Behind | Extra-biblical Parallels

The Bible has much in common with the literature of the ancient world. It shares similar forms and themes in its narratives, laws, poetry, proverbs and prophecy. This similarity does not require the honest student to dismiss the Bible’s uniqueness, as is often the case in mainstream academia. Rather, it calls for further reflection. Here are some ways that scholars who respect the Bible as God’s Word have made sense of the commonality/uniqueness issue. Keep in mind that these are not mutually exclusive.

1. Common sources. The Bible doesn’t claim to be the only source for history but rather the inspired one. The Flood, for example, is a widely attested story from the earliest times, and many of the elements in these stories are similar. The number and diversity may be best explained by an ancient common source—the event itself—which led to many retellings both oral and written. In many cases, external historical records can be compared with biblical accounts not only to round out the evidence for what happened, but also to catch a sense of perspective. This is true as much for the historical books of the Old Testament as for the Gospels and Acts in the New Testament. 

2. Common grace. This theological concept (often called general revelation) assumes that God’s light shines in all cultures (Rom 1:16ff). Because extra-biblical parallels are often not about events but rather about themes and topics, we will inevitably find good content that resonates with what’s in the Bible. For example, Solomon culled through a lot of sayings in his time to put together the inspired collection, the book of Proverbs in our Bible. Paul’s evangelistic speech in Athens (Acts 17) assumes that the Athenians had some sense of the truth, including both their philosophers and poets. 

3. Common language. This idea gets at God’s intent to communicate with people clearly in their cultural context. Things that may seem strange to us were often quite familiar to our biblical ancestors and common in their world. For example, God used the idioms of covenant making to communicate through Moses to Israel. Jesus spoke in parables just as His rabbinic contemporaries did. Paul’s letters followed the formal patterns of Roman rhetoric and epistle writing in the first century. Even more literally, the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek were chosen by God to be vehicles of His revelation—not because they fell miraculously from heaven but because they were common and intelligible to people of the time. 

4. Divine ownership. These are some occasions when God seems to be reclaiming cultural institutions that are captive to pagan values. The temple is a prime example in that its structures are not unique, but the divinity worshiped is. The holy days were, at least in their agricultural aspects, similar to those of Israel’s neighbors. Even God’s names are, with the exception of YHWH, names used for other deities, and “Lord” (used in both testaments) is a generic designation that can even include human rulers. Divine ownership moves beyond communication to redemption: God intends to bring every religious impulse and institution back into captivity to His reign.