Tenth question

Biblical events: do we really have to believe them exactly as written?

“The universe made in six days?” “Wasn't the war in Canaan a massacre?” “Wasn't the resurrection a mass hallucination?” Let's take them event by event.

You do not have to read every event in the Bible as though it were a modern news report, and you cannot turn all of it into symbol just because it makes you uncomfortable. We will look at these separately: what the text says, the literary form it uses to say it, and what the Church actually professes.

A watercolor of little lambs talking over their questions in a field of blue flowers

First, a few promises

  • We do not cover the hard scenes with pretty words or make the victims' suffering smaller than it is.
  • We ask both “did it actually happen?” and “what is the text teaching?” without collapsing the two into one question.
  • We do not use ancient texts about war and judgment as commands that permit violence, hatred, or abuse today.
  • Where the Church has not settled on a single answer about history, science, or genre, we say honestly that it has not.

Today in one line Believing the Bible does not mean reading every scene as a photograph; it means meeting the events of salvation honestly, with an eye on genre, on history, and on the faith of the Church.

Ask like this when an argument about a biblical event starts

  1. Read the text together first. Check the surrounding context instead of relying on an internet meme or your memory.
  2. Tell the event apart from the way it is expressed. Ask both “what happened?” and “in what genre is the author professing what?”
  3. Check what the Church has actually settled. Do not present a personal interpretation as doctrine.
  4. Read standing beside the most vulnerable person. Do not use texts about war and abuse to silence victims.
  5. Look for the completion in Christ. The center of the Bible is Jesus, who gave himself and rose, not violence that kills.

A 30-second answer “The events in the Bible were not all written in the same genre. The ancient symbolism of Genesis, the history of the kings, and the testimony of the Gospels each have to be read in the way that fits them. The Church clearly professes real faith in creation, the Incarnation, the miracles of Jesus, and his death and bodily resurrection, and there are also questions it has not settled, such as the length of the six days or the water level of the flood. We do not hide the difficult violence; we read it in the light of Christ, who gave himself.”

A note for parents and catechists

  • Do not shut a child's question down as irreverent; listen first for what feels frightening or unfair to them.
  • Avoid the two extremes of “it is all a metaphor” and “if you do not believe it literally you have no faith.”
  • With scenes of violence and abuse, see to the victim's safety and support before the offender's repentance.
  • On historical and archaeological questions, use research with published sources and approved commentaries rather than unverified videos.
  • Help them distinguish what the Church actually professes, such as the virginal conception and the resurrection, from the questions where the details of genre are left open.

Read more in the official sources

This material is a catechetical aid for starting a conversation with children and young people. If a biblical event is used as an excuse to pressure you into violence, hatred, refusing treatment, secrecy, or absolute obedience, do not try to handle it alone — ask a guardian, a pastor you trust, and your local authorities for help.