One way the Bible’s moral authority is seriously called into question today is critics pointing to its alleged support for slavery. Some question that if the Bible is a revered guide to morality, why didn’t it abolish slavery? Rather, it seems to give support to it with commands regulating “slavery” in the Old Testament and instructions guiding it in the New Testament:

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.

Ephesians 6:5

Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 

Titus 2:9

“Except for murder, slavery has got to be one of the most immoral things a person can do.  Yet slavery is rampant throughout the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments.”

anti-Bible website

Why not just stop it, period? What if in the wisdom of God, the New Testament (NT) sowed the seeds for an entire counter-cultural movement that grew into the overturning of the practice on a widespread scale. In God’s story of restoration of the world from the brokenness of sin, recovery from slavery occurred from the bottom-up: one convert, one gospel appeal, one wrong righted at a time. In the previous blog, we saw how God set the foundation in the Old Testament. In this post, we will chart out how the NT made it a world-wide movement.

Slavery: From Brokenness to Freedom

Previously, we have seen that the story of the Bible can be understood in six acts. Let’s unfold this as it relates to the topic of slavery.

Act 1: The World’s Beginnings  God created humanity in a world with flourishing beauty and life-giving abundance without anything to spoil it. Slavery, as with any exploitation of one human or group of people by another, was NEVER part of God’s plan original plan.

Act 2: Humanity’s Rebellion  People rebelled from this original divine artistry and purpose. They traded life-giving abundance for a world governed by self-centered brokenness.  As the world descended into a moral fall, severe economic scarcity and the exploitation of the powerful over the weak became the norm.

Act 3: Israel’s Quest  God stepped in to save his story and set in motion a plan to restore the world from this place of brokenness by taking one nation (from the descendants of Abraham) and setting them apart to be a light and guide to other nations. This was the dawn of this restoration from brokenness. As Israel emerged as a nation under Moses, they came from slavery and saw it widely practiced around them. As they did, one option in response to the issue would have been for God to flat out command, “You shall not enslave another person.”  Had God spoken that, it would have meant that those who fell into loan default would have been sold as slaves to other nations where they would have been treated as human chattel with forced conditions of backbreaking labor and no laws defending the worth of the alien. (See previous blog for more detail.) So, what God does is take this broken system and opens up a pathway of restoring freedom to people who fall into economic bondage. The God of Israel will change slavery to a voluntary debt-service.¹ It would be different from slavery in at least five ways:

1. It would be voluntary and never forced.
2. It would only be for a person’s labor, not the person.
3. It would have a six year limit.
4. It would give provisions so that the condition would never become permanent.
5. It would give rights and protections.

By the time of the New Testament, there was no permanent economic underclass like that of the nations around them because of these laws.

Act 4: The King’s Arrival At the height of this story, God sent Jesus to the earth: truly God and truly man who lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death, and rose to vanquish sin and the darkness of evil. He was the very standard of understanding how God viewed humanity and how we should treat one another. He completely upended the model of people using their power over others for personal gain by making clear that we are to be servants for the good of others. For instance, after washing his disciple’s feet, he made this astounding declaration:

“‘Do you understand what I have done for you?’ he asked them. ‘You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.‘”

John 13:13-17

In another place when two of his disciples wanted to be “top dogs” among their discipleship clan, Jesus responded:

“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Matthew 20:24-28

This call to servanthood was unheard of and without parallels historically. It started a revolution in people’s thinking and conduct.

Act 5: The Kingdom Coming With the inheritance of Israel’s example of establishing guards against an economic underclass, and Jesus calling humanity to the standard of servanthood; the church is launched on a mission to expand this life-giving freedom and dignity to all of humanity.  So, why didn’t the NT writers speak more forcefully against slavery?

Why Doesn’t the New Testament Have a Message of Abolition?

Paul did call out those who worked on the slave trade where slaves were forcibly bought and sold as, “ungodly and sinful, the unholy.” (see 1 Timothy 1:8-10) As a whole, though, a call for total abolition would have been disastrous for many. Here are two decisive reasons:

1. Political Impossibility A wholesale abolition was not a possibility until later in history. The church is launched into the world as a small minority of several thousand in a population of around 70 million in the Roman Empire. Slavery was socially-embedded consisting of 30 to 40% of this 70 million. The practice was backed by a powerful authoritarian state. Were any of the NT writers to incite slaves to rise up against their masters, they would essentially have been compelling them to death, possibly crucifixion, as was the fate of the 6,000 who revolted with Spartacus in a previous century.
2. Social Harm While there were certainly dehumanizing forms of slavery in the Roman world, many served in more dignified positions as professors, property managers, tutors, bookkeepers, and doctors. This provided for some a better life than what they otherwise would have had. In fact, some people sought certain forms of slavery as a means of a better life. These slaves often became like family or what is known as “household slaves.” These were addressed in Ephesians 6 and Colossians 3 and would have fit in this category:

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right…. Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.  

Ephesians 6:1-6

Colossians 3:18-25 is another example of this. It is evident by the placement of these passages among advice to household members that these were slaves who were a part of the family. According to historical texts, the lives of slaves in these households in ancient times were often better than that of peasants in the same era. For the NT writers to compel a revolt would have been deeply irresponsible and horribly destructive. Instead, the NT gives a much wiser approach.

Start of a Revolution

“…recovery from slavery occurred from the bottom-up: one convert, one gospel appeal, one wrong righted at a time.”

The NT’s guidance for slaves who had converted to Christ assumed that the world was fallen with oppression, and it was the church who would carve out an alternative space of dignified living as “strangers and pilgrims” in the world. (1 Peter 2:11, KJV) Following the example of Christ, they plowed a counter-culture revolution which changed society from within: the transformation of hearts and minds. As Christ taught, they erased social distinctions in the church and treated everyone as family, beloved brothers and sisters.

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:28

One stunning example of how this transformation took place is seen the book of Philemon. Addressed to a Christian slave owner whose escaped slave, Onesimus, had come into contact with Paul while Paul was in prison. During the course of this encounter, Onesimus became a Christian and was discipled by Paul. Paul then sent Onesimus back to Philemon, carrying the letter, in which Paul tactfully calls upon Philemon to receive Onesimus back:

“…no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother.“

Philemon 1:16

Paul wants Philemon to accept him as a full member of the Christian community, and he even promises to pay from his own pocket for any of the damages Onesimus’ flight may have cost Philemon.

If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me.  I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back—not to mention that you owe me your very self. 

Philemon 1:18-19

Due to the diplomatic way in which Paul makes his requests, Paul subtlety urges Philemon to free Onesimus by the fact that he states that he wishes Onesimus would remain available to him in order to help in his ministry. Here is where the story gets more interesting. A few decades later, a church leader Ignatius referred to an elderly bishop of Ephesus named Onesimus. He wrote:

“I received, therefore, your whole multitude in the name of God, through Onesimus, a man of inexpressible love, and your bishop in the flesh, whom I pray you by Jesus Christ to love, and that you would all seek to be like him.”

Ignatius

Who is this Onesimus Ignatius refers? Many scholars, based on the timing and the context of Ignatius’ reference, believe this to be the Onesimus of Philemon. Going from a slave to a bishop was astounding for the times. This was Christianity changing the world from the bottom up: one convert, one gospel appeal, one wrong righted at a time.

Slavery’s Abolition

As Christianity grew in numbers in the Roman Empire so did the decline of slavery. The very first writer that we have on record to ever bring a sweeping challenge to slavery as an institution was not a Greek or Roman, but a Christian church father, Gregory of Nyssa. Gregory, born around AD 330, raged against the sinful presumption of enslaving people created in the image of God:

“If God does not enslave what is free, who is he that sets his own power above God’s?”

Gregory of Nyssa

More and more, reforms began to be made where it was collectively understood that slavery was against God’s design. Bishop Agobard of Lyons reflected this growing realization when he spoke sharply:

“All men are brothers, all invoke one same Father, God: the slave and the master, the poor man and the rich man, the ignorant and the learned, the weak and the strong…. [N]one has been raised above the other… there is no… slave or free, but in all things and always there is only Christ.”

Bishop Agobard of Lyons

In Conclusion

Did Christianity support slavery? Even Friedrich Engels, one of the atheist writers of the Communist Manifesto (along with Karl Max) wrote:

“Christianity was originally a movement of oppressed people: it first appeared as the religion of slaves and emancipated slaves, of poor people deprived of all rights, of peoples subjugated or dispersed by Rome.”

Friedrich Engels

Friedrich Nietzsche, the most influential atheist thinker in history, hated Christianity because it was started by a “weak and crucified Galilean” and enabled the feeble of society to overthrow the powerful. It did this through the ministry of benevolence and promoting the dignity of all people. This lifted up the weak, reducing Rome’s greatness. To Nietzsche’s criticism of lifting up those who were on the low end of the social ladder, we can declare Christianity to be, GUILTY AS CHARGED.

1. The word translated “slave” has more of the meaning of a servant.

One of the red-hot issues in the area of where people misread and misunderstand the Bible is the Scriptures’ apparent condoning and support of slavery. People, sometimes furiously, question Bible verses like these:

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.

Ephesians 6:5

Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 

Titus 2:9

 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 

Colossians 3:22

These are New Testament verses. Before that the Old Testament clearly legislated the use of slavery in the nation of Israel, as we will see below. One atheist meme referencing the Old Testament’s ban on eating shellfish scoffs:

“God could have banned shellfish or slavery.

He chose shellfish.”

atheist meme

Why didn’t God simply say, “You shall not have another person as your slave,” and just put an end to the horrible practice? How does this fit into the idea, which storyofgrace blog has promoted, that the Bible is a story of delivering people from brokenness to restoration? Abraham Lincoln has been quoted as saying, “If anything is wrong, slavery is wrong.” If Lincoln knew this, why doesn’t God?

The answer is that the Bible set the foundation for abolishing slavery, and without this foundation, the widespread abolition of slavery would not have been possible. In “How NOT to Misread and Misunderstand the Bible (Part 5),” we will look at how God fundamentally broke the power of one human being owning another human being. In the follow-up blog: “How NOT to Misread and Misunderstand the Bible (Part 6),” we will see how the New Testament sowed the seeds for the worldwide abolishing of slavery.

The Story of the Bible

“The central task of the universe today is extending the kingdom of God into every corner of human life, one follower at a time, one conversation at a time.”

Michael Henderson

Previously, we have seen that the story of the Bible has been broken up into six acts. In Act 1: World’s Beginning, God created humanity in a world with flourishing beauty and life-giving abundance without anything to spoil it. In Act 2: Humanity’s Rebellion, we saw people have rebelled from this original divine artistry and purpose. They traded life-giving abundance for a world governed by self-centered brokenness. In Act 3: Israel’s Quest, God stepped in to save his story and set in motion a plan to restore the world from this place of brokenness by God taking one nation (from the descendants of Abraham) and setting them apart to be a light and guide to other nations. This was the dawn of this restoration from brokenness. At the height of this story, in Act 4: The King’s Arrival, God sent Jesus to the earth: truly God and truly man who lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death, and rose to vanquish sin and the darkness of evil. His death, burial and resurrection is the central act of God offering hope and restoration from the brokenness in the world. In Christ swings the hope and destiny of humanity’s freedom. In Act 5: The Kingdom Coming, with the inheritance of Israel’s example (good and bad) and the Good News of Jesus, the church on mission expands life-giving freedom and dignity to all of humanity. As Michael Henderson expresses,

“The central task of the universe today is extending the kingdom of God into every corner of human life, one follower at a time, one conversation at a time”

In Act 6: God’s Homecoming, we will see how God will restore all that is broken. In this post we will see how God laid the foundations for the removal of slavery in the Old Testament with the nation of Israel.

Slavery: From Brokenness to Freedom

Act 1: The World’s Beginnings Slavery, as is the case with any exploitation of one human or group of people by another, was never part of God’s plan. Slavery, today, is impossible for us to comprehend in our post-Braveheart world, as it should be. We in the 21st century have inherited considerable economic comforts and legal rights afforded by free democracies. These qualities of life have been won through long and very hard-fought battles by men and woman who believed: “All men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.” In fact, these rights are the fruit of Christianity’s long spread influence through much of the world.

Act 2: Humanity’s Rebellion As the world descended into brokenness, economic abundance and the protection of human dignity was not the world surrounding Israel when they escaped as slaves from Egypt. Slavery was widespread and far-reaching. It was a powerful and entrenched social and economic system. One-half the population of certain sectors of a society were slaves. During the days of Sparta, the slaves outnumbered free citizens 7 to 1. At the time of Jesus, it is estimated that 30 to 40% of the Roman Empire was part of a permanent economic underclass. Egypt, from which Israel came, was masterful at enslaving people who had been its captives of war.

There were many reasons for slavery, but the primary reason for its prominence is that it was an economic necessity. In the ancient context the majority of people scraped by on a subsistence level. Families, as a social unit, would spend all day laboring to keep a small flock of livestock, like sheep and goats, and maybe some crops just to provide the basics of survival. There were no other jobs available for the most part. Your property and your family labor were your only means of an “income.” If a family had a bad year, they were unable to feed their family. What then would they do? They would borrow from someone who had enough surplus grain or some other commodity. This had to be paid back. Imagine now, that there is another bad year with the necessity to continue borrowing, year after year, with debt accumulating and no way to pay it back. You would have to default on the loan, effectively stealing from the one who lent to you. The only means available to repay would be the labor of your household. This was the economic reality of survival for farming societies. Because of this, the lender would not just own a person’s labor but would own the person himself, often creating a permanent class of slaves from the slave’s descendants, who could never find a path to economic freedom from their economic destitution.

The God of Israel will change slavery to a voluntary debt-service which offers a pathway to economic freedom. Israel will offer something totally different among the other nations which was revolutionary.

Act 3: Israel’s Quest As Israel emerged as a nation under Moses, they came from slavery and saw it widely practiced around them. One option to the issue would have been for God to forbid his people to participate in it. He could have stated, “You shall not enslave another person.” (We will see that God effectively did.) Had that happened, that would have meant that those who fell into economic servitude (loan default) would have been sold as slaves to other nations where they would have been treated as human chattel with forced conditions of backbreaking labor, no rest, and no laws defending the worth of the sojourner and the alien.

So, what God does is take this broken system, and he begins a process of restoring dignity and freedom to people who fall into economic bondage. The God of Israel will change slavery to a voluntary debt-service which offers a pathway to economic freedom. Israel will offer something totally different among the other nations which was revolutionary. Israel did NOT have slavery, especially as we think of it. It had a debt-service.¹

1. It would be voluntary and never forced.
2. It would only be for a person’s labor, not the person.
3. It would have a six year limit.
4. It was given provisions so that the condition would never become permanent.
5. It was given rights and protections.

First: Slave trade was completely forbidden. There could be no forcing of a person into service against his or her will. Such activity was punished by death.

 “If someone is caught kidnapping a fellow Israelite and treating or selling them as a slave, the kidnapper must die. You must purge the evil from among you.“

Deuteronomy 24:7

This was a sweeping change in contrast to the nations surrounding them. Further, runaway slaves (servants) were not to be returned to those who they were in service. If they were seeking to leave their service, they were to be protected. This debt-service was entered into voluntarily and could be abandoned voluntarily:

“If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand them over to their master. Let them live among you wherever they like and in whatever town they choose. Do not oppress them.”

Deuteronomy 24:15-16

This verse was used commonly by abolitionists.

Second, “slavery” in Old Testament law is vastly different than anything that we commonly associate with chattel slavery where people are deprived of basic dignity and freedom. As already stated, they were more like debt-servants. They sold their labor and not themselves:

“If any of your fellow Israelites become poor and sell themselves to you, do not make them work as slaves.”

Leviticus 25:39

Many early colonists in America and Australia served terms of indentured servitude to escape debtors’ prison.

Third, slavery was voluntary and limited. When a man or woman sold themselves into debt-service, it could be for no more than six years. Smaller debts could presumably be paid in less time.

“If any of your people—Hebrew men or women—sell themselves to you and serve you six years, in the seventh year you must let them go free.

Deuteronomy 15:12

Fourth: provision was to be made at the end of the time of service for the servants to be sent away by the person they worked for, along with enough resources to restart their lives in freedom and not have to go back into slavery again:

“And when you release them, do not send them away empty-handed. Supply them liberally from your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to them as the Lord your God has blessed you. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you. That is why I give you this command today.“

Deuteronomy 15:13-15

The motivation according to this scripture is that God had redeemed them to freedom from Egypt and did not want any of his people to become a permanent underclass once again.

Fifth: the fourth commandment requires that servants enjoy the Sabbath along with their masters. This gave the assurance that they were included with all of the rights and protections of everyone else.

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.

Exodus 20:8-10

For those servants working in this new household who found a better life than the one they came from, they could choose to remain a permanent member of the family. Under the care of a wealthier family, they may have been better fed, better clothed, and able to engage in work that was more rewarding. One could continue as a member of that family:

“But if your servant says to you, ‘I do not want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, then take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your female servant.“

Deuteronomy 15:16-17

God extended this spirit of freedom and dignity to the foreigner residing in the Jewish land:

“When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”

Leviticus 19:33-34

Israel was to be distinct and set apart from all of the other nations by never reducing anyone to a permanent economic underclass again. By the time of Jesus, slavery as an underclass of society was extinct in Israel. The Old Testament laws of debt-service had advanced a pathway to economic liberation in a way no other nation experienced. Israel was free of slavery, though the nations around them in the Roman Empire practiced it widely.

So, does a fair reading of the Old Testament lead one to conclude that it condones and supports slavery? Becky Little, in an article for the History Channel, talks about the Bibles which were given to slaves during the Transatlantic Slave Trade. She writes:

Most of the Old Testament is missing, and only about half of the New Testament remains. The reason? So that the enslaved Africans in the Caribbean islands of Jamaica, Barbados and Antigua couldn’t read or be read anything that might incite them to rebel.

If someone does NOT Misread and Misunderstand the Bible, he will clearly see that the Scripture promotes human freedom and dignity. There are other texts from the Old Testament that can be addressed regarding this topic. In How NOT to Misread and Misunderstand the Bible (Part 6), we will look at how the New Testament sowed the seeds for the worldwide eradication of slavery.

1. The word translated “slave” has more of the meaning of a servant.

Here are related blogs:

How the New Testament Ended Slavery

Why did God Command Israel to Enslave Foreigners

The Toughest Passage On the Bible and Slavery

As some people grew up in church, they became familiar with the well-known Bible stories. In the Old Testament they heard of Noah’s floating zoo on an ark hovering over choppy flood waters. There was the ultimate underdog story of David taking down a giant with his sling shot and a well-placed stone. A favorite is Daniel standing up to a pack of hungry lions.  In the New Testament people learn about a generous little boy who fed thousands with his modest lunch of loaves and fishes. And yes, there is Jesus, who went around helping people with miracles and teaching a higher way of love. But many of these same people are somehow left with the impression that the Bible is really just a collection of well-meaning morality tales and inspiring fables. After all, in the Bible don’t you find far off kingdoms, magical encounters, talking animals and of course the theme of good versus evil?

“It is full of interest. It has 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.”

Mark Twain

So, is the Bible a collection of morality tales and inspiring fables? The answer is a loud and clear, NO. Those who view the Bible as a patchwork of moral lessons and inspiring fables are misunderstanding and misreading the Bible in significant ways.  Rather than a stitched together collection of imaginative stories, it is a single story with one epic purpose: the restoration of a broken world through Jesus Christ. To understand the stories of the Bible, we must first grasp the story of the Bible. And this story, from Genesis to Revelation, though for us, is not ultimately about us. This entire story centers on one person—Jesus Christ.

Old Testament

In the previous blogs in this series, the story of the Bible has been broken up into six acts. (see below) Now we are on the height of the story which is Act 4: The King’s Arrival. We will explore why this fourth act is central to opening up all of the meaning of the Bible and can in no way be understood on the level of fables.

“To understand the stories of the Bible, we must first grasp the story of the Bible.”

Act 1: World’s Beginning

Act 2: Humanity’s Rebellion

Act 3: Israel’s Quest

New Testament

Act 4: The King’s Arrival

Act 5: The Kingdom Coming

Act 6: God’s Homecoming

Act 4: The King’s Arrival

Shortly after his resurrection, Jesus appears unrecognized to two of his followers on a road to Emmaus. Bewildered, they relay all of the buzz surrounding the many unanswered questions of the empty tomb. This prompts Jesus, still unrecognized, to say: 

“’How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.“

Luke 24:25-27

Astoundingly, Jesus could point to all of the Scriptures as pointing to himself. Soon thereafter, Jesus revealed himself to his eleven disciples, making a similar point: 

 “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.’ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.“

Luke 24:44-45

Before his death, Jesus had explained to the Pharisees, the “Bible experts” of the day—his central place in the Scripture: 

“You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,  yet you refuse to come to me to have life.“

John 5:39-40

All of the Bible testified about him, he claimed. In another place he claimed to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament:

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

Matthew 5:17

“…in the Old Testament Jesus Christ is concealed, in the New Testament Jesus Christ is revealed.”

It was claims like this that were not well-received and got Jesus into significant trouble. If these claims were not true, this would make Jesus a deranged narcissist on a pathological level. If true, then Jesus is the key to unlocking the story of the Bible that is beautifully epic and world altering in nature.

It has been said that in the Old Testament Jesus Christ is concealed, in the New Testament Jesus Christ is revealed. A sweeping view of the Bible’s topography from 20,000 feet would look something like this: 

• Old Testament: anticipation of Jesus
• Gospels: manifestation of Jesus
• Acts: proclamation of Jesus
• Letters: explanation of Jesus
• Revelation: consummation of Jesus

And why is Jesus so ultimate and unequaled in the Bible? Because only he came to earth, truly God and truly man, lived a perfect life, died a sacrificial death; rose to vanquish sin and the darkness of evil. Jesus was everything humanity has failed to be. He succeeded where we have not. He created us with a life-giving purpose to flourish—and we have rebelled against that purpose—Jesus stepped into his own story to save it.  The Bible does not claim this story to be fable; it proclaims it to be fact.

Differences Between the Bible and Fables

1. Fables are stand-alone stories with a single author. The Bible is completely different.

• It is a library of 66 books of various styles. (poetry, history, prophecy, etc.)
• It has 40+ authors from a variety of backgrounds and occupations. 
• It is written over a period 1,500 years in 10 civilizations and 3 continents. 
• It has one unified story centering the restoration of a broken world through Jesus Christ .

2. Fables do not claim to be historical with actual dates, places, and people. The Bible speaks of many verifiable dates, locations, people, and events which coincides with the world’s historical framework of empires like the Egyptians, Persians, Babylonians, and Rome. It involves world historical figures like Nebuchadnezzar, Sennacherib, Cyrus, Herod, and Pilate. Its events take place in geographical areas like Canaan, Syria, and Mesopotamia. All of this has many confirmations archaeologically. It consists of actual recordings written and referenced within the Jewish nation and eyewitness accounts later shared among the first-century church. All of this took place in our own “time and space,” as Francis Schaeffer used to say.

The apostle John writes of his encounters with Jesus in our own time and space:

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.“

1 John 1:1

The apostle Peter builds a sharp contrast to the idea that the apostles made their stories up in a fable-like manner:

 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 

2 Peter 1:16

Peter says those who proclaimed the life of Jesus were “eyewitnesses.” Luke asserted his gospel was based on the highest levels of historical research:

“Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.“

Luke 1:1-4

Did Luke include miracles in his account? Yes. But they were miracles verified by eyewitnesses. Two thousand years later, one can claim that Luke’s account are “fables, ” but this runs contrary to Luke’s claim of history. This is nowhere on par of a rabbit and turtle running a race or a goose that laid golden eggs.

3. Fables are not prophetic and do not predict the future. Unlike fables, the Bible contains an astounding number of fulfilled prophecies. The Bible contains over 1,800 predictions concerning more than 700 separate subjects found in over 8,300 verses. The Old Testament contains more than 300 prophecies concerning Jesus Christ alone, many with amazing specificity. Numerous prophecies have already been fulfilled, and they have come to pass precisely as foretold. The sheer odds of someone making this number of predictions and having every one of them come to pass are light-years beyond the realm of possibility.

“Through trust in Jesus Christ, you will find that God’s story in the Bible connects and transform your own story today.”

4. Fables are intended for entertainment purposes. The Bible’s content was always written for practical purposes and never for entertainment value. Unlike fables, the Bible has transformed countless numbers of lives. As people follow Jesus’ teachings on forgiveness, they see how it can mend broken relationships. Apply its principles of financial stewardship and watch God provide for all of your needs in surprising and often miraculous ways. Place your faith in Jesus through troubled times and feel a calming presence guiding you as you navigate through a difficult hardship. Through trust in Jesus Christ, you will find that God’s story in the Bible connects and transforms your own story today.