Are the stories and the characters in the Bible based off Fiction or fact? And how do you know?

Answer 1

nobody knows

Answer 2

Most, if not all, of the stories in the Bible were stolen from the Sumerian religion...the religion of -the- oldest culture known at this time. The stories were then twisted and bastardized to form the Christian religion and used to wipe out previous cultures and assume new dominance over as many people as possible.

Because my tradition follows many of the Sumerian myths, I cannot help -but- say that I think the Bible is -based- on facts. However, it's been fvcked up so badly, and once facts have been tampered with they're not usually facts anymore, and are thus considered fiction. So on one hand, I think SOME parts are true... on the other hand, I think it's total bullshvt. It's quite unfortunate.

EDIT:
For example, the Noah's Ark story came from Sumeria. The Sky God (which my tradition aligns with the Christian God) was going to let humans die in a flood because they "made too much noise." The Serpent God (which my tradition aligns with Satan), who was (ironically) the creator of humanity, went against the Sky God and managed to alert a trusted follower to the coming flood. (Yes, this means the god who sent the flood and the god who warned people of it were two DIFFERENT gods.) The man built a boat and put his people on it, along with some of the domestic animals, and they survived.

The story is possible as the Sumerians tell it, because at that time, their "world" was a small chunk of land, there weren't many people in the area, and the only animals of which to speak were domestic cows, sheep, goats, etc. The flood wasn't worldwide, form what I can tell- just within that area.

Which is much more plausible than the Bible's story of the entire earth flooding and trying to shove two of every animal on the planet in there, and then expecting a small handful of humans to repopulate the entire human race.

But...

Even in light of the fact that the Bible is (essentially) plagiarized mushings of the original religion, there's no way I can go back in time to Ancient Sumeria to see if the original stories were true or not. So... it really is entirely up to opinion. There is no way to know for sure, despite what each side says.

I think it's cruel and ignorant to say "I'm right and everyone else is full of it!", so I figure that as long as a person isn't shoving their views down my throat or being a jerk about it, who cares? To some people, religion offers comfort and strength. To others, it's a hassle. Neither are absolutely, beyond the shadow of a doubt and provably correct. We all need to start respecting that.

Answer 3

Both. I know from a lifetime of study, but today with the internet the information is readily available. Most OT characters are fabricated after the Babylonian exile and the stories lifted whole from Babylon, Persia and Egypt with the names changed. Noah is fictional, based on the fictional Utnapishtim of the Gilgamesh epic. Moses is fictional of course, based on Sargon the Great. No evidence of any kind of Israelites enslaved in Egypt or spending forty years wandering an area the size of the county I live in today. There was in fact a very small and undistinguished Davidic kingdom the Egyptians smashed effortlessly when they didn't pay their tribute. There's lots more of course, but basically the Israelites invented their history when they left Babylon, a history which Ezra and the scribes miraculously "found."

Answer 4

The Noah's Ark story is simply not possible. The ages of the Earth and the universe itself are far older than 6000 years. The number of species alive today is due to evolution not the hand of an unseen deity....these are just some of the many biblical inconsistencies. There is far more evidence to prove the bible is fiction than to prove it is fact.

Answer 5

the natural world produces prophecies.. the bible was written as Nostradamus's work was.. in prophecy... but collected by the churches so they could manipulate the outcome.... which is where the term false prophets come from.... so first off the information is prophetic not historical... and then because of the battle (religion vs nature) becomes symbolic... all prophecies coming from religions are false... historical accounts false... or failed prophecies... but the true prophecies although now incomprehensible are still possible... the one about a man giving the information to the earth that would destroy religions for ever is still in the works... religions are dangerous... they have a history of murdering prophets... especially in christianity.. lets hope this man succeeds to get his books written... (that would be the story of Jesus.. not his real name...) and the defeat of the christ... all false prophets ... that is why the prophecy reads he is murdered... the church began before there was guns.. so the understanding symbolically is that they would want him persecuted and dead before his messages could be heard... so as his books begin to get notoriety we can be sure that there will be a christian up rise against him....

Answer 6

Yes dear…FACTS!!!

The bible is not a paper back novel.

Christians have what they call FAITH, where one’s belief – in, devotion – to, or trust in somebody or something, especially without logical proof.

With FAITH, still what was written in the bible has been studied by experts and professional educators. They have proofs of the existence of Jesus himself and beyond.

Those believed to be writers of the bible are real human beings who wrote their testimonies in scrolls later discovered.
The stories of miracles are again handed down from generation to generation by old people but as there were no pictures then it would certainly be hard to prove things… yet
It was never cancelled or voided. There are countless encounters with these miracles without proof and yet today we see the obvious: the air around us, the sun, and the change of weather, the moon the stars…miracles in itself not even the intellectual humans could explain, create or control.
Who made this universe possible?

If there are no logical explanations for those written in bible then why do we have millions of followers dear? The Pope, the Vatican, Me…all believes.
Not because we are so stupid…it is just that not because we can’t see it …it never existed.

“St. Thomas the doubtful, did not believe in the resurrection of Jesus. Not until he could place this finger on the wounds will he believe Jesus has resurrected. Jesus then appears and gave His hands for him to pierce his finger to.
St Thomas, repented all his doubts.”

St Thomas is as real as you and me dear.
His biography lies in the library of the Vatican, read in schools, studied by intellectuals.

We can’t see LOVE
But we know it is there and is happening to us.

I will admit that it is not easy to just accept things. Our intelligence would rebel over the extra ordinary, unexplained or irregular. I myself will not just accept things.

At 54 dear, I have done a lot of research and my daily life testimonies as well, surely without any more doubt do I believe it to be a fact. And for those unexplained portions, I think it was placed there for us to learn lessons from the story.

At 54 my FAITH has saved me and may your FAITH save you too dear.
Let time explain and clear the doubts in your mind…email after 20 years.
God Bless you dear


PARIS 716

Answer 7

The only way we can know is if there is other evidence outside the Bible. Calling information from one source fact is like calling gray black. You can say it is black, but that does not make it a fact.

Answer 8

Fact or fiction?...either way they have caused a lot of friction over the years.

Answer 9

Fact or fiction should not even be the issue unless you are not looking for the symbolical and taking it all literal!

Answer 10

Some of it is based in historical fact. Like Cyrus the Great, and Herod are mentioned among other notable figures. It's mostly based on faith though.

Answer 11

No one really KNOWS. Some say fact, some say fiction. I'm inclined to say that the Bible is factual, whereas someone else might tell you it's fictional.