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False But Inspiring? Can It Be?

False But Inspiring? Can It Be?

Last updated on: January 8, 2025 at 5:24 pm by Roger E. Olson

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False But Inspiring? Can It Be? 2025-01-08T17:24:36-05:00 Roger E. Olson

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False But Inspiring? Can It BE?

One characteristic of liberal theology (but not unique to it) is the idea that the Bible is only (or especially) “our sacred stories” but not historically true. Of course, that is referring to the histories contained in the Bible—stories of what purportedly actually happened. It’s not referring to proverbs or psalms or parables.

The claim is that an account purporting to tell something that really happened can be fictional but inspiring.

That is my question: Can a story that purports to be true (not fiction) but is not not true (it is fictional) be inspiring?

By “inspiring” I don’t mean interesting or even “a gripping story.” I mean INSPIRING as in spiritually uplifting, spiritually enlightening, spiritually motivating.

If so, if you think so, give an example from outside the Bible. I can’t think of one.

When I was a kid I “learned” that President George Washington cut down a cherry tree and, when confronted by his father, said “I cannot tell a lie” and confessed to the deed. Inspiring. Right? Not. Later I learned it is pure legend, pure fiction. It immediately lost its inspiring power.

The same is true with all the legends and tales I’ve been told over the years and that I believed. Another example: When I was young I often heard a sermon illustration that was very strange but purported to be true. It was said to have happened to a student at a Bible college associated with our denomination. But nobody named the student. Years later I heard the same sermon illustration from a preacher not at all associated, geographically or denominationally, with the context of the original story. I asked the preacher if he knew the name of the student. He said no. But he claimed the incident, very, very particular, happened at a Bible college he attended.

I then shared the story (or stories) with a well-known professor of folklore who wrote books and columns about urban legends. He said the story is well-known as an “evangelegend”—a subspecies of urban legends. I stopped believing that the story is true; I placed it in the “fiction” category. Now, the point here is NOT that it COULD have happened to several different students in several different places. As unlikely as that is, it’s not absolutely impossible. The point I am making is that as soon as I considered it fictional, as I did, it lost its inspiring quality. And that because the point of the story was that it actually happened! If it didn’t, it’s not inspiring.

Of course I find inspiration in many fictional stories. But if one claims to be true in the sense of actually corresponding with reality, with history, then it is not inspiring insofar as it does not correspond with reality, with history.

What could possibly be the inspiring quality of the stories of Jesus’s resurrection if he did not rise from death as the stories claim? I could go on citing biblical stories that claim to be historically true. Name one, if you can, that claims to be historically true but is not and yet is inspiring. I will say I don’t find it inspiring—insofar as it claims to be true but is not.

Don’t cite a parable or legend. I can find some of those inspiring in the sense of making a valuable point. I don’t find them as inspiring as true stories, however. But if a story claims to be true but turns out to be fiction, I don’t find it inspiring.

What is my point? As I argue in Against Liberal Theology, IF a Christian stops believing in the truth of stories of the Bible that purport to be true he or she should stop claiming to find them inspiring. I would.

*Note: If you choose to comment be sure your comment is relatively brief (no more than 100 words), on topic, addressed to me, civil and respectful (not hostile or argumentative), and devoid of pictures or links.*

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