JWs are too sensitive about the Bible. They consider every verse of the Bible as “inspired of God.” Hence doubting even one verse of the Bible is a disfellowshipping offence among them!
They do not realize that doubting one or two verses in the Bible will not do any harm to the Bible, nor to any scripture for that matter. What is true of all scriptures, epics, myths or even stories is that characters need not be historical, but the characteristics they display are historical. Sustained effort and overconfidence tortoise and hare displayed respectively are historical (because people have been displaying them throughout the history), but the competition of tortoise and hare are not historical (never happened). A powerful ruler’s inordinate lust towards someone else’s wife and the subsequent down-fall is more historical (which is the theme of the epic called Ramayan) than the characters! Ingratitude displayed individually and collectively in the Bible is more historical (because people still display it) than its characters.
Scriptures and stories provide examples of people who acted either wisely or foolishly, hence reaped accordingly. By reading them people can choose whatever they like, and reap accordingly! Hence anyone can become healthy, happy, successful and spiritual if they look for such examples and act accordingly. Or anyone can waste his life by looking at the defects of others, over which he has no control and ignoring his own defects over which he does have control!
Bible has many problems. For example, the Old Testament Jesus was acquainted with was different from what we have today. In the OT of his period, the statement: “male and female he created them” (which is found at Genesis 1:27) was IMMEDIATELY followed by this statement: “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh (which is found at Genesis 2:24). (Mathew 19:4-6) This means Jesus was familiar with the fact that mankind was created male and female simultaneously (That man was created first from the dust, and then woman was created from man’s rib, as found in present Bible, from Genesis 1:28 to Genesis 2:23, is a later interpolation).
Here what is important is not what Jesus thought of the historicity of Adam and Eve, but the fatherhood of God that makes man and woman equal, hence man should not divorce woman for every reason—which is the context of Mathew chapter 19.
If you examine incidents described in the Bible, you will see many mistakes and inconsistencies. That need not worry anyone. Because characteristics of the character and their consequences are real lessons, not the historicity of the characters! What is inspired is not descriptions of each happening, but the impeccable principle behind every happening. (Galatians 6:7)
