Is the Bible fiction or nonfiction? For believers, it's
clearly nonfiction, but nonbelievers would call it pure fantasy. The argument
has raged for centuries, with no sign of stopping anytime soon, but while
theologians duke it out, that leaves bookstore owners and librarians in a
quandary: Where should they shelve their Bibles without offending anyone on
either side of the debate?
Mega-retailer Costco found itself in the midst of this
debate last year when a pastor visited one if its stores in California and
found a copy of the Bible amidst the fiction books. The pastor Tweeted about it,
and the story became a national debate. Meanwhile a 7th grade
student at a California school brought a copy of the Bible to school when his
teacher said students were supposed to read a nonfiction book. When the teacher
told him the book was fiction, all hell broke loose. Well, not all hell, exactly. But a bunch of folks
had to sit down with the principal, which is essentially the same thing if we
remember correctly from our school days.
Regardless of whether the Bible is fact or fiction, it has
definitely inspired a great deal of literature of both the fictitious and
factual variety. In nonfiction aisles at your favorite bookstore you'll find a
variety of titles that help people interpret the Bible, such as The
Everyday Life Bible: The Power of God's Word for Everyday Living, how the
Bible's teachings can help people live their lives such as What
the Bible Says about Love, Marriage, & Sex: The Song of Solomon, and of
course inevitably there's The
Bible for Dummies.
The Bible is also responsible for spawning a number of
fiction titles. Some focus on particular characters from the Bible, including Desired:
The Untold Story of Samson and Delilah and My
Name is Lazarus. Some stories are based on parables in the Bible, which are
fictional stories that Jesus told in order to teach lessons to his followers.
One example is The
Power of Parable: How Fiction by Jesus Became Fiction about Jesus.
Whether you believe the Bible is fiction or nonfiction,
there are plenty of books out there to feed your interest in the book. Happy
reading!
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