While we're waiting for the release of the FISA abuse memo, which may come as soon as today,

so this seems like a good time to talk about the nature of truth. A last week, a few of you

dinged me for saying that I believe the Bible contains myths and legends as well as literal history.

To be clear, I believe the Bible was inspired by God and is the truest book we have about God,

but that doesn't mean that every word should be taken literally. In fact, it means the opposite.

Biblical literalism, the idea that every word in the Bible describes an actual event and is not

meant allegorically or metaphorically, is a more or less recent phenomenon in the Christian church.

Early church fathers like origin and St. Augustine rejected literalism, specifically citing the

creation story in Genesis as allegorical. The Catholic church has never adopted literalism.

It came into play in a big way around the 1700s, around the same time science was beginning to

bring some biblical stories into question. Maybe it was a way of responding to that of holding

the line against science or maybe it just followed from the Reformation idea that scripture is

the only source of theological truth, not the church. But it really sells the Bible short.

If every word in the Bible were literally true, it could never express the deepest truths of all.

The fact is there are different kinds of narratives designed to express different types of truths,

and the Bible contains all of them. For instance, if I tell you I saw fire on the way to work,

and I ran into the burning building and braved the flames to rescue two children,

that story better be literally true, or else every piece of information it's relaying to you is a lie.

It's trying to tell you I'm a hero, and I'm not a hero. But if I say once upon a time there were

three bears, or there was a man who had two sons, you don't ask me for the bears' address or the

names of the sons, because you know I'm trying to convey a kind of wisdom that historical stories

don't necessarily tell. A play like Hamlet is more truthful for being a piece of fiction,

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