One problem I realized I had when I was a Christian was that I had an unbalanced amount of trust for the authors of the Bible. How is it that we can so easily disregard all other fantastic stories made by ancient men, but then give undue amounts of trust to the authors of the canonized books? For me, this narrow view was a result of being taught from a young age to have faith in the Bible. Used in this way, faith becomes a tool to warp our minds into thinking that one thing is more true than another. If we are going to be fair we need to apply the same amount of skepticism to all miraculous claims.
Here are some examples of claims made by men a long time ago:
1. Jewish historian Josephus (65-70 CE) made the following claims: "A cow gave birth to a lamb inside the temple.", "A star resembling a sword stood over the city of Jerusalem", "Chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding the cities." - History of the Wars 6.5.3.
2. Monopods (one-legged jumping humans) are claimed to be seen in ancient India. It is attested from several sources: Ctesias, Pliny the Elder and Philostratus. Even St. Augustine mentions them in The City of God, Book 16, chapter 8 entitled, "Whether Certain Monstrous Races of Men Are Derived From the Stock of Adam or Noah's Sons."
3. In the apocryphal book of Tobit (250-175 BCE) the author claims that an angel by the name of Raphael is able to cure blindness and cast out demons. The book is just like a lot of canonical books and contains a genealogy for Tobit and references to historical cities and rulers.
4. Papias (95-120 CE) writes about the disciple Judas living on after "almost" being hanged. He claims that Judas became very fat with sunken eyes and a bloated head. Worst of all, when Judas went to relieve himself worms and pus would come out.
5. Honi ha-Ma'agel, a Jewish scholar from the 1st century BCE, was famous for his ability to successfully pray for rain and was known as Honi the Circle-drawer.
When you hear these claims what is your reaction? Doubtful? Skeptical? Good. You should give the same reaction when you hear ANY incredible claim of this sort... including those found in the Bible.
