The Bible as (Non) History

Bible

For the past few days, several of my religious Facebook friends have climbed back on the old warhorse by claiming that the Bible is historically accurate.  One challenged me to show otherwise.  That’s not hard at all.  Anyone with a computer can go on line and find endless reams of material that details biblical inaccuracies.  

However, one religious friend who doesn’t use Facebook said that she couldn’t accept such findings since they are open to “interpretations.”  I accept that limitation and will present only evidence that isn’t open to any kind of argument. I do not claim this list is complete.  There’s not enough room on the internet for that.

Here are the highlights of errors from the Old Testament:

Moon rocks

Scientific research on chemicals found on Earth, in moon rocks and in meteors clearly shows a consistent result of about 4.6 billion years.  Such evidence from folds in the Earth, stratification such as visible in the Grand Canyon and multiple geological studies demonstrate the vast number of years needed to develop today’s environment. Simply adding up biblical years is pointless and completely refuted by scientific study.

In the beginning, the biblical order of creation starts with the Earth and places stars, birds and whales before reptiles and insects, as well as flowering plants ahead of animals. Science has easily demonstrated that’s the reverse of reality.

On the first day, God created light, but the sun and moon don’t arrive until the fourth day: “the greater light [the sun] to rule the day, and the lesser light [the moon] to rule the night.” However, the moon has no light.  It only reflects the sun. Nevertheless, repeated biblical writers in the Old and New Testament somehow think the moon creates its own light and that the stars are incredibly close.  Vegetation, created on the third day, would have no sun, based on the biblical version.

DNA

Noah’s flood is impossible, not just from all the geological evidence to the contrary.  Scientific research into DNA shows that, for humans to be as diverse as we are, the population had to contain a minimum of 1,500 unrelated individuals, not just a single family on a floating zoo. 

Sodom and Gomorrah, two large and prosperous cities supposedly destroyed by God, are phantoms.  No other culture mentioned the cities despite voluminous records, and no trace of them has ever been found.  The tiny bit of ruins today erroneously called Sodom shows no sign of the “fire and brimstone” and contains maybe six homes in contrast with the biblical account. 

The story of Jewish slavery doesn’t match known history.  For starters, Egypt did not use forced labor to build anything.  Moreover, documented evidence, including archaeological, written language and other finds from the region, shows that Jews lived in what is now Israel the entire time period of their supposed sojourn in Egypt.  Moreover, many of the cities cited in the text did not exist until centuries later.

Scholars now think the Exodus account was a fabrication to justify a war with Egypt in the 8^th century B.C.E., when the first texts were written down.  Yes, that’s an interpretation, but it matches the complete lack of evidence of any wandering in the Sinai Desert or Jewish presence in Egypt.

Coney

In Leviticus, we are told that hares and coneys (akin to a rabbit) are unclean because they “chew the cud” but do not part the hoof. However, those animals are ruminants; they don’t have cuds.

In Daniel, the author doesn’t know the name of the king.  He identifies Belshazzar as the king. Here’s actual history: Nebuchadnezzar died in 562 BCE.  His son, Awil-Marduk (who the Bible calls "Evilmerodach") followed him on the throne, but was assassinated by his brother-in-law, Nergal-shar-usur, in 560. The next and last king of Babylon was Nabonidus who reigned from 556 to 539, when Babylon was conquered by Cyrus. Belshazzar was a son of Nabonidus, but not king or a relative of Nebuchadnezzar.

Not one to stop there, the author then makes Darius the successor to Cyrus.  Actually, that was Cambyses.

The New Testament is no better. Here’s just a few known historical mistakes.  

Herod the Great

The census described in Luke took place, in 6 C.E., 10 years after Herod the Great died.  However, Matthew said Jesus was born when Herod was in power.  According to Luke, Emperor Augustus ordered the whole world registered. Not true. In fact, the census was held only to determine taxable property in Judea, which had been placed under Roman control.  No one had to return home, such as Joseph from Galilee to Bethlehem. Luke just wanted to get Jesus to Bethlehem for polemic purposes.  So did Matthew; he just used a different device that contradicted Luke.  Mark and John are sure Jesus was born in Galilee.

There was no murder of the innocents as described in Matthew.  Josephus, who left us a detailed history of the time period, hated Herod and yet knew nothing about this supposed slaughter.

One of my favorites in the New Testament is where Paul was bitten by a snake on Malta.  The pagans there decided Paul must be a god because he didn’t die.  Except there are no snakes on Malta.  Never have been.  (That’s true in Ireland, too, despite stories of Patrick.)

Close examination of records from the time of Pontius Pilate show that the description of the trial of Jesus bears no resemblance to documented Roman trials.  For one, judges were never seen.  There was no “tradition” of freeing anyone on Passover.  Romans never “wash hands” to free themselves from guilt.  That was a Jewish custom. The Sanhedrin didn’t meet on holidays; there’s no record of any earthquake in that time.  

Having written several books detailing many – but not all – of the textual problems, I see no reason to continue a familiar recitation.

I do not mind when anyone uses the Bible as a moral and ethical guide.  As long as readers overlook the massacres and zealous hatreds, there are lots of positive ideas.  Nor do I have any problem with someone believing in any of the known 4,600 religions.  Belief is personal, and no one can possibly claim any belief is wrong.  No one knows.  Besides, beliefs can have positive benefits for some people.

Albert Schweitzer

However, as soon as someone insists that the Bible somehow is historically accurate, I object strenuously.  The biblical authors were not trying to write history.  They were successfully transmitting religious concepts and eagerly distorting facts to fulfill that goal.  Historians, including a minister like Dr. Albert Schweitzer in the 19th century, have known that since the 1700s when the first examinations of the books began to reveal some of its flaws.

To claim inerrancy – which is a relatively new belief anyway, dating from the 1800s – is to ignore the extensive and readily available research that clearly and unconditionally proves otherwise. 

Long-time religious historian Bill Lazarus regularly writes about religion and religious history with an occasional foray into American culture.  He holds an ABD in American Studies from Case Western Reserve University.   He also speaks at various religious organizations throughout Florida.  You can reach him at wplazarus@aol.com.  He is the author of the famed Unauthorized Biography of Nostradamus; The Last Testament of Simon Peter; The Gospel Truth: Where Did the Gospel Writers Get Their Information; Noel: The Lore and Tradition of Christmas Carols; and Dummies Guide to Comparative Religion.  A recent book, Passover in Prison, which details abuse of Jewish inmates in American prisons.  His books are available on Amazon.com, Kindle, bookstores and via various publishers.  He can also be followed on Twitter.

Freedom From Religion

No claimants get me more incensed than religious bigots who insist on imposing their beliefs on everyone else.  Their incessant drumbeat fouls our politics, daily life and international activities.

They range from those elected idiots in Texas trying to pass a law that would ban masturbation on the grounds of “sanctity of life,” which is just code for conservative Christian views.  Or the ignorant, homicidal members of ISIS, who – in various forms, such as Boko Haram – who kill and torture those with different Muslim beliefs or attack Westerners with the same misguided and murderous zeal.  Or the vicious fools in Israel who kill Palestinians and laugh about it; or Palestinians who blow up innocent Israelis with the same twisted sense of humor.

Then there are the incredibly dense Facebook writers who insist Christians are being persecuted.

Message on board

One just posted that the U.S. Air Force should be condemned for objecting to a soldier’s intense Christian message on his personal whiteboard.  It didn’t occur to that mental midget that such beliefs could cause dissension among fellow cadets or interfere with the ability of that cadet to be ecumenical in his approach to his duties – an absolute necessity in any military activity.

In fact, all references to religion should be banned in public life.  Belief is private.  It needs to stay there. 

The alternative has never been pretty.

Historically, religions have caused untold millions (if not billions) of deaths for centuries.  Pope Francis made that same observation this year as well.  Multiple historians have done the same. Blame it on monotheistic faiths and their insistence their one god can’t tolerate rivals.

God's supposed house in ancient Israel

Prior to the introduction of monotheistic Judaism in the 7^th century B.C.E., no one went to war to impose beliefs.  People then were sure their god(s) fought with them.  If they won, then the losers adopted the new belief.  War was for power, land and money, not religion. The 10 “lost tribes” weren’t lost; survivors mostly assimilated 

No group at any time has gone to war to convince others to be atheists.  In contrast, untold numbers have died because someone wanted to impose a monotheistic religion on them.  Jews never had enough power to kill gentiles willy-nilly, but, when they could, they did.  Christians carried the evil technique to a whole new level.

Of course, believers deny that.  To do that, they have to ignore well-documented history.

Here’s a partial list of murderous religious rampages:

·         Pagans murdered by Christians after Christianity became the sole religion of the Roman Empire late in the 4^th century.  Then Christians turned on each other.  One Roman philosopher asked if there weren’t enough hills for Christians to commit suicide rather than constantly killing each other.

·         “Heretics” wiped out for more than 1500 years by one dominant Christian group or another.

"Witches" being burned

·         “Witches,” typically inoffensive old women, killed because of pious belief in such hateful nonsense.
    

·         Jews killed throughout the centuries in pogroms and other massacres.  Crusaders warmed up for their murderous task by annihilating Jews in Europe en route to the “holy" land.

·         Residents of the Middle East killed by the Crusaders.

·        Civilians wiped out en masse during the 30 Years War.  Whole sections of Europe were denuded of people as Protestants and Catholics fought each other.

·       

""Bloody" Queen Mary

          The many killed during the Inquisition because their belief wasn’t pure enough.

·        
      The masses of Catholics and Protestants who killed each other starting in the 1400s as rulers shifted alliances. “Bloody” Mary in England is a nice example.

·      
          Muslim conquerors who offered the sword or conversion to millions whose land they seized. Jewish kings in the 1^st century B.C.E., who did the same thing to Samaritans, who were not the proper sect of Judaism.

·      
          Hindus and Muslims killed each other in India, forcing partition and the deaths of many more in both directions.
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·         Modern murderers like ISIS and their ilk.

T    That's just scratching the surface.  Think of the many people across 1800 years whose lives have been blighted, shortened or otherwise damaged by religious dictates.  Women have suffered the most, and still endure tremendous hardships because of rules imposed by male-dominated religions

      Enough.

Former evangelist Dan Barker – who used to get (and maybe still does) royalties from gospel songs from his earlier incarnation – and his wife Annie started the Freedom from Religion Foundation in the 1970s.  They were once laughed at and scorned, but their Foundation has expanded over the years, augmented by growing disbelief.

Today, more than 23 percent of Americans eschew religion.  They are members of a growing horde worldwide.  In some areas, religion has disappeared completely.

Good riddance.

Believe what you want.  Just keep it to yourself. No one cares.  Just because you believe it doesn’t make it true anyway.  It also doesn’t give you the right to impose a belief on someone else.

Adamantly spouting nonsense or ignoring history doesn’t change a thing.

Long-time religious historian Bill Lazarus regularly writes about religion and religious history with an occasional foray into American culture.  He holds an ABD in American Studies from Case Western Reserve University.   He also speaks at various religious organizations throughout Florida.  You can reach him at woplazarus@aol.com.  He is the author of the famed Unauthorized Biography of Nostradamus; The Last Testament of Simon Peter; The Gospel Truth: Where Did the Gospel Writers Get Their Information; Noel: The Lore and Tradition of Christmas Carols; and Dummies Guide to Comparative Religion.  His books are available on Amazon.com, Kindle, bookstores and via various publishers.  He can also be followed on Twitter.