Why the Bible Is Not a Fairy Tale
Some dismiss the Bible as ancient myth with no claim on modern life. Others own several copies and rarely open one. This article—drawn from Robert J. Cottle’s The Bible: True, Relevant or a Fairy Tale?—argues with humility that Scripture is neither fairy tale nor optional decoration. Truth is real; God has spoken; evidence and faith belong together.
What is it about the Bible?
The word Bible comes from roots meaning “books” and “the book.” It is a library and a unity—many authors over many centuries, one coherent witness. Almost everyone has heard of it. Some study every line. Some make it their ambition to discredit it. Others, who may never have held a copy, declare it pure fiction with zero relevance today.
Cottle’s project is not mainly to re-argue every technical debate about origins. His stated aims are simpler and searching: to show that the Bible is true and factual, to discuss what it is really about, and to ask whether it is relevant to our lives now.
The most published book is also among the least read
By any ordinary measure, the Bible’s reach is staggering: billions of copies printed across centuries; portions available in thousands of languages covering most of the world’s population; annual sales that repeatedly dwarf other titles; free distribution on a vast scale. Electronic apps alone number in the hundreds of millions of downloads.
Yet surveys Cottle cites paint a sobering picture: large shares of churchgoers rarely read Scripture; many never read it at all; biblical literacy in the wider culture is thin—people cannot name Genesis, confuse Easter, or treat the Bible as optional inspiration rather than the word of God. Gallup and other researchers have tracked a long decline in those who receive the Bible as God’s actual word, while a growing minority call it mere fable written by men.
Ownership without reading is a strange honour. Availability without authority is a hollow victory. If 2 Timothy 3:16 is true—“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”—then casual neglect is not a small problem. It is a crisis of discipleship.
Truth is not fluid
Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” (John 18:38). Modern culture often treats “truths” as personal constructions: if I have strong reasons for my view and you for yours, both are “true for us.” Cottle rejects that as warped reasoning. Truth is not created by debate skill. It is not malleable because a majority prefers it soft. Something is true or it is false.
Merely saying a thing does not make it so. Repeated lies can persuade crowds—as propaganda has always shown—but repetition is not verification. When humans claim the right to invent moral reality, we echo the old temptation: “you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). Creatures do not become the source of truth by feeling strongly.
If God has spoken in Scripture, then the proper response is not to remodel His word to fit the age, but to let the age be measured by His word.
Fairy tale—or demanding reality?
Fairy tales entertain. They do not usually claim to summon kings and commoners to repentance, record covenant history with Israel, announce a crucified and risen Messiah, and call the nations to obedience. The Bible’s genre mix includes narrative, law, poetry, prophecy, gospel, and letter—but its claim is divine speech that judges and saves.
Those who call it a fairy tale often mean: “I need not answer to it.” That is a moral decision as much as an intellectual one. Scripture itself says the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). A fairy tale does not cut the conscience like that.
Cottle’s wider book walks through evidence, prophecy, history, the writing and transmission of the text, alleged conflicts, knowledge, the real story of redemption, the God of the Bible, relevance today, and how to read. This article cannot replace that journey. It can invite it: do not dismiss what you have not honestly examined—and do not praise what you will not read.
Faith and evidence, not faith versus evidence
Christian faith is not a leap into empty air. It is trust in the God who acts in history and speaks in Scripture. Evidence—manuscripts, fulfilled prophecy, historical claims of the resurrection, the coherence of the story from creation to new creation—matters. So does the inward work of the Spirit who opens blind eyes.
Neither arrogance nor panic serves the seeker. Humble confidence does: open the text; ask hard questions; refuse both cynical dismissal and lazy slogans; submit what you learn to the lordship of Christ.
What to do this week
- Read a Gospel straight through (Mark is short) without commentary first.
- Pray Psalm 119:18—ask God to open your eyes to His law.
- Note one claim you once called “fairy tale” and test it against the actual text.
- Join a Bible-reading community that takes the word seriously, not as décor.
- Go deeper with Cottle’s full case in The Bible: True, Relevant or a Fairy Tale?