I believe the most
venerable and most frequently attacked Old Testament narratives in Genesis are
genuinely historical. One reason: the moral lessons they contain are rarely driven home with a four-by-four to the reader’s noggin. I find that sort of authorial restraint persuasive. It’s what you do when you’re telling the truth rather than concocting a storyline or building a case.
Stories have always had morals; that’s not a new thing. The three little pigs remind us hard work will
keep both you and your friends safe when the Big Bad Wolf comes knocking.
Chicken Little reminds us that if you squawk about everything, people
eventually stop paying attention. Good to know.
But history doesn’t come in such neat packages, does it?