How is the Bible a historical source?

Answer 1

The bible is a historical document or set of documents written by reliable men. They have recorded the history of this earth from its creation until its final destruction as the abode of carnal man to its Celestial state. A place where only the righteous will reside. all others being assigned other kingdoms. It is a record of mans dealing with God, a record of mans dealings with each other. It records their leaders, their monitory system, farming, housing, wars and peaceful periods. It is a record of wise men who in their wisdom have given counsel as to how to love one another, but it also gives warning of the calamities which will befall mankind if they fail to obey their council. It is a history of wars and all manner of unrighteousness. Not only has it told of the past but also the present and the future. Historical writings record history. They do not foretell the future, declare religious law, or declare who is righteous or who is not. The Bible has come to us through an historical context and through it certain things can be researched. It is not an attempt to document history in the modern sense, very few ancient documents are. The ancients began their histories with oral accounts and legends because most ancient peoples had very low, if any, literacy. At some point these oral histories were written down, but the written documents included the generalizations of time, legends, and myths that were a part of the original oral document. The oldest parts of the Bible were "written" in the same way. Even after ancient history began being recorded in written records those records were not necessarily truthful. A powerful ruler would make sure that "history" recorded him favorably. The writers of the Bible most certainly recorded their kings in a favorable light, but those accounts are not actual records of the reign as we have with the Egyptian kings or the Romans. I think the Old Testament is best understood as the story of the Hebrew people and the origins of the Jewish religion. It is not really meant to be "history" as we think of it today. Most Biblical scholars also believe that the New Testament began with an oral account, the collected "sayings" of Yeshua, or Jesus as he was called in the Greek. At one point it is believe there were around 80 different "gospels" concerning the life of the Rabbi Yeshua. Some were simple sayings, others included religious stories or legends of the regions in which they were told. Historically, the Christian Bishops of Rome became the most powerful and at one point the Emperor Constantine ordered and official version of Christianity so that the Roman Empire might have one religion. This official version contained many pagan elements and pagan holidays were given a Christian context and mythology. The biographical details around the teachings of Jesus are often at odds with each other in the N.T. Most scholars believe these details were added on to the saying of the rabbi by later authors. In conclusion, there are many historical details that can be taken from Biblical accounts but they must be confirmed and put in the context of what we know through other sources. Biblical authors were not trying to write a history book.