Myth and Fiction as Employed in the Bible. A Symposium

Abstract

A SYM POSIUM.As THE subject is worded, it suggests the qutstions: Shall the presence of myth and fiction in the sacred volume be admitted or denied ? On what ground can it be either admitted or denied? And, if admitted, how dc)es it affect Christian doctrine?The denial of the presence of an-form of literature in the Scriptures can appear either as a conclusion reached after a careful survey of their content, or as the result of a judgment based on the character of the Bible as a body of divinely inspired writings. If it be the latter only, then there can be ,vlainly no doubt that such a denial is unscientific, and should be summarily set aside by the earnest and honest seeker after truth. What is and what is not consistent with the divine origin and authority of Scripture must be determined, not by an apriori logical method, but by an induction of facts. The question whether the existence of myth and fiction is consistent with inspiration and canonicity must be answered after the question of their presence or absence has been settled, and not before. To form an idea of what kind of literature one should expect in the Hible, and then proceed to reduce all the kinds found to these, is to re-enact the fabled Procrustes; only with greater cruelty, because in this case it is not the mere bodies of men that are tortured, but the contents of a divinely given volume which has been the means of spiritual life to millions. If myth and legend are not proper forms through which God can reveal his mind, then why should parables and allegories be believed to be such ? And where is the line to be drawn between those literary forms which the Spirit can employ and those which he cannot? And on what authority shall such a line be drawn ? The absolute irnpossibilitr of answering these ver) legitimate and inevitable questions should prove a final and effective mode of dealing with the denial of their presence upon mere a przori grounds .But it may be asked, in using the inductive method, what 342