Historicity of Jesus and the Reliability of the Bible

A lack of foolproof historical evidence doesn't mean that the historical person never existed or that an event never happened. It means we don't have sufficient evidence of their existence through archaeological findings or reliable ancient literature. If we say a character is mythical, it doesn't mean they weren't historical. Many myths are constructed around historical characters. For instance, ancients have made mythical stories around their famous Kings, such as Akbar-Birbal, Vikram-Betaal, Krishnadevaraya-Tenali Raman. We know Akbar, Vikramaditya, and Krishna Devaraya did exist. Mythical stories about them do not disprove their existence. 

Likewise, Ramayana may be mythical, but Ram may have existed. Similarly, the Bible contains metaphors and illustrations that did not happen. It also contains real events, skillfully articulated to convey the theological point. The authors have selected and arranged their material to convey their theological point. The Bible is the reliable word of God. However, Genesis 1-11 contains mythical stories. Myth, in this context, does not mean that these characters did not exist or that these stories did not happen. It means that the characters are valid. However, the authors tell the stories with a Theological Perspective. They tell the story from their perspective to make their point. 

So, the authors may omit specific details (Where did Cain get a wife from?) that are irrelevant to their overall point. They may rearrange the sequence of certain events to make a polemical point. For instance, Genesis 1 demotes the sun's creation to the fourth day to make a theological point that the sun is not God, but God's creation. Therefore, unlike the surrounding cultures, the Hebrews don't worship the sun. To use an illustration, it is like a newspaper reporting its version of an event. The report may not include every detail or use the available details in the same sequence as other newspapers do to make their point. That is why we get variant versions of happenings. Still, their story is reliable as long as they report the event correctly.

Furthermore, nobody disputes the event's reality just because some specific details vary across reports due to nuanced presentation. The overall picture of the event and the characters involved remains the same. The whole Bible is inspired (not dictated) by the Holy Spirit. Even so, God used humans—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—to write their biographies of Jesus, each with their own theological emphasis. The same stories may appear with a slight difference in these versions, depending upon what the author intended to highlight. However, it certainly means that Jesus was a historical person because a Jewish writer, Josephus, and a Roman writer, Tacitus, also mention Jesus. Again, it doesn't mean that things didn't happen the same way as the different authors mentioned. 

Instead, it means that nobody knows exactly what happened or exactly what words Jesus spoke because all we have is what Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote. Even so, since the Holy Spirit had inspired the writers, we believe that everything they wrote is true (honest) from their perspective. Therefore, we need to keep their viewpoint in mind while reading these texts. Furthermore, instead of looking at bits and pieces or picking passages out of context, we need to gain a holistic understanding of the metanarrative. Otherwise, we might cherry-pick the Biblical verses to authenticate our doctrines and miss the big picture. Let's read the Biblical text holistically in its context to get the overall theological message.