An objection you sometimes hear as an argument against the Bible might go something like this, “The Bible is full of fairy tales! It was written by man and is completely false! It’s no more reliable of a book than Mother Goose or Hansel and Gretel!” Let me provide with you some ways to respond to this common objection that the Bible is full of “fairy tales.”
1. “What do you mean by that?” That is the question you start with anyone making any claim, especially those making claims about the Bible or Christianity. If you don’t know what someone means by what they’re saying, then you cannot adequately understand them. Only after you have understood what they are saying that you can, therefore, properly analyze whether he/she has support for that claim. So, one should ask, “What do you mean by ‘The Bible is full of fairy tales’ or ‘The Bible is written by men’?”
2. “How did you come to this conclusion?” This is the next statement that follows “What do you mean by that?” The statement, “How did you come to that conclusion?” asks the person making the claim to now back up that claim. If someone says, “The Bible is full of fairy tales!” then that person has to back up that claim. Their asserting it as so does not make it so; they must provide sound reasons, otherwise, they are believing something for which they, themselves, have no good reason to believe! If they don’t provide good reasons to believe their claim, then I think you could legitimately ask them: “Then are you believing this claim for no reason at all? Why would anyone believe in anything for no good reason at all? That sounds like a faith claim to me!” If they have no reasons (or no good reasons) to believe their claim, then you certainly do not have any good reason to believe it, and they certainly do not have any good reason (obviously!) to believe it either!
3. “Which specific accounts within the Bible are false or a “fairy tale” and how did you come to that conclusion?” Ask him to name which accounts are false. The crossing of the Red Sea? Creation at Genesis 1? Balaam’s talking donkey? Jesus giving the Sermon on the Mount? Saul seeking to kill David? Jesus’s dying on the cross? Which one is false? And what good reason do you have to believe it’s false? He might say, “All of them!” to which you must ask, again, “Why do you believe that? What good reasons, what strong evidence, do you have to know that is true?”
4. The claim alone that “the Bible was written by man” neither proves nor means anything. Everyone knows and believes that the Bible was written by man. Almost every part of the Bible says which man wrote it (Moses, David, Paul, John, etc.). No one disputes that men wrote, literally, the Bible. What, then, follows from this assertion? You have to ask, again, the person what they mean by the objection that “men wrote the Bible.” He or she might mean that “Since men wrote the Bible, therefore it is false.” Ok, that might be so within the realm of logical possibility, but, then, the person must provide good reasons for believing that claim. Whoever makes the claim bears the burden for supporting that claim. Don’t challenge that claim until the objector has provided sound reasons for believing that claim. It is highly likely that the person has never researched one centimeter of history concerning Christianity and is simply spouting off sayings he/she has heard from others. Additionally, if the objector does not believe the Bible because it was “Written by men” (implying that men can make mistakes or errors), then you can ask him whether he learned his objection from a book written by, or a talk given by, a man (or woman)? If so, then couldn’t he be mistaken in believing that claim, since a man (or woman) said it? Again, primarily, we want to know what a person means by his/her claim, and we want to know why that person believes that claim. Press the person until good reasons are given, and if no good reasons are given, then the burden to believe the claim on either side must be dismissed.
Please explain how all the specific validated prophesy in the Bible occurred. If you dismiss it, please explain the basis for dismissing historical fact. In order for such specific prophecies to occur someone has to know the future which requires someone to exist outside the confines of time. I challenge you to go through each specific prophecy about Jesus Christs birth, birth place, ministry, suffering and death for everyone’s sin and resurrection and systematically debunk it. As for the rest, you weren’t their so you are no authority to speak on creation, the flood, or Jonah. Yes God used men who are fallible to write down His word. Amazingly, the message is perfectly consistent in untranslated form and extremely reliable in many translated versions. The message is simple, man is fallen and born into sin, but our God in heaven loves us and willingly laid down His life to pay for our sin so that we could be forgiven and our relationship with him could be restored. Take the names in Genesis chapter 5. How would Abraham know to encode the gospel into the names of the “fictional”? Read the translated meanings from Adam to Noah. Did you know it was prophesied Jesus would die on a cross before it was invented? Did you know the Israelites wandered for forty years in a giant cross formation? The Bible is loaded with fulfilled prophecy even down to how the tent of meeting was made and the ark of the covenant. The existence of Christ and his miracles were not disputed by the very priests, pharasies and Sadducees who had him arrested, beaten and crucified. His disciples DIED brutally for the gospel. Who would do that for a lie? Well I hope you think about this and ask yourself why you bother to hate a God you say you don’t believe in? Surely there is something better to do with your life if you believe this brief life is all there is and it has no ultimate meaning.
Jim,
I appreciate you commenting on my blog and I apologize for not responding so soon as I’ve had many spam comments to wade through. Anyhow, brother, I Believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. I do not believe the Bible is full of fairy tales and I believe that the Bible is God’s Word. I wrote this article to help others to wrestle with the objection that “The Bible is full of fairy tales,” but it looks like I was not clear enough in this article. Look again at what I said in the beginning and I think you’ll see that I’m a Christian trying to help others to think through this common objection:
***”An objection you sometimes hear as an argument against the Bible might go something like this, “The Bible is full of fairy tales! It was written by man and is completely false! It’s no more reliable of a book than Mother Goose or Hansel and Gretel!” Let me provide with you some ways to respond to this common objection that the Bible is full of “fairy tales.”***
I’m sorry you thought I was an atheist or some other type of unbeliever. Look at the other articles on my blog and you’ll see that I write devotional material as well as apologetics material to help others defend the faith. Blessings! -Billy R.