Should we read Bible as 'historical Fiction' or not?

It's all in the question, right? also, I read this book 'Historical Jesus' and its author seems to be indicating that Orthodoxy western academic did NOT like Christianity to be fictionalized. That's just my impression...

I began a longish response to your thread but deleted it because what's the point of your question?

Historical fiction is meant to be entertaining and is sometimes informative on the way. The Bible is not like that. It may be entertaining to read, but that isn't its purpose. Because the Bible wasn't written for entertainment, the answer to your question is no.

Which begs the question, why do you ask? What do you want to know?

More to the point, the Bible can be read as literature, and the is a group currently doing that. http://www.librarything.com/topic/248091

>3 MarthaJeanne: ...the Bible can be read as literature...

I thought about that on the drive home. Yes, the Bible can certainly be read as literature. Thanks for the link to the other thread.

Maybe I need another cup of coffee to sharpen my wits, but I still don't understand the original question. If the thread was, "Can the Bible be read as literature?" The answer, of course, is yes. The Bible is beautiful literature and historically significant, and its value doesn't depend on whether the reader is a believer.

Surely it depends on which Bible and which part of that Bible is meant.

The Psalms, the Song of Solomon are literature, but not intended to be "historical". Leviticus and the like are about law, not history, and not intended to be literary, either.

On the other hand, there are large swaths that are what an instructor I had once called "family stories". Like all story-telling, they have literary merit; like all family stories, they tell the listener family history. Whether the changes that are bound to occur over the centuries, from one story to the next, constitute "fiction" or literary license is up to you. Did the patriarchs and matriarchs really live to the incredible ages we are told, or is that exaggeration for effect?

>2 pmackey:

Because the Bible wasn't written for entertainment . . .

Oh, I expect some of those "family stories" were told to entertain the kiddies while dinner was cooking! (Again, broad sweeping statements about what the Bible is or isn't, or why it was written down, are bound to be erroneous. There were different writers, different times, different purposes for different parts.)

"Historical fiction" is about imaginatively reconstructing how characters might have thought, spoken and acted in past times, based on the historical knowledge we have of those times. That's a process that only makes any kind of sense if you're starting out from modern ideas about history and fiction that didn't even exist before about the end of the 18th century, so it's anachronistic to apply the term to the Jewish and Christian scriptures. No-one who was around in those days would have had the idea of wondering how people might have dressed or spoken back in King David's day, still less that they might have thought in different ways from "now".

It's probably much more interesting to turn the question round and look at how the Bible has served as source material for modern writers of historical fiction. Joseph and his brothers, anyone?

>5 lilithcat: Oh, I expect some of those "family stories" were told to entertain the kiddies while dinner was cooking! (Again, broad sweeping statements about what the Bible is or isn't, or why it was written down, are bound to be erroneous. There were different writers, different times, different purposes for different parts.)

Yes. And I like the term, "family stories" which seems right.

Well, strictly speaking, the Bible wasn't written as historical fiction to say it was. Even the word itself "biblios" in Greek translates to "library." It's a collection of books, and as such it contains books about history, law, lineages, poetry, songs, and contemporary biographies from the time. It is in a modern sense a primary source, and primary sources are in essence non-fiction. These facts aside, what little fiction in the Bible there is could and should be considered a part of the 'historical fiction' genre and not just as fiction that has a historical sense to it.

However, I don't really believe that one could read the Bible as a whole work as historical fiction, because to over a billion people of Christian, Jewish, and Islamic descent, the stories contained in the Bible aren't fictional at all. To atheists or agnostics who don't acknowledge God's existence or His influence through prophets and the hotly debated Messiah, Jesus, the least one could do is acknowledge that others do and respect that belief though it isn't shared by refraining from the use of 'historical fiction' when referring to what many believe to be a divinely inspired work.

This being said, I know the author of this question was not intending to be culturally insensitive and was simply postulating a question to get a discussion going, but I'd really rather discuss the second question suggested in the thread: How has the Bible served as a source work for modern writers of historical fiction? I wouldn't necessarily say that many authors draw inspiration directly from the Bible when developing concepts for their latest historical fiction novels, especially as many writers still prefer to draw upon sources from the Greek and Roman ancient philosophers and mythologies, in addition to more recently ancient Eastern lore from China and Japan. Yes, the Bible is classic and there are quite a few historical fiction pieces inspired by them; however, I personally am unfamiliar with the quantity that exists in the world today and would thoroughly enjoy some good recommendations.

>8 clanoneves:

It is in a modern sense a primary source,

I cannot agree with that. A "primary source" is a contemporaneous, first-hand account of events. Little, if any, of either the Hebrew or Christian Bibles falls into that category. (And, of course, even if a document is a primary source that is not a guarantee of its accuracy or truthfulness.)

I personally am unfamiliar with the quantity {of Bible-based historical fiction} that exists in the world today and would thoroughly enjoy some good recommendations.

You might check out the books tagged "biblical fiction".

yes I think so if people want to read it no harm :}}}}}