One of the most interesting reasons why I believe we can trust the Bible concerns the inclusion, within its own pages, of embarrassing details, not only of the heroes of the faith, but of the biblical writers, and of even Jesus Himself. I don’t know about you but if I were writing a story that I wanted people to believe was the truth I would not make my chief characters look dim-witted, uncaring, doubters, and cowards. But when we read the Bible, that’s exactly what we find. No, our natural tendency is to exclude embarrassing details about ourselves and put in a glowing narrative about our accomplishments.
Whenever historians examine historical documents one of the formal principles they use to help determine the truthfulness of these documents is called “the principle of embarrassment.” This principle, which we all instinctively know, basically says that the inclusion of details embarrassing to an author are probably true. We just don’t make up and share embarrassing details about ourselves – it’s human nature. To put it another way, historically speaking, embarrassing details add veracity to a historical claim. Let’s look at several examples to show you what I mean.
The Resurrection
The fact that women were the first witnesses to the resurrection. All the Gospels note that the first individuals to discover the tomb empty were women. Women were not held in high esteem. In Greco-Roman culture, a woman’s testimony was not admissible in court. In Jewish circles, it took the testimony of two women to equate that of one man. If one were to invent a story, the last people one would place as the first witnesses would have been women, unless it were otherwise true. Also, Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin (the same Sanhedrin that executed Jesus) had to give Jesus a proper burial. Finally, the fact that the disciples were fearful and fled, all serve as embarrassing factors for the resurrection account.
Moses
Charlie Campbell shares these fascinating insights: “Moses’s murder of a man in Egypt (Exodus 2:11-12), his outburst of anger in the wilderness, how he misrepresented God and as a result wasn’t allowed to enter into the Promised Land (Numbers 20:10-12). Who wrote the books of Exodus and Numbers where these failures are explained? Moses. He tells us about his failures and sins in his own writings. These sound like the words of someone who was committed to communicating the truth.”1
The nation of Israel
Again, we turn to Charlie Campbell: “The nation of Israel rejecting God on numerous occasions to worship other false gods (e.g., the Book of Judges). What nation did God use to write down the Scriptures? Israel (the Jews). Is this the kind of thing they would make up about themselves? How unfaithful they were to the very God who saved them from their slavery in Egypt? I don’t think so.”2
Noah, Abraham, David
The Bible tells us when Noah got drunk. We read about the two times that Abraham lied about Sarah being his sister. And then we read about David’s affair with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband Uriah.
Peter
We could list at least a dozen embarrassing details about Peter. The following are just a few. There was the time Jesus called Peter, Satan. Then there was the time Peter denied he knew Jesus three times. And don’t forget the time he, along with the other disciples, fell asleep when Jesus asked them to pray.
Jesus
And while the New Testament portrays Jesus as the wisest, most compassionate, and godly person who ever lived, it also records many embarrassing details that don’t always depict Him as the perfect God-man that He is. For example, he is considered “out of his mind” by his mother and brothers. He is not believed by his own brothers. He is thought to be a deceiver. He is deserted by many of his followers. In addition, he is called a “drunkard,” “demon-possessed,” and a “madman.” Finally, Jesus suffers the humiliating death on a cross by the Jews and the Romans.3
With all of these embarrassing details we have another argument that lends credence to the fact that the Bible is more interested in telling the truth than making its central characters look good. The reality is that no one makes up a lie to make themselves look bad. Just who would make up embarrassing details about themselves – no one!
1 10 Reasons You Can Trust the Bible | Archaeology, Prophecies + more! (alwaysbeready.com)
2 10 Reasons You Can Trust the Bible | Archaeology, Prophecies + more! (alwaysbeready.com)
3 Norman L. Geisler and Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2004), pp. 277-278.