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Originally Posted by Evangelical

Anything that records the past is a historical record.

But was it actual history?

Originally Posted by ZNP

In other words, the Bible has memory. The bible was not a historical record for those who recorded events at the time they happened.

Genesis was written and edited over a span of hundreds of years, beginning circa 1000BCE. None of the authors or editors were there for the creation, obviously. They were not recording events as they happened. The same could be said of Noah. None of the scribes were there. The stories come down from the oral tradition. And we all know what happens to oral traditions by playing the Telephone Game. The oral tradition was picked up and polished and improved upon over generations.

So to say, "The bible was not a historical record for those who recorded events at the time they happened," is to be mistakenly looking at it like there were reporters on hand, recording it as it happened. And that's not rational, nor realistic.

And what about any historical record of the great thinkers, like Socrates and Plato, et al? Oh darn. It keeps skipping my mind. The Bible is Jewish history, mixed with legend.