When we talk about whether or not the Scriptures are true, we’re talking about a number of different things that may or not be assumed. With all of it’s different authors, contexts, genres, and cultural influences, the Bible is deeply complex and an assessment of it as a whole becomes very difficult. This is a difficulty that we aren’t meant to easily dismiss (the compilers of the text preserved contradictions and inaccuracies while also claiming supernatural influence and value). However, this question can be made a little easier by interrogating a work that — at first glance — might seem very different: the Chernobyl miniseries produced by HBO.
Is Chernobyl True?
The series had some of the most carefully reconstructed details from period-accurate costumes and set dressing to even using license plate numbers accurate to Kyiv at the time. It gave accurate descriptions of material science, the functioning of the plant, and even many of the processes and procedures of the time. However, it did occasionally exaggerate or imply greater danger from secondary radiation than might have actually been expected at the time. It also portrayed Legasov as being more of an “everyman” with a dingy apartment than a respected scientist of his status would have actually been. (Also, at a few points, it portrays Soviet soldiers holding their weapons in a western style… ridiculous!)
They also famously combined the portrayal of several real scientists into one fictional character: Olana Khomyuk. They also have the scientists “discover” what had gone wrong when many of them would not have had to do so: there were voices within Soviet science that had been warning of just such an accident.
Some have also said that the portrayals of the scientists were slightly exaggerated to be more heroic while officials were portrayed overly negatively. Specifically, the officials were probably much less directly threatening, though their negligence and lack of concern are probably on point.
Overall, a great deal of research was done into the motivations and later reflections from people actually involved in the original event. But at the end of the day, these are actors who are interpreting the script and background and then using their own emotions and thought patterns to express what they think the character is doing. Though they are taking great pains to be true to the event, they are doing so for the purpose of telling a story.
The bonus question: do you think you saw the same program that everyone else did?
Did you pay attention to everything equally?
Did you feel the emotions you were “supposed to” feel?
Did their “Sovietness” make them more or less relatable and honorable to you?
Did you catch all the little references and easter eggs you were “supposed to”?
Chernobyl is regarded by many to be one of the best works of historically-based entertainment in the modern era, and has been praised by many of it’s accuracy and attention to detail, but it was not designed to be a documentary: it is specifically called a historical drama. We (at least, most of us) are thankful that they combined a team of scientists into one character so that we could develop more of a connection with her and empathize with her experience instead of hearing a cacophony of voices she was designed to represent. We’re not here to take notes, but to internalize a narrative, and the deeper we can connect with a character the more likely we are to care about what’s happening to them.
We’re glad they “discovered” what went wrong on screen instead of saying, “we knew this could happen and it looks like it did”. It allows us to have a sense of some of the science and to feel the appropriate shock and horror at each error as they “discover” it’s cause and effect.
We appreciate that we focus on particular characters who become for us a “type” of the heroism and tragedy that countless other emergency responders and technicians also operated with.
We appreciate that certain details were skipped, others were explained through a meeting or a line of dialogue and still others were shown in graphic, zoomed-in, slow-motion detail. A static camera showing a wide shot of the plant helps us see the scale of the damage, but the close up of those men wading through the water makes us feel the hopelessness. They chose the right lens for the right shot and it sticks with us.
Whether or not the Chernobyl miniseries is the most accurate depiction of the disaster, it is the way that we will remember it; the way we’ll continue to feel it. Even though we may know what Valery Legasov really looked like, we still subconsciously see Jared Harris.
Chernobyl wasn’t made to replace CCTV footage of the event, it was made for us to feel the event as if we had actually been there and to leave an impression on us, consciously and subconsciously, that we wouldn’t quickly forget.
In this way, the Scriptures that make up the Bible are not very different at all. The Scriptures collect stories that had been preserved for generations of oral tradition and had been converted and edited into poetry for ease of memorization. The Scriptures look back on significant historical events with the benefit of hindsight and focus in on the aspects that mean the most now and have made the biggest impact since they happened. The Scriptures preserve important parables and legends that inform our “type detectors” and then make later references to those symbols to play into — or against — type. The Scriptures preserve contradictions and corrections to demonstrate to us the way our teachers have wrestled with the content and invite us to be humble and to do the same.
They do all of this because they have a clear intention: to give us a sense of identity, to help us understand the patterns of our history and the ways we make meaning out of life, and to invite us into the ongoing work of doing so.
So what does divine inspiration mean in the context of all this creative meaning-making and wrestling?
To me, it means everything.
To me, divine inspiration means that God isn’t afraid of the messy businesses of memory, meaning-making, or storytelling. In fact, it means that if I’m paying attention, I’ll hear the voice of God in the songs and stories preserved around campfires for generations. It means I’ll see the heart of God in the crafting of creative stories and literary structures that deepen and enrich my understanding every new time I read though them. It means I’ll encounter the patience and persistence of God as I witness the corrections and clarifications of the prophets and the scribes preserved over thousands of years. It means, also, that great power — and therefore great responsibility — is being given to me every time I open the Scriptures and attempt to interpret their meaning.
In short, it means that the divine inspiration of the Scriptures is the exact opposite of the cold, sterile, and prideful certainty that so many unfortunately make it to be. Rather, the divine inspiration of the Scriptures means that God is near and alive and humble enough to work WITH humanity.
It means that even with my fault and flaws and inability to perceive the world with perfect clarity, I could still be something that God could work with, that God could illumine, and that at any moment I might get a little flash of insight into the way things really are. It wouldn’t be “perfect” but it wouldn’t have to be, it just has to be true enough to keep me moving towards the Light.
I could go on and on about some of the amazing aspects of Scripture and the ways that it has been shown to be surprisingly accurate compared to other Ancient Near East literature, but that’s not really the point. When we’re asking about whether Scripture is true, most of us aren’t interested in locating a dig site or identifying the age of a burial mound. Instead, we are interested in whether the Scriptures are a trustworthy source of information about God and whether they can serve as a way to engage with God.
That’s actually why I love looking at how the Scriptures came to be, it’s not just the stories IN the Scriptures that communicate how God works with people, but the story OF Scripture itself demonstrates how God works with people.
On a simple level, some of the stories are more and less helpful for understanding God and discovering truth about how to be more human. However, when we put them all together and use them the way they were designed, they become a never-ending source of wisdom and insight.