Mything the boat!

No - the title is not intended to indicate that my keyboard has developed a lisp! I've taken it from an article I read, some time ago, that described the insidious manner in which some modern scholars pass off many of the Biblical records as unreliable legends, rather than accepting them as true historical accounts!

With a display of humour, the writer pointed out that, when it comes to the record of Noah, the worldwide flood, and the ark, such an unwarranted approach to the written Word of God is "mything the boat"! To be accurate, the word "myth" is being used, in these situations, in its modern, 'popular', sense of "untrue"; when it is originally a very precise word that means "a usually traditional story of apparently historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon."

Those modern (and some are not so modern!) critics of the Word are not concerned about the accuracy of certain passages, considering them to be of little significance. They discount them by referring to them as "myths" - using the word in its original definition. However, those who read their books, or listen to them speak, assume that these learnèd people are accepting that much of the Bible is false!

This, of course, discredits the Lord Jesus Himself, as He clearly accepted the Old Testament (the Tanakh) as a reliable document of people, places, and events! For example, He believed that Moses really lived (Matt.19:8; Mk.12:26; Lk.20:37, 24:44; Jn.3:14; inter al). He believed that Sodom and Gomorrah really existed (Mt.10:15). He believed that Jonah was actually swallowed by a great fish - the Bible nowhere states that it was a whale! (Mt.12:40-41; Lk.11:32; inter al). He believed that Noah built an ark that floated on the flood that covered the whole earth (Mt.24:38; Lk.17:26; inter al).

The Lord Jesus didn't "myth the boat" - and neither should we! One of the gravest consequences of minimising the historical accuracy of Biblical events is the risk of eliminating, in the process, the reality of God's redemptive work! If jesus did not literally die on the cross, and literally rise from the dead, then His Person and work are stripped of all meaning and significance. As Paul wrote to the disciples in Corinth: "I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures,  that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, ... if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied.  But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep." (I Cor.15:3-4; 14-20. emphases added)

Beware of those who would turn the truth of God's Word into fables! Whether it involves Noah, or the Lord Jesus, if you accept their teachings, you are "'mything' the boat"!

If you would like to look at some of these issues further, you will find a fund of information at https://answersingenesis.org   Well worth a look!