Reply #4: How could we ever know?

[LearnedHand]

Most stories in christian writings began as oral stories; "truth" in oral cultures doesn't EVEN resemble "truth" in literate (i.e., having writing) cultures. The stories oral cultures told, even if the stories were based on "true" events, bore much more weight than simply the recitation of facts. They had to inform and teach; they had to weave a rhythmic pattern of sounds so many generations could remember the stories and pass them down; and they had to carry the important moral lessons to teach younger people.

Confession: I am particularly biased against christian stories, and the whole protestant/catholic ball of wax is completely, forever contaminated, as far as I'm concerned. Nevertheless, given that most biblical stories were handed down for multiple generations, given that what we now read are translations of translated translations of oral stories, it's hard to imagine that any of them could literally have happened.

Some stories are very beautiful, and I'd like to believe some are true. I suppose it's a bit easier for me to take some of the NT accounts of Jesus' life as approaching historical "truth," but even there, I can't be sure.