Pete says: If you accept the nicene creed I should have thought you were accepting historical biblical data as fact.

Pete, the Bible is a document of faith, not history - although it is written in a historical context. It follows the style of presenting history that was used at the time the Bible was written, and much of it (including the creation and flood stories) is not intended to be historic at all. It does not follow modern practices, so it is important to understand the Bible within its own context, including the time when it was written. The Nicene Creed was written much later (325 AD is the usual date given, but the document evolved over a couple or three centuries). It was written in theological language, while the Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible) was written in the language of epic poetry - akin to Homer, but not as deliberately poetic.

Myth and fiction are terms that are often misunderstood. They are not false, and they would not be accepted if there were false. They use the methods of storytelling to tell the truth. Shakespeare wrote within a historical context. His work did not stray far from history, but he altered history here and there to make his point more effectively. The point of the Bible is not history or science - it's faith. It's meant to help people come to know got, not to know the science of the beginnings of earth and the beginnings of history.

-Joe-