What if the Bible is A Myth?

By Jeremy Myers

This month’s synchroblog challenges us to ask the question: “What if some or all of the biblical narrative is not necessarily true history, but is myth of one sort or another?”
I have considered a similar question before: What if Jesus Did not Rise? and my answer to this related question is the same.
I believe that even if the entire Bible were a myth, it would be truer than most historical facts. Some people say that the Bible is nothing but a myth, but there is no such thing as “nothing” but a myth. Any good story is far more powerful to change lives and direct history than the most provable scientific or theological fact. This is one reason the Bible is a story rather than a book of theological facts.
If the Bible is a myth, then we have no way of knowing if there is a God, or what happens after death, or how humanity came into being (Even with the Bible, the answers to those last two questions are anything but certain). If the Bible is a myth then while a man named Jesus might have lived, he probably certainly was not God, and while he might have died as a criminal on the cross, he most likely did not rise from the dead.
And if all of that could indisputable and unquestionably be verified as historical fact, then you know what I would do? I would shrug my shoulders, and continue living as I have been.
Even if the Bible is a myth, the truth that is contained within the Bible is some of the greatest truth that has ever been put onto paper. Even if the Bible is myth, the Bible is still true!
Let me put it another way. Would you say that Aesop’s Fables are true?
Well, of course they are true! But they are not “true” in that they did not actually happen in recorded history. In that sense, they are “myths.” They are “fables.” But they are some of the truest fables ever told for they provide insights into human activity, provide guidance on proper living, helping the reader make right choices.
The Bible, if it were myth, would function in a similar way.
The Bible is true, not so much because it is fact (which I believe to be true), but because it does what it claims to do, that is, change lives for the better. If you look at the history of humanity, the cultures and eras where lives have been affected most positively for the good are the cultures and eras where the Bible has been taught and followed.
Oh sure, there is great evil that has been done because of the Bible as well, but that is true of every holy book in existence, so in that regard, the Bible as a myth would be just like is just like any other myth-filled religious literature.
But when it comes to the positive benefits that have come to the world, it is an indisputable fact that great advances in medicine, science, equality, health, art, music, prosperity, longevity, and numerous other positive traits have existed most where the Bible is taught and followed best. And as cultures that have the Scriptures begin to abandon them (as is happening in Western culture), that society begins to degenerate once again toward lawlessness.
The Bible, if it were myth, would be the truest and most helpful myth ever written, and I will still read it, study it, teach it, and try to follow it… especially the parts about Jesus, for He (even if he didn’t really exist) represents the truest way to be human. Everybody recognizes this, even those who do not believe the Scriptures are true. Even atheists say that Jesus was a good man and provides a great example for people to follow. People who hate Christians and despise the church, still love Jesus and what He stood for.
So what would change in my life if the Bible was nothing but a myth? Nothing!
If the Bible was a myth, would your life change? Mine would not, for even if it was a myth, it would be the truest myth ever written.

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This post was part of the April Synchroblog. Here is a list of other contributors. Go check them all out!

• K.W. Leslie – When People Believe Christianity Is A Myth
• David Derbyshire – What If Genesis Is A Creation Myth?
• Bud Brown – What if Paul was wrong about the life of Christ living in me?
• Chris Jefferies – What If … Creation Was A Myth?
• Paul W. Meier – Is The Bible A Myth?
• damannwrite – The Bible As A Source of Wisdom
• Phil Lancaster – What If the Bible Were A Myth
• Carol Kuniholm – What If Newness Was The Norm
• Liz Dyer – Penultimate Truth
• Glenn Hager – Myths in the Bible? So What?

Which God Do You Know?

By Jeremy Myers

This is a Guest Post from Tyson Phillips. Tyson and his sister Tammy grew up in the Midwest. Tyson and his family now live discretely on the West Coast, very near a large orchid tree.
If you would like to write a guest post for this blog, check out the guidelines here.

Everybody thinks they know, love, and serve the “right” God. But do they? Which God do you know and serve?

The Angry God

In those writings most Christians refer to as the Old Testament, we find a God who bears a striking resemblance to the gods of the nations that surrounded ancient Israel. Anger him and you suffered (poor crops, infertility, death at the hand of the enemy, the earth opened and swallowed you). Please him and you were blessed (good crops, many children, victory in battle).
Dare to venture too close to that God and you would be struck dead. Remember the sons of Abinadab who touched the ark when the oxen stumbled (“the Lord almighty, who is enthroned between the chrerubim that are on the ark”), and were struck dead. Remember the Holy of Holies. Only the High Priest may enter, and then only under extremely restricted conditions. Any who violated those restrictions were struck dead.

The God of Love

Is it possible for us to see a God who by his actions said, “You don’t have it quite right. I am not exactly who you think I am. Therefore I will come and walk among you, heal your diseases and teach you who I really am”? The Jesus of the New Testament differs remarkably from the God portrayed in the Old Testament.

Yet we believe God is unchanging. If that is the case, what must have changed is our understanding of God. Rather than a God who was supposedly behind everything bad that happened (dishing out punishment, judgment or whatever you want to call it), we find the God who loves, the God who freely gives grace and fellowship with himself.

Mixed Messages

We must remember that those who wrote the books of the New Testament had been schooled in the God of the Old Testament. Even those who had walked with Jesus had not forgotten that God. Do not vestiges of that God appear in their writings?
Do not vestiges of that God pop up even among modern-day Christians? We find the God who destroys cities with Hurricane Sandy, the God who kills millions with AIDS, the God who delivers devastation to individuals and families. We see the God who sends divine retribution our way because of our sin or supposed sin.

Which God Do You Know?

Is it possible that many if not most of these things are the direct or indirect result of the “sins” of people, whether it be personal sins, sins of others or collective sins?
I may not have caused my disease, but the people who many years ago buried toxic waste on empty land, land on which my house was later built, greedy people who did not want to pay for proper disposal of the waste, were responsible for my disease. I may not have caused the hurricane, but is it possible it was caused or at the least worsened by ignorant, greedy people who have so polluted our world that the very weather has changed?
Rather than blame God for every bad thing that happens to us and to our world, lay the blame where it really belongs, at our own feet. Do we really need to be protected from an angry God, or from ourselves?
Is God really the Angry God, or the God of love? Is this the God who slays us or the God who loves us, the distant God or God among us, the God of vengeance or the God of grace?
Which God do you know?

What if the Bible was Fiction?

By Jeremy Myers

If you are a blogger, one of the keys to getting more traffic and readers is getting other bloggers to mention you and your blog on their websites. There are numerous ways of doing this, such as commenting on people’s blogs, writing Guest Posts, and joining blogchains and Synchroblogs.
My favorite Synchroblog is found at synchroblog.wordpress.com, and I participate every single month. This month’s topic looks particularly interesting, and I invite all bloggers to join in.
Here are the steps:

1. Write a post about the topic by April 16th.
2. Put up a link to your post on the Synchroblog website.
3. When the link list is published, add it to your post.
4. Interact with the other writers on their posts.

It’s that simple!
What? You don’t have a blog yet? Yikes! Start one today!
Here is why I am inviting you to participate this month. The topic is…

What if the Bible is a Myth?

Here is the description:

When I was young, I loved to play the ‘what if’ game.  It went like this:  I would imagine an unlikely scenario and present it to my mother to find out what she thought.  Since I had an active imagination, I engaged in this til I drove her to distraction and she would declare, “No more ‘what ifs’!!”  Now that I’m older, I’ve discovered there is a whole group of people who play the ‘what if’ game.  They’re called philosophers!
This month we invite you to play the ‘what if’ game with us.  Try to imagine that some or all of the Bible narrative is not necessarily true history, but is myth of one sort or another.  What sort of effect would that knowledge have on your faith?  What effect might it have on the larger church?  How would it change you?  Would it change you and how you view the world?
We recognize that this might make some or all of you uncomfortable and while we recognize the struggle involved with that sort of discomfort, please feel free to blog about that fact as well.  The ‘what if’ game can involve some prickly feelings and we welcome that as well.

I do not believe the Bible is a myth. To the contrary, I believe in the Bible is inerrant and historically accurate. However, I am excited to write about this topic as it is of particular interest to me, and I have written on the subject before.
If this topic interests you as well, make sure you join us for this month’s sychroblog! I am excited to read what you write.

Finding Easter with the Homeless

By Jeremy Myers

Amazing grace,
How sweet the sound.
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost,
But now am found.
Was blind,
But now I see.

We spent Easter morning with the outcast — the lame, the halt, the thieves, the alcoholics, the drug-addicts, the murderers.
We climbed out of our warm beds and headed out into the streets laden with bags of clothes, food and water. We shared what we had with those who had slept under bushes, on the ground and any other place they could find.

Happy Easter!

“Happy Easter! Happy Easter!”
Almost every person greeted us with “Happy Easter!”
These are supposed to be the people who don’t know Jesus. Yet they know Jesus. They have seen Jesus walking among them. He has danced with them. He loves them. They like Jesus.
Jesus was with them in prison. He visited them there. He was with them in Southeastern Asia when they spent the years rotting away in bamboo cages lowered into holes. He was with them as they walked the streets of America, looking for a place to lay their head. They told us Jesus was with them.

Grace to the Homeless

“Grace. It’s all about grace. No matter had bad we screw up, God’s grace is still good. He never forgets us. He’s always there. He’s always been there for me. He’s been there the last eighteen years while I’ve traveled around the country. I don’t have a dime to my name, but I’ve got God’s grace. It’s all about grace. Don’t ever forget that.”
So said the man sitting on the sidewalk on Easter morning. The man with no home. The man with nothing. But he knows that Jesus lives!
“See this mark behind my ear,” said another. That’s where the VC shot me. The bullet came out through my nose. See this big white patch on my thigh” he said, pulling up his pant leg. “That’s where they got the skin to graft onto the left side of my face. Another bullet ripped a big hole there and they had to patch it. God got me through it and He’ll get you through whatever comes your way too.”

We Found Easter

We gave a cup of water, a warm coat, and we found Easter. The risen Jesus had been there. The risen Jesus was there, walking among those outcast and despised by the world. He too had been outcast and despised. He knows what it’s like. He walks among those He loves. They see Him. They see the One who was despised, rejected and afflicted. He is one of them.
He is risen!
He is risen indeed!
He walks among His people.
He loves us. Whether we’re thieves, adulterers, liars, cheats, gluttons, alcoholics or murderers, He loves us.
Whether we see Him in a fancy building with stained glass windows or dancing with us in the streets, He’s there. He’s alive.

THE LITTLE GIRLS THAT RAISED $300 TO STOP SLAVERY

My Daughters Raised $300 to Stop Slavery

By Jeremy Myers

I am so proud of my three daughters… A daddy has got to boast a bit.
Each of them recently had birthdays, and for their birthday parties, they told their friends not to bring gifts, but to make donations instead to help rescue girls from slavery.
Altogether, they raised nearly $300!
The ministry we are sending the money to is Children’s Hope Chest. They work with children in many parts of the world, and one of the areas they specialize in is with rescuing children for the horrors of sex slavery. For example, they recently launched an effort in Moldova to provide a home and round-the-clock care for survivors of sex trafficking.
No, we haven’t told our daughters all the details about the girls they are helping to rescue, but we do talk about the history of slavery, and how there are more slaves today around the world than ever before, and how many of the slaves today are children and young girls. This is something they take quite seriously, and have been doing many things for the last four or five years to help in any way they can.
And they just gave up birthday presents, and raised $300 in the process. My girls are amazing.
To learn more about Human Trafficking and sex slavery, check out some of these posts:

Human Trafficking Posts

1. Sex Slaves
2. Would You Fight Slavery?
3. Rescue Russian Sex Slaves
4. Rescue Russian Girls from Sex Slavery
5. Stop Her Nightmare
6. Another Girl Rescued Today
7. Girls for Sale
8. Goal Reached!
9. I Want to be a Prostitute
10. $52,000 raised!
11. 31 Million Sex Slaves
12. Renting Lacy
13. More Than Rice
14. Human Trafficking Ring Busted
15. The Other Big Game
16. Sex Slavery, Planned Parenthood, and Your Tax Dollars
17. How to Minister to Prostitutes
18. Wisconsin Woman Held as Sex Slave in Brooklyn
19. Coked-Up Whore
20. Human Trafficking has Many Faces
21. Into an India Brothel
22. You Need a Girl?
23. Human Trafficking Media
24. The Son of God is Selling Children
25. My Girls Raised $300 to help stop Human Trafficking

The Scarf-it-Up Church

By Jeremy Myers

In response to some of the posts on this blog about helping the homeless, a woman named Beth sent me the following message on Facebook. It was so encouraging, I asked her if I could share it with all of you as well. She said yes, so here is what she wrote:

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It’s so refreshing to find out there are more like my family out there!
I was adopted by missionaries in the early 1960′s, and, in the following decade my Dad became a pastor. His degrees were in Theology, Philosophy, and Business. My dad was the type of man who would bring homeless folks home and sit them at our dinner table. As a teenager, I have to confess it embarrassed me. These folks smelled like urine, body odor, and booze. At some point, I grew up and realized that it was not about giving them a meal, he could have bought them a hamburger. By bringing them home, he gave them their dignity and treated them like any other guest.
As much as I adored my folks and their love for Christ, as well as the way they showed their love in how they treated others, especially those considered unlovable (or invisible) by most…the fact is, their religion — Pentecostal Holiness — was a huge turn-off and as a result, I struggled for 20 years over my faith.
In the Pentecostal Holiness church, one almost has to be perfect to make it to heaven. I wasn’t allowed to have my ears pierced, go to movies, swim with boys, dance, etc. As an adult, I attended various non-denominational churches, but so many of them were more about growing the congregation and offering entertainment choices, then about teaching folks to have relationships with Christ and each other. None of them taught how to treat one another.
The political in-fighting, constant pleas for more offerings, and competition with other churches was all too much. The clincher was when the pastor of a church I had attended for six years got in the pulpit and asked everyone to take out a cash advance on their credit card to buy some latest, greatest gadget the church just had to have.
Once I stopped attending, the senior pastor sent me a Facebook message telling me that I could be such a great cheerleader for God if only I would return to church. This is ironic because of what I did after I “left” church.
I started a group 5 years ago of friends and strangers called Scarf it Up. Here are some of the things we have done in the past three months alone:

• We had a yard sale and raised over $3k for a veteran and his family facing foreclosure.
• We bought and installed a water heater for a disabled woman.
• We held a Valentine banquet for 150 homeless folks and gave each one a rain poncho, coat, and a small ziplock of home baked cookies in addition to a meal.
• We feed homeless people monthly and are having a cookout planned for April 6th.
• Every December we fill backpacks with socks, scarves, blankets, granola bars, toiletry kits, etc, and pass them out on December 15th… this year we distributed 250 kits.
• We are also an emergency resource for our local Salvation Army and last Thursday they called to ask us if we could help a young mother of two who was short $275 paying her March rent after an illness put her in the hospital and out of work. Within an hour we had the money plus $100 extra for groceries. Over the weekend we discovered she had no furniture. None. So far, we have obtained a sofa, love seat, queen bed, twin bed & trundle, kitchen table/chairs, dishes, and other items as well.

But I’m not a cheerleader for God because I don’t “attend” church.
Recently a well-meaning friend told me I needed to get my family in church. I’m a Realtor by profession, but I also home-school my three younger sons (two are grown). My 14 year old son and I read the bible together daily and are currently in the book of Mark. My younger children and I also read stories from the Bible daily, pray together, and discuss the kind of people we need to strive to be. All of my children help in our efforts to help others.
I may not be physically in a church building, but my husband and I put 10% of our earnings into our “blessings fund” from which we have helped a family with nine children keep their home when facing foreclosure, paid $1800 for a family to have a broken axle repaired on their only vehicle. From this fund, we regularly buy groceries for needy families, make chicken soup for our sick friends, watch the children so a deployed soldier’s wife can get a few hours to herself, take blessings baskets to folks who need a smile after life’s tripped them up, and numerous other ways of blessing and loving others.
We hug our homeless friends, and they know that if they need anything — from shoes to mosquito repellent — all they have to do is ask. To me, many churches are run like businesses and too many pastors are making too much money. The average home price in my market is $160k and yet we have pastors living in million dollar homes in our small city!! I don’t understand it. I don’t agree with it.
So, no, we don’t “go to church,” but we love God and we strive to make Jesus “smile” (that is how we explain it to our 6 year olds). I’m so tired of folks judging my family and thinking we’re “not living right” just because we don’t attend church in a building.
I’m glad there are folks like you telling us that we, in fact, are not doing it wrong and it’s OK for us to worship and serve Him in our own way. Though our service in the name of Jesus may look different than those who “go to church”, it is no less sincere.

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Thanks, Beth!
And thanks to all of you who read this blog and who write about similar things on your own blogs and on Facebook. All around the world, people are beginning to see that it is possible (and maybe even easier) to follow Jesus outside the four walls of the church and do so in a way that takes His love to the neediest people in our towns and cities.
Sitting in a building on Sunday morning is not the only way of following Jesus!
If you appreciated what Beth said, go “Like” her Scarf it Up page on Facebook! Maybe you can start something similar in your own town. If you do, let us know!

Helping the Poor and Homeless – Start Small

By Jeremy Myers

Based on some of the recent posts from Sam Riviera about helping the poor and homeless in our communities, many people have emailed me about how they can begin doing this in their own communities.
Here is one example of a message that was sent in:

I have been following your posts for some time. You present a freshness to “Christianity” that I rarely see.
The blogger who said that he had quit going to church but it still hurts I am afraid I share that same sentiment. My husband and I stopped late last year. He for different reasons than myself but both are the reasons you and this blogger mentioned. We are older believers and have seen much.
Since I was a little girl, I have been saddened by the Church’s response to those less fortunate. Today I am deeply disturbed by how much it has become a house of hate instead of love. I don’t presume to say that all Christians are like that. I only know that one is way too many.
I would appreciate any help you can give me on gaining the courage to do what you and your family does. How do I get others involved? Thank you for your daily inspiration and love.

I think that this is a question many people have, so I decided to write a post about it.
First, I am encouraged by emails and comments like this because it shows that many people are taking the courageous step of following Jesus wherever He leads. I am convinced that “leaving church” so that we can “be the church” is one of the most difficult–but important–steps a person can make in their life of discipleship. This step is not for everyone, but I think it is becoming more and more important for people today if they want to see Jesus at work among those in our communities who are truly needy.
Second, as to how to start, Sam included many practical suggestions in his blog series about how to get started, but let me share a little bit about what we are doing in my family.
My recommendation is this:

Begin small. Very small.

How small? The biggest small way you can start: with prayer.
Pray for opportunities to present themselves. Pray that Jesus would open your eyes and ears to see where He is leading.
Then, begin looking and listening.
Listen for things people say which might allow you to have conversations with them. Or as you are reading the newspaper, look for opportunities to serve somewhere in your town. Or as you are driving around, look for shelters or organizations where you can volunteer.
So this first step is just to pray and then keep your eyes and ears open.
Then, take another small step:

Take Action.

Based on what you see or hear, begin to get involved in small ways with the things you saw and heard.
Here are some examples:
As you drove around, did you start noticing homeless people? Think about putting together some “gift bags” for them which you can quickly and easily hand to them. Get some cheap bags from somewhere online, and fill them with some non-perishable food items, a cheap tarp, some new socks, and some single-use basic hygiene items, and then put 2-3 of these in your car to pass out whenever you see someone who might need one.

Or maybe while you were running errands, you saw a homeless shelter. Call them up and see what volunteer opportunities might be available, and then talk with your husband about going down to help out one time per week.
Or maybe one of your friends said something in passing about helping the poor. Call her up and mention to her that what she said really stuck in your mind and ask if she would be interested in getting together for coffee and brainstorming about how to help the poor in the community.
So basically, helping those who are less fortunate begins with believing that Jesus wants to lead you to help them, and then praying for eyes to see where He wants to lead you, and then looking for these places or people that He brings to your attention. It will be different for everybody, so don’t necessarily think that the ways I talk about on my blog are the ways Jesus will lead you. It might be similar, but it also might be very different.
In fact, Jesus might not lead you to poor and homeless people at all. He might lead you to your neighbors or to the family down the street. Just keep your eyes and ears open as you pray to Jesus to lead you to the people He wants you to love. In the near future Sam Riviera will begin another series of posts about how to do this in your neighborhood. So keep checking back!