Semester exam essay

Semester Exam Essay I don’t believe either the Biblical Maximalists or Biblical Minimalists are correct; the bible is not completely historically accurate, nor is it completely inaccurate. The bible, especially Genesis, may be based on some historical occurrences, but is exaggerated and includes untrue stories. I think stories in Genesis were created, based on some historical events to provide explanations to how and why we were created. The explanation couldn’t be disproven at the time, but now with Darwinism and the big bang theory, we see that the Creation Story and The Fall are not likely historically accurate. Based on the Black Sea flood theory we see proof of a large flood that occurred around the time the flood narrative was written about. This flood may be the basis for the flood narrative but it didn’t consume the entire Earth; this is where exaggeration of historical events can be seen in the bible. Did the writers of the four sources witness the flood themselves, or did word of the flood spread to them through others from that region? This is one of many questions you must ask when questioning the historical accuracy of the bible. It can be seen through discrepancies in the bible’s text that it was written by different sources, and because of this it is difficult to determine which, if any, of these sources is historically accurate. Genesis contains stories similar to other mythology created at the time it was written, such as the Enuma Elish, which told a similar story to the Genesis creation story. Genesis may not be historically inaccurate, but that is not true for the entire bible. The Inscription of Hatshepsut, a tablet written in hieroglyphics, tells of a group of semitic pharaohs who exited Egypt around the time of a possible date of the exodus. The inscription could be the basis of the exodus, proving the Bible is not completely historically false. Believing the bible is historically accurate is not immoral as long as it does not affect others. In the case of Israel and Palestine the Jews should have a right to live on the land because there is evidence that the exodus actually occurred. This does not mean the Palestinians should not have the right to live in Israel, and ideally they would share it. The sharing of Israel would most likely not work, so the Jews should have the right to the land because that is their ancestral homeland. Overall the bible may have some historically inaccurate stories, but in no way is it immoral to believe them.