Roland

What I'm looking for here are events in the Bible that, in the way they are portrayed, reveal that they are almost surely the product of an author's invention, since there is likely no way anyone writing them down could have known about them. The classic example is probably Jesus' time alone in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he is praying and we are told that all the potential eyewitnesses (i.e. the disciples) have fallen asleep.

Another one that seems highly unlikely to me is King Herod's discussions with the magi from the east. From whom would the writer of Matthew have gleaned such information seventy or eighty years after the fact? I guess the wise men could have told Mary and Joseph what had transpired and it was they who passed down the details, so maybe that isn't a rock-solid example.

Anyone have any others? Thanks.

Amaleq13

Judas' discussions with the Jewish leaders about betraying Jesus?

Chili

They are metaphysical events that need to be expressed in a physical way so they are unbelievable enough for us to look for a deeper meaning.

Gethsemane is no different than shepherds herding sheep in the middle of the night but it is these same shepherds now reformed that fall asleep and will be raised on account of that so reason can prevail in heaven as well.

Chili

I like Peter putting on his cloak of faith and diving headfirst into the celestial sea for some good stuff.

A Stable Flux

The story of 'Jesus and the woman taken in adultery' was added later to The Gospel of John and is fictional. This is admitted in in the NIV Bible with the statement "The earliest and most reliable manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53-8:11" before the passage. Wikipedia, which I've lately realised is perhaps the most backward-thinking website for knowledge about the Bible, admits there is significant evidence for the passage being inauthentic. The story is stated by nearly all scholars to be an inauthentic redaction inserted much later than the 1st or 2nd century.

Solo

Like an early morning panic attack construed as a sea-tempest, which stills with an arrival of a stream of reassuring thoughts (Mark 6:47-51). These rapid changes between persecutory psychosis and euphoric buoyancy are known as "mixed states" among contemporary psychiatrists dealing with the spirit. Mark transparently allegorizes a this type of event as a story of divine "on-spot" intervention using :

Gen 1:2 : ....darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Job 9:8 : He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.

Ex 20:20 : ...“Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”

Isa 43:2 When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you.

Isa 43:11-12 I, am the Lord , and apart from me there is no savior. I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.

Jiri

Doug Shaver

Anybody who was a participant in any event could have told somebody about it afterward, and that person could have told someone else, and so on until the story got to the author of whatever book the story appears in.

Not saying that I think it actually happened in every case, but in principle it could have.

The only instance in which I think it's a reach would be Jesus' Gethsemane prayer. Unless we accept the resurrection as factual, it's hard to see where he would have had the opportunity to tell anyone what he said on that occasion.

Clivedurdle

Exodus and conquest of Canaan.

Chili

It was early enough in Mark to be that way but I do not believe it to be an intervention because funny things happen in Galilee for it to be entertainment for those in heaven.

Malachi151

See my article here: http://www.rationalrevolution.net/ar...ospel_mark.htm

I argue for everything being a fictional invention, but provide specific arguments for basically every line in the Gospel. There are very good criteria that can be used to argue for fiction, as you will see.