Is the biblical account mythology or historical fact? Although the author has countless scientific and historical elements at his disposal that would allow him to answer this question definitively and without any ambiguity, this article, which is intended to be brief as it is intended for publication on social media, will not answer the question at hand because the author’s goal here is to bring to the attention of fanatical followers of the biblical narrative the following fact: The Bible cannot be both mythological and historical at your convenience; you must choose one or the other. But beware, your choice has consequences on the perception of your religion, its holy book, and its god. Thus, a wrong choice will make your god a sadist and a fabulist, the opposite of what he is supposed to be, your holy book a dangerous manual that should be kept out of reach for the well-being of humanity, and your religion a worldview that only brainless individuals are capable of adhering to. The following lines are therefore intended to prevent you from involuntarily presenting your god, the author of your holy book, as a being devoid of common sense.
This article was inspired by my discussions with followers of Abrahamic religions, whether Judaism, Christianity, or even Islam. When you recount a disturbing event from the Bible or the Quran, Sunday or Friday worshippers counter with the following arguments: ”You have misinterpreted the word of God”; ”you cannot understand the word of God because you are not spiritual.”
If the Bible is supposed to be a historical account, i.e., factual, as Sunday worshippers claim, then there cannot be multiple interpretations, nor is spiritual knowledge needed to interpret it. A historical or factual account is a narration of events that took place. Ruben UM Nyobe was assassinated in 1958; this is a historical fact because it happened, so there can be no debate questioning his death. He was assassinated by the French colonial power. Not only can the origin and assassination of UM Nyobe not be subject to interpretation, but we also do not need spiritual knowledge to talk about the death of Um Nyobe.
When Sunday worshippers tell us that we do not have the correct interpretation of the biblical narrative, or even that we do not have the spiritual knowledge necessary to understand it, this is an involuntary admission of the mythological nature of the biblical narrative, removing it from historical narrative. In plain English, saying that we do not have the correct understanding of the Bible is also saying that the events described in the Bible did not take place, that it is simply mythology, which is why we do not have the same interpretation.
Mythology is characterized by a multiplicity of interpretations, while a historical fact is subject to a single interpretation. Once we no longer have the same interpretation of a story, it is no longer factual but mythological.
The Basaa have a saying that goes, “Knowledge of the universe is hidden in tales and myths.” This Basaa wisdom is of paramount importance in the search for the truth. The Basaa do not say that ancestral knowledge is hidden in historical facts, but rather that the truth is hidden in mythology, that is, in events that did not take place. That being said, the Basaa have another piece of wisdom that says, “Only the author of a myth can explain it.” That is to say, only the author of a myth understands his myth; only he knows what his myth is all about. Mythology therefore opens the door to various interpretations, but none of these interpretations is an absolute truth, because only the author of the myth has absolute knowledge of his myth. Since the author of the myth is the only one who knows his myth, he cannot be called a fabulist, an impostor, or anything else, because in order to call him a fabulist, we must know with certainty what he is talking about. Having only one interpretation of his myth, the author is spared from criticism. He remains the supreme god of his myth, unknowable and mysterious. He is GOD, the unknown.
When the Basaa ancestors tell us that a spider covered the entrance to the sacred Ngok Lituba cave in order to protect them from their pursuers from Egypt. Only the ancestors know what they meant by this mythology; we, their descendants, can only interpret it. We cannot therefore accuse our ancestors of lying, because the spider that protected them from their pursuers is a myth. Unlike God and the Basaa ancestors, who are protected by mythology, the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) strip their gods naked and throw them to the wrath of the people, insisting that the stories in their holy scriptures are historical facts and not mythology. History catches up with fabulists because history is also a scientific process.
Even when you remind religious people that the Bible says in the Book of Galatians (Galatians 4:21-31) that biblical prophets such as Abraham never existed and that they are simply allegories, they will go against their own holy book by telling you that you have the wrong interpretation of what is written in black and white, insisting that the biblical account is historical. Their insistence on clinging to death to the idea that the biblical narrative is historical actually discredits the Bible by highlighting the contradictions, absurdities, incongruities, savagery, immorality, atrocities, violence, and other elements that make this holy book a dangerous manual that should be kept out of reach for the well-being of humanity. But if they were to admit that their holy book is mythological, then the absurdities, incongruities, savagery, immorality, atrocities, and violence present in this book would no longer be relevant.
The reason why Abrahamic religions insist on the historicity of their holy books is simply to hide the Egyptian Basaa origins of their religion. In fact, these are peoples who have no history of their own, nor even a civilization; they have always been usurpers, their history characterized by plagiarism and counterfeiting. We even taught them how to bury their dead and dig toilets.
In one of my books entitled BITÉK: HE FROM WHOM DEATH RAN, it is written:
But tradition is not only mere history but also energy, that is, the ability to put to action the capacity to create and destroy. Therefore, tradition is energetic history, one that can create and destroy. So, such a history must be coded before being transmitted to the public. Tales are the coding of that energy, and myths are the encryption algorithm, the code of access to that energy—the supreme truth—to tradition. Nri, sacrificing his two children to receive yam from Chukwu is just a story that never happened; it is a myth that veils the secret of tradition, life and the universe. The Igbo people believe in the story of yam, and we, the people of Ngok Lituba, hold the story of the spider. These stories are only tales, not facts. They are myths that openly convey the secrets of the universe and the ultimate truth to the wise while hiding it from the unwise. Thus, the myth is the barrier that separates the known from the unknown, the finite from the infinite, the temporal from the eternity, ignorance from knowledge and life from death. The myth itself is tradition. It is the universe, its big secret and the energy that created everything without being made. To keep secret the energy that creates and destroys, ancestors created myths. Through these myths, ancestors preserved and transmitted creative and destructive energy to the sages without putting it at the disposal of the bad ones. Thus, to the unwise, myth is a mere fact, but to the sage, it is a tale that veils the secret of tradition, life and the universe.
From the above understanding of mythology, it would be better for Jews, Christians, and Muslims to admit that the stories in their holy books are mythological rather than historical, as this is the only way to protect their gods and religions from the absurdities, inconsistencies, violence, immorality, and atrocities mentioned in their books, which are supposed to be holy scriptures.
Massocki Ma Massocki.
Massocki is Mbombog (guardian of tradition), heir and successor to his great-grandfather Mbombog Djami Som. He is also the author of three books, all published by Pierced Rock Press.
www.massockimamassocki.com