The BIBLE as FICTION
  by Charlie Webb

The Bible is “full of interest,” wrote Mark Twain in his remarkable book, Letters from the Earth. “It has some noble poetry in it; and some clever fables; and some blood-drenched history; and some good morals; and a wealth of obscenity; and upwards of a thousand lies.”

It is no wonder that the “Abrahamic” religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have conquered most of the Western world and have attempted to rule with an iron hand. They were just obeying the “word of God” according to the Bible. Anyone who reads the Bible while committing the sin of thinking will realize how cruel and decadent were the Old Testament “heroes” such as Moses, Joshua, and David.

But what if Mark Twain (as usual) was right? What if these three giants of Western religion are based on fiction? Would it change the minds of believers who think they are God’s “chosen people?” Or would the faithful continue to be oblivious to the truth?

Many modern believers are comfortable knowing that the two contradictory creation stories of Genesis 1 and 2 are myth and metaphor. Most believers simply ignore Biblical references to a flat earth resting on pillars. Yet believers still cling to the miraculous stories of Moses as he supposedly parted the Red Sea, led 600,000 Hebrew slaves in rebellion and exodus from Egypt, wandered for 40 years in the desert, and received the infamous Ten Commandments from God himself.

But it is time to give up the myths of the Old Testament. Modern Israeli archeologists now know for certain that Moses never parted the Red Sea and never divinely received the Ten Commandments. Why? Because Moses never existed. In fact, the ancient Hebrews were never enslaved in Egypt, and there was never any mass “exodus.”

The recently discovered truth is that Israeli Hebrew culture arose locally from nomadic shepherds and goatherds around 1200 BC. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joshua, and even Moses were merely myths created for a very ancient time when Israeli Hebrew culture did not yet exist. Apparently they were created to justify command of the land. Military conquest was then the accepted local standard for ownership in the Middle East, and if the military conquest was at the command of God, how much more valid was the conquerors’ murderous behavior!

Does it matter for the three surviving “Abrahamic” religions that their “founding father” never existed? Does it matter that Moses, the Ten Commandments, and most of the Old Testament are fiction? Does it matter that the New Testament and the Koran vouch for the truth of the Old Testament? Only for those who think reality is important.

[Note: For further information, read Daniel Lazare’s article, “False Testament,” in Harper’s (March, 2002). This article is also reprinted in the excellent collection of The Best American Science and Nature Writing (2003). The deeply curious reader should also check The Bible Unearthed, by Israel Finkelstein and Neil Silberman.]

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