Surfing the Inner N8

Periodically over the next few weeks I’m going to post a series on Bible Myth Myths.

For centuries, opponents of the Bible have attempted to discredit it by comparing it to pagan mythology.  The word “myth” has now become a tool of subtle manipulation.  Frequently someone will assume a pretense of intellectual superiority by claiming something is a “myth.”  If you tell me that Mikey from the “he-likes-it!” commercials died from mixing Coke and Pop Rocks, I can tell you, “Oh, that’s just a myth.”  That implies that I know something you don’t.  What often happens is that instead of actually researching my claim, you might simply accept my position so that you don’t feel inferior.  Then the next time someone tells you that Mikey overdosed on soda and candy, you can lift your chin a little higher and say, “Actually, that’s just a myth.”  Even on those all-too-rare occasions when we actually do look into someone’s claim that something is a myth, unfortunately our idea of reliable research is Snopes at best and Wikipedia at worst.  So we can play the myth card and somehow get off with not having to substantiate our claim or even offer any logical support for our position.

In such an atmosphere, it’s become popular to film documentaries or spread Facebook posts that allegedly debunk “myths” about the Bible.  But these are typically done as a drive-by shotgun blast of misinformation, with the victims left intellectually wounded and left for brain dead.

In response, I would like to expose some of these Bible myth myths for the unfounded propaganda that they are.  Stay tuned for Bible Myth Myth #1: Jonah could not have been swallowed by a whale.

By the way, little Mikey (known in real life as John Gilchrist) is alive and well.  And I hear that he does in fact enjoy soda and pop rocks.  But that could be just a myth.