In regards to the Old Testament stories

[Vireshonosfides]

How do Christians reconcile some of the stories of the Old Testament with what we currently know through archeology amd history?
Adam and Eve
Noah and the Flood
The walls of Jericho
Jonah
Etc…

A little background…
I was born protestant and raised in a very fundamentalist household (i.e growing up believing that all thosr stories were 100% true) however as i got older and started researching its amazing to see how little evidence there is for any of these events. For example, had there been a global flood, we would expect to see a break in the Egyptian linage…obviously there’s no evidence that all of Egypt suddenly died. There’s no evidence that Moses existed or that there was a mass migration of Egyptian slaves. I haven’t seen anything on Joshua’s military conquests in Palestine. There’s a lot more but i really don’t want to ramble. I try to serve God to the bbest I know how. Lately though between the issues listed above and the issue of divine hiddeness, I’m just started to have serious doubts.

So long story short, are these stories to be taken literally or allegorically?

 

[BartholomewB]

You ask how “Christians” do that. The only simple answer is that different Christians do it in different ways. You know from your own family background how Fundamentalists do it. In the Catholic Church there are many parts of the Old Testament that are held to be strictly historical, or something very close to that, such as the accounts of the kings of Judah and Israel found primarily in the two books of Samuel, the two books of Kings, and the two books of Chronicles. That doesn’t apply so much to the earlier books, particularly Chapters 1 through 11 of Genesis, nor to some of the prophets such as Ezekiel and Daniel. In these cases each reader is free to make up his own mind.

 

[De_Maria]

How do Christians reconcile some of the stories of the Old Testament with what we currently know through archeology amd history?

We don’t know as much as we think we know from archaeology and history.

Adam and Eve
Noah and the Flood
The walls of Jericho
Jonah
Etc…

What about those?

A little background…
I was born protestant and raised in a very fundamentalist household (i.e growing up believing that all thosr stories were 100% true)

They are 100% true. They are not necessarily, literally true. Big difference. In many instances, they allegorical or summaries or other literary forms which use devices to explain the truth.

107 The inspired books teach the truth. "Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confided to the Sacred Scriptures."72

however as i got older and started researching its amazing to see how little evidence there is for any of these events. For example, had there been a global flood, we would expect to see a break in the Egyptian linage…obviously there’s no evidence that all of Egypt suddenly died.

The Flood occured long before Egypt ever was born.

There’s no evidence that Moses existed or that there was a mass migration of Egyptian slaves.

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

I haven’t seen anything on Joshua’s military conquests in Palestine. There’s a lot more but i really don’t want to ramble. I try to serve God to the bbest I know how. Lately though between the issues listed above and the issue of divine hiddeness, I’m just started to have serious doubts.

Prayer is the answer. The other answer is to become Catholic. The Catholic Church explains Scripture better than any other Christian denomination because the Catholic Church was established by Jesus Christ for the purpose of passing on the Word of God to all generations.

113 2. Read the Scripture within “the living Tradition of the whole Church”. According to a saying of the Fathers, Sacred Scripture is written principally in the Church’s heart rather than in documents and records, for the Church carries in her Tradition the living memorial of God’s Word, and it is the Holy Spirit who gives her the spiritual interpretation of the Scripture (". . . according to the spiritual meaning which the Spirit grants to the Church"81).

So long story short, are these stories to be taken literally or allegorically?

It depends. Let’s take them one by one.

115 According to an ancient tradition, one can distinguish between two senses of Scripture: the literal and the spiritual, the latter being subdivided into the allegorical, moral and anagogical senses. The profound concordance of the four senses guarantees all its richness to the living reading of Scripture in the Church.

 

[Pattylt]

long story short, are these stories to be taken literally or allegorically?

I’m not Catholic and so my answers aren’t Catholic.
Fist I would ask…does it matter? Is there truth to be found in the stories even if they didn’t happen as told or were exaggerated or changed over time?
Second, I do believe the Church allows you to determine for yourself whether you take them as literal or allegorical.

Either way, they are deep, meaningful stories with a message. If you believe in God then all of them could have happened literally and if you believe in God, they could be there to help you learn and understand the message God wants you to learn…my 2¢.

 

[GiftofMercy]

Catholics are free to take the first Chapters of the Bible as real or not. As far as archaeological evidence for anything,

Archaeology deals with the remains of human existence. And we are finding new things all the time.
So when an artifact is found , we will say, if it is, it is the oldest example we have for king David ( for example) at this point.

Archaeology is not Biblically focussed, it was originially , in the Holy Land, but has become more broadly expanded to include experts of all different fields. It was begun by ministers or those associated with religion. Eventually they realised that having people at the dig with expertise in many fields was a more scientifically correct way to determine what was going on at digs.

 

[Dan_Defender]

For example, had there been a global flood, we would expect to see a break in the Egyptian linage

The flood predates the Egyptian civilization.
The regional vs global flood is a big debate. Knowing which one is true is not crucial to our faith.