Let’s See . . . Was It . . .

Scripture References: Judges 10:17, 11:13-27; John 8:40

When William the Conqueror came ashore at Pevensey in England, he slipped and fell forward to the ground. A bad omen, his men thought. But not to worry. William arose and grandly declared, “By God’s splendor, I have seized the soil of England in both my hands.” As David Howarth pointed out, however, this was a perennial story retold by historians: in Caesar’s landing in Africa nine hundred years before and in King Edward’s landing in Normandy three hundred years later.

Christians should stir uneasily when they hear legend and Bible in the same sentence. However harmless or entertaining the word legend may be, it has nothing in common with the Bible. Legend is unverified possibilities; the Bible is verified truth in its history, prophecy, internal unity, subject matter, continuity of existence, and accuracy in related disciplines. Legend is universal: “once upon a time”; the Bible is particularized history, giving dates, names, events, nations, rulers, and geographical references. Legend builds a story or belief on a fragment of the hypothetical; the Bible begins with the eternal, sovereign, almighty God. Legend tolerates all beliefs, however fanciful, as equally true; the Bible, as uncompromising truth tolerates nothing else.

Courtesy of Speaker’s Sourcebook of New Illustrations by Virgil Hurley © 1995 by Word, Incorporated.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
Used by permission. All rights reserved.