The Bible Isn’t a History Book, It’s a Book of Ideas: Reclaiming Sacred Story in a Skeptical Age

By Rev. Dr. Justin Hurtado

PART 1: What They Told Us—and What They Didn't

They told us the Bible was “God’s Word.”But not what kind of word it was.

They handed us a multi‑voiced, multi‑genre library and said: read it like a corporate manual. Literal. Inerrant. Historical. Untouchable.

Here's what they left out:

• The contradictions jump off the page.

• Some cities never existed when Scripture said they did.

• Genealogies don’t line up.

• Moral laws are outdated—or dangerous.

• The same pages meant to free have been used to oppress.

And yet—you read me. You kept reading. Wanting something deeper.

Because you felt there was something deeper.

Beneath the noise and weaponization lies raw beauty, human vulnerability, divine longing.

PART 2: When the Math Doesn’t Math

You don’t need a seminary when you’ve got eyes.

• Genesis contains two creation stories.

• Exodus speaks of 600,000 Israelites in Sinai; archaeology says zero trace.

• Jericho’s walls had been rubble for centuries.

• Gospels can’t agree whether the Resurrection was early Sunday or dawn Monday.

• Census records in Luke don’t match history.

If you treat the Bible like a court case, it ruins it. The point isn’t did it happen, it’s what does it say about God, pain, justice, hope.

So far, so real, right?

PART 3: Scripture as Sacred Story, Not Historical Log

Remember: the Bible is not a history book.It’s a library of voices—liturgy, myth, law, prophecy, poetry.

It asks: “What does this mean for humanity arranged around the Divine?”

Origen said the Bible has "flesh, soul, spirit"—literal and metaphorical layers¹.Gregory of Nyssa used Moses’s life to map spiritual growth².Vatican Council II reminded us Scripture shows “the truth God wanted put into sacred writings for the sake of our salvation”³—not for historical logs.Old‑Catholics stand alongside these saints. We don’t worship the text. We worship the God who breathed it into being.

PART 4: When the Bible Becomes a Bludgeon – Sola Scriptura

"Sola Scriptura"—"Scripture alone"—sounds liberating.But in many evangelical spaces, it’s become scripture weaponized.

Genesis of the Problem

Luther used Sola Scriptura to challenge power.But many evangelical heirs treated “Scripture alone” as their absolute.

The result:

• Inerrancy over nuance.

• Proof-texting over conversation.

• Control over grace.

• Justification for slavery, patriarchy, racism, queerphobia, nationalism.

Our Response

Old‑Catholics refuse this.

We say: Scripture with Tradition, reason, prayer, community—not detached or wielded.⁴We believe the Word lives in conversation, not achievement.

PART 5: If Not History, Then What?

The Bible is a book of ideas—dangerous, generous, soulful.

Let’s walk through three examples to feel the difference:

1. Exodus 🔥 — A mythic cry against oppression

Not historical by archaeological standards. But timeless as liberation theology.This story screams: God sides with the oppressed. Always.

2. Jonah — A divine satire

Not biography. A theological short story pointing to our stubbornness, God’s mercy, and love that surprises us.

3. Genesis creation — Cosmic chant

Not science. Not chronology. But cosmic worship in words—affirming God’s order, purpose, delight in creation.

Read not for facts, but for meaning.

When you ask: “Does this happen?”, you miss: “What is this saying about us and God?”

PART 6: A Word for Queer Readers

Here’s a bombshell:

The word “homosexual” didn’t appear in any Bible—English or otherwise—until 1946.⁵

Prior to that, the Greek words arsenokoitai and malakoi were translated with context—pederasty, exploitation, moral failure—not modern homosexuality.Only mid‑20th-century translators weaponized “homosexual” to pathologize identity⁶.

That mistranslation is spiritual violence.

Jesus never mentioned queer people.He never graded orientation.Jesus gave everything he had to outsiders, women, the sick, kids—and confronted exclusion with power.

So if you’ve faced hate through Scripture, know this:

You are not broken. You’re a target of mistranslation.That word isn’t from God.It was weaponized by translators and pulpits for control.

Your queerness is holy. You’re not “loved despite you.”You’re loved as you are.

PART 7: What This Means for Pastors, Seekers, and Survivors

So now what?

We know the Bible isn’t a historical play-by-play. We know it’s been mistranslated, misused, and misunderstood. But what do we do with that knowledge?

We read it differently.We hold it differently.We teach it differently.

And most importantly, we let it reshape us—not into defenders of text, but into people of truth.

If You’re a Pastor or Preacher

You do not have to lie to your people.

You don’t have to defend genocide texts as “just.”You don’t have to perform certainty you no longer feel.You don’t have to sell Scripture as a perfect record when it’s clearly not one.

You can preach honestly.You can say: “This is a story about what ancient people thought God wanted. And we still have work to do.”You can say: “Not everything in the Bible is Christlike—but everything in the Bible is worth wrestling.”

You’re not the Bible’s bouncer. You’re its interpreter. And if Jesus is the lens, some parts get blurry for a reason.

If You’re a Seeker, Deconstructing, or Trying to Heal

You don’t need to prove your faith to anyone.

You don’t need to keep pretending you’re “fine” with Leviticus.You don’t need to memorize Greek to be holy.You don’t need to swallow texts that feel like spiritual splinters.

You can read what resonates.You can skip what harms.You can say, “This part is sacred,” and “This part is violence dressed in verse.”

That’s not cherry-picking. That’s discernment. That’s what grown-up faith looks like.

If You’re a Counselor, Coach, or Theologian

Your job isn’t to rescue the text.Your job is to rescue the person from harm done by the text.

When someone says, “I can’t read the Bible anymore,” don’t correct them. Don’t quote Romans. Just stay with them. Ask better questions.

• “What’s still holy to you?”

• “What stories do you carry?”

• “Where do you hear God now?”

Let them find sacred ground again—on their terms.

A Word for the Disabled, the Scarred, the Angry

If you’ve been told your disability is a punishment, a burden, or a lesson—you’ve been lied to.

If you’ve been told God only shows up in healing stories—you’ve been erased.

You don’t need to walk to be faithful.You don’t need to be “fixed” to be free.You don’t need to perform wellness to be worthy.

You are not a test case for someone else’s miracle fantasy.

You are a living icon of resilience.Your pain is not a moral failure.Your body is not a theological problem.

God is already present in you.And if someone can’t see that, they’re the ones in need of healing.

PART 8: A Final Word — Go in Peace, Not in Pieces

You made it here. That matters.

You’ve questioned.You’ve unlearned.You’ve stayed open.

You didn’t lose faith.You lost a system.And that system needed to go.

So now you can begin again.Not from scratch, but from soul.

What to Take With You

• You don’t have to be “biblical” to be beloved.

• The Bible is not the fourth member of the Trinity.

• You can call Scripture sacred without calling it perfect.

• You can be faithful and furious.

• You can say: “I still believe”—and define what that means on your terms.

A Blessing for the Ones Who Stayed

May your questions become your prayers.May your fear become your fuel.May your grief become your guide.May your soul find space to breathe again.

May you trust what your heart already knows:That the Bible is not a rulebook.It’s not a museum.It’s not a leash.

It’s a chorus of people saying:“We tried to find God.We failed.We tried again.And sometimes, we were found.”

That story still lives. And now it lives in you.

Works Cited

1. Origen. On First Principles. Translated by G.W. Butterworth, Harper & Row, 1966.

2. Gregory of Nyssa. The Life of Moses. Translated by Abraham J. Malherbe and Everett Ferguson, Paulist Press, 1978.

3. Vatican II. Dei Verbum: Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, 1965.

4. Smit, Peter-Ben. Old Catholic Theology: An Introduction. Brill, 2019.

5. Helminiak, Daniel A. What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality. Alamo Square Press, 2000.

6. Martin, Ed. “1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture.” The Forge Conference, 2017.

7. Gushee, David P. Changing Our Mind. Read the Spirit Books, 2014.

8. Vines, Matthew. God and the Gay Christian: The Biblical Case in Support of Same-Sex Relationships. Convergent Books, 2014.