Hi Joseph, welcome to the Forum! I hope youâll find your time spent here to be fruitful.
There have been others on this Forum claiming that âhistoryâ instead of Jesus is the foundation of the Bible. However, there are a number of biblical (!) references that contradict this claim.
In John 1, we read that Jesus Himself is the Word of God. The Bible revolves around Him from the first page to the last. If someone loves to repeat the catch phrase âthe Bible is the Word of Godâ, then that person must concede that the Bible (including Genesis) is founded on Jesus Christ in every sense of that word.
In Colossians 1, we read:
16 For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
If everything holds together in Jesus, even history and the Bible itself do soâŚ
As far as I know, nobody at BioLogos or affiliated with BioLogos would say that the Bible is âfictionalâ. Point 1 of the BioLogos belief statement entails the following:
We believe the Bible is the inspired and authoritative word of God. By the Holy Spirit it is the âliving and activeâ means through which God speaks to the church today, bearing witness to Godâs Son, Jesus, as the divine Logos, or Word of God.
Itâs just that we have to discern the intention of the biblical writers from the texts. They were inspired by the Holy Spirit to transmit essential teachings to the people in ways that were understandable (i.e., fit with their context). That means that non-essential aspects of the narratives might be transmitted in stylized fashion, or even utilized to emphasize the points of the teaching.
As for your claim that only historical facts are truths and vice versa , thatâs a very limited (and even unbiblical) view of the truth. Think of all the parables of Jesus, transmitting truths with meanings that extend way beyond the literal occurrences. In the person of Jesus, we even come to understand that the Truth Itself is a person. A person canât be reduced to historical facts, because a person is part of a larger story. Of course, the historicity of our faith is valuable. But it shouldnât replace the foundation of our faith: the personal relationship with the Word of God, Jesus Christ. The Bible is the Word of God because it reflects who Jesus is.