Is the bible true?

I am re-listening to a Podcast called The Bible For Normal People. The Podcast is a joint effort between Pete Enns and Jared Byas. I am currently listening to an episode where Jared Byas is speaking on the topic, Is the Bible True? This is basically a loose transcript of the podcast. I needed to relisten to it and capture what he said so I can digest it better.

When asking whether the bible is true, we first have to answer the question of what truth means. It can mean very different things. What follows are the different ways we use the word truth, and also commentary on whether the bible is true.

1. Truth as fact. Individual facts about physical reality. The what. Is the Bible trying to state facts about physical reality?

2. Truth as meaning. Truth as connected meanings about the human condition. The why. Sometimes we're talking about interpretation of the facts. What does it mean?

Sometimes the bible is trying to tell us some truth about what it means to be human. Sometimes you can tell a truth about meaning using things that are false about physical reality; historical fiction.

3. Truth as wisdom. The embodiment of how we live our lives. Truth becomes an adverb. [Jesus said, "I am the truth."--John 14:6] Are we living truthfully? Are we living out truth? This type of truth can't be found in books, or be talked about in sentences; it can only be lived out. That's why it is difficult to grasp.

The bible points is towards the idea of truth as embodied wisdom. The bible resists us trying to nail it down as a science book, or as a book of facts. Jared doesn't think that was the intended purpose.

When it comes to individual facts, the Bible is sometimes true, sometimes not true. Next question: Where is the bible actually trying to state facts, and where is it not? We understand that when Jesus taught in parables he wasn't stating facts about historical reality.

Sometimes the Bible is wrong about the facts it states about physical reality. This is because it written through the lens and understanding of an ancient people who didn't understand how the world functions or works in the same way we do. And in 150 years, probably a lot of our understanding of how the world works will be outdated, and people might think we were speaking a lot of falsehoods as well. So as our knowledge of reality grows, things become less and less truthful. But we are speaking our truth, we are speaking as we can understand it now. So the only way we could know if we are actually truthful about these facts is to have all the knowledge.

Is the bible true in regards to the why factor? More often than not it is. What truth is it trying to tell? For example, the Deuteronomist wrote history about kings, but then the Chronicler writes different stories about that same history. It isn't true as historical fact, but it is true in that is trying to give us some meaning about the human condition. Why does the Chronicler change the facts?  To help the Israelites that are coming out of exile understand their story in a new way. Starting with genealogies, then modifying stories to make the Israelites still feel connected to God. Also Proverbs 26:5-6--back to back contradictory proverbs. Do not answer a fool in his folly...then answer a fool in his folly.

When you ask about the facts, you ask which one is true? But it is about the human condition, which is a lot of gray area, a lot of it depends. Proverbs 26 resists the question of is the question true in terms of facts about reality, and asks the deeper question about the human condition. Can those both be true? Absolutely! Why? Because it depends on the context as to what the wise way is.

There are so many truths we get from reading fiction, because it is connecting with us something about what it means to us an human, and it resonates true to us emotionally and aesthetically, and that is just as true as individual facts.

The last is the hardest to talk about: truth as embodied wisdom. We can only live it out, we can't even talk about it. It's not a proposition, it's an embodiment. It is truths that we have gained and garnered through understanding the facts about  physical reality, and the truths that we have amassed as we have tried to connect different meanings about the human condition. So it's taking those first two senses of truth, and it's embodying them in the world. This is what Jesus was talking about in John 14:6--the truth as a person.

It resists making a dogma or a belief statement out of the truth; it just asks for you to live it. It can't be found in textbooks, but some people can just live truthfully without knowing the facts or having the brainpower to understand what it all means. Some people just live truth without understanding the philosophical categories or having degrees in theology. Some people can understand true facts and complex systems and know what it all means but still not live truthfully.

In the 21st century, we privilege so much in our heads in thinking right thoughts. Asking the question, "Is the Bible true?" is the litmus test in Jared's tradition. But Jared asks the question, "Are you living truthfully?" That is a more primary question. Read Sorren Kirkkengard, the Father of Existentialism. He was adamant about Christians embodying the teachings of Jesus. He said being alone with God's word is a dangerous matter. You can defend yourself against it easily enough.

Getting those nuggets of truth can soothe our soul, but its just as important that we live that truth out and bring good and beauty into the world in a practical and tangible sense. It is important in this day of social media activism, where we can deceive ourselves that having opinions or knowing the facts is a substitute for embodying this life of truth. So when we talk about whether the bible is true, a better question is whether my life is true.

A few takeaways: When I'm asked is the bible true, I see the bible as often but not always true in the first sense. Despite this, I am always looking to find meaning in the bible in the second sense. The bible is only a tool for that third sense. The end result is that I live a life of truth.

The bible can be a tool for that. But it can also be a weapon against it. Or a drug that keeps me from being clear about how to do it. It can be a thing that I can use to escape having to live that. In a lot of traditions, we have made reading the bible the end goal, while not embodying the wisdom that it's pushing us to pursue.

(1) The bible is a tool, a means to an end, which is living a life of embodied wisdom. It is important that we don't idolize the bible and make it an end unto itself.

(2) When we're talking to one another about whether the bible is true, try to be clear with people. Let's not oversimplify it, and let's not demonize each other.

(3) Be aware of how we've privileged that first sense and try to see the bible as a tool for the third sense.