The Bible as True Literature

Posted on by frankwmcarr

“The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.” – Psalm 14:1 ESV

On social media, many non-Christians take this folly off theirs out on Christians. They call God a “sky daddy” and the Bible a “fairy tale.” The irony here is that they consider the Bible to be an “adult” book (especially in which violence and sex can be observed). But since they think that fairy tales to be children’s literature, well, it seems they’re in a trap.

These unbelievers don’t seem to grasp that the Bible is a library of books with many human authors inspired by a common divine Author, God Almighty. If you read the Bible, you will constantly see all different links to the star of the show, Jesus Christ.

How a Story Works

All stories have a problem and solution. That’s what makes a plot what it is. If there was no plot, it wouldn’t be realistic, and would be VERY boring.

The Problem

Scripture starts with Adam and Eve’s transgression of eating the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, for which they were expelled from Eden, and death was their fate. They gave birth to two sons, Cain and Abel, but Cain murdered Abel. Generations later, when people continued to constantly sin, God commissioned Noah to build the ark, to bring him, his wife, and a pair of each of the birds and terrestrial animals to repopulate the earth when it was destroyed. And they built the Tower of Babel, where we get our geographical and linguistic differences. The Law was given to Moses, but that could not be kept perfectly by sinful man. So how could we get eternity and fellowship with God?

The Solution

Enter Jesus, the One who was fully God and fully man. He had to be God to be perfect, and man to die for us. In the time of Moses, God gave us the Law. But our sin interfered with that. God loves us, but not our sin. Jesus lived the perfect life, died for us, and was resurrected after then. He now sits at the right hand of God and will come again, and we will live forever with Him. How wonderful is that.

The Bible as a Book

The plot thickens in the Bible as the Old Testament proceeds. The prophets point toward Jesus. And come the New Testament, he showed his ministry toward the people with healing miracles, parables, and clarifications on the life that is expected for Christians.

We all know all about actual fairy tales, that they live “happily ever after.” Even in adult-oriented books, the story should lead to some happy ending (unless it’s an absolute “tragedy”). Your typical murder mystery, for instance, figures out the suspect and justice is served. There may be different situations in different genres.

And you will partake of this “happily ever after” state if you come to know this gift of eternal life from Christ. This is the Gospel, the good news of Christ.

So, in a nutshell, The Old Testament represents the problem behind the story, and the New Testament represents its solution, which is Jesus.