I was asked recently if a person can be a Christian yet not believe some of the stories in the Old Testament are literally true. The examples were predictable: Balaam's donkey speaking with the voice of a man, Lot's wife turned into a pillar of salt, Jonah and the great fish and, of course, the creation story. It was a legitimate question asked in all sincerity by a person I think seriously desires to know more about the type of God I worship.
My answer may surprise you. I said "yes." The person seemed greatly relieved, assuming my answer confirmed that I thought that each of those stories are simply that, stories: yarns spun for pre-enlightened people to help them understand a greater truth; myths or fables perpetuated over multiple millennia that people believe because they are told they have to believe. However, that is not what I think at all. I believe that at one time in human history, the God who created matter, time, quasars, the Swiss Alps, and grasshoppers, chose to give a donkey a voice, turn a woman into a pillar of salt, commanded a great fish to swallow a fleeing prophet, and spoke our universe into existence.
Actually, those are easy stories to believe, as I shared with this questioning friend. It isn't the Old Testament stories that are the hardest to swallow, it's those pesky New Testament stories. A dead and buried man walking out of a tomb after being placed there four days prior. Blind people seeing again at the verbal command of a Jewish carpenter. That same carpenter transformed, in the sight of three others, into a celestial being clothed like the sun and talking with two chaps who had been dead for a really long time. And the coup de grace for me? A teenage virgin giving birth to the incarnate Son of God. These stories test the limits of credulity. I believe these stories, but only by the grace of God and his undeserved gift of faith. Without these two gifts, I would be laughing these stories off along with the easier to believe stories from the Old Testament.
But, do you have to believe in a talking donkey story to be saved? Probably not. I think you can believe that some Old Testament stories are meant only to elicit faith and point to a greater truth. I do not recommend that approach to Scripture, however, because it is a slippery slope. That approach always leads to questions about other truth claims in Scripture, which leads to questions about matters that are primary to the faith. Questioning biblical authority never stops at questioning biblical authority; it always leads to further questioning. Should Christians fear questions and simply swallow the faith pill and move on? Not at all. But here’s the rub—I do not believe we have to swallow anything. Our faith stands up to reason quite well. Christianity is mind-expanding, not mind-numbing. Faith, like almost everything else in our Christian walk, takes time to develop. However, faith is not blind. We can speak intelligently and discuss the reality of God moving supernaturally in a world he created. Biblical faith is not what Mark Twain said it was when he quipped, “faith is believing in what you know ain’t so.” Actually, that is not biblical faith at all. Our faith is built upon reality, good history, and reasonable concepts.
So, doubting some Old Testament stories probably will not keep you out of heaven, but doubting New Testament stories can. Like those New Testament stories that call faith to saving action. Like God the Son entering space and time in Bethlehem because we desperately need a Savior. Like those miracle stories that confirm to us that Mary’s boy in the manger was, and is, the God of the universe. And like that story of a resurrection that Paul tells us is paramount in our confession of faith before others, that "if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Rom. 10:9). Some stories in the Bible are necessary to believe in order to be a Christian, and the interesting thing is, they are the hardest ones to believe. Those stories have also been affirmed, however, by eyewitness testimony and two thousand years of orthodox history. I believe them with all my heart. I have staked my life on them. I sincerely hope that all of you reading this article have as well.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jym