as fiction within the historical account of the Bible. In other words, where there is fiction in the Bible, it is clearly distinguished from the non-fiction, which is the primary content of the Bible.
So, can you trust the Bible?
The Bible claims that it is God’s inspired Word (Heb. 4:12). If it is, then we can trust it, and we are obligated to know it and live by it. So, whether or not we can trust the Bible is a critical question to answer.
Here are four reasons you can trust the Bible to be historically accurate, authentic, theologically sound, and trustworthy:
- The manuscript evidence
When scholars translate ancient texts, they do not always have at hand the original documents. That’s the case with the biblical texts. But, for that reason, scholars apply time-tested practices. Two stand out.
First, the earlier the manuscript, the more likely it is to represent the original. Second, the more manuscripts available for comparison, the more likely they can determine the original.
The Bible meets both of these standards for authenticity. For instance, since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947, scholars have possessed biblical manuscripts dating within just a few years of the originals.
In addition, scholars possess over 5,000 New Testament manuscripts to work with. By comparison, only about 20 manuscripts of the works of Plato and Aristotle exist.
- The internal evidence
The Bible claims its own authority (Prov. 30:5-6). It claims to be divinely inspired (2 Tim. 3:16). That may seem like circular reasoning—we believe the Bible is inspired because the Bible says it is inspired.
But when the biblical authors make this claim, they are making a truth claim, and truth claims can be tested. For this, consider who made the claims of the Bible.
The books of the Bible were written by and for eyewitnesses to the accounts (John 19:35). So, if any of the accounts were fictionalized or exaggerated, the authors and their claims would have been exposed and discredited, and these claims would not have survived past the first century.
In addition, if the authors of the Bible were inventing fiction, certainly they would have waited past the exposure point to do it. But, for instance, the books of the New Testament were written and in circulation only a few decades after the disciples reported the resurrection of Christ. Their claims would have been easily debunked if they were false.
In addition, consider the extraordinary continuity of the Bible. The 66 books of the Bible were written by more than 40 different authors across several centuries, in various locations and from various backgrounds and occupations, and yet the internal continuity of the events, people, and predictions of the Bible is inexplicable apart from divine inspiration.
- The external evidence
Historical context is critical to the authenticity of the Bible. And the biblical accounts are anchored in the broader context of the ancient world (for instance, Is. 6:1 and Luke 2:1-3). These facts are consistently verified by external sources.
In addition, many of the people whose lives are recorded in the Bible died for their faith (Acts 7:54-60). The most significant are the followers of Jesus (Acts 12:2). Who would die a painful martyr’s death for a fiction?
And of course, the existence of the Church itself, flourishing through centuries of persecution and efforts to silence Christians, cannot be explained by grit or determination. Divine power is the only explanation.
- Your personal evidence
And last, don’t forget. If you have trusted Christ, and He has changed your life, your own personal experience disputes any claim that the Bible is fiction (Acts 26:12-23).
From the changed lives of the first apostles to the testimonies of millions of believers today, we know it is true. The Bible is no fiction.
And believing what it says about you, trusting Christ, and living by the truths of the Bible demonstrate the veracity of all that it says (Ps. 119:105).
And that’s not blind faith or vapid hope. And it is certainly not fiction.
The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God remains forever.
Isaiah 40:8
(For more study, see these sites: Got Questions, Christianity.com, and bible.org).