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INTRODUCTION TO
CHRISTIAN URBAN LEGENDS
Neat stories of events that
never happened
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Christian Urban Legends are stories of events that never
happened. They are generally created by a Christian as a fictional account because
they give concrete support to their beliefs.
Topics included in this essay:
Overview of urban legends in general:
The term "urban legend" has been used to refer to a type of
fictional rumor. These legends often have many of the following characteristics:
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the story is truly remarkable, convincing and startling. |
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it is described as a real event. |
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in reality, it never happened. |
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the person telling the legend does not know the individuals involved, but might say that
they know a person who knows them. |
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the story often includes some detailed information about the circumstances or
individuals involved in order to increase the legend's credibility. |
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the legend can spread rapidly and cover much of North America within days. |
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the story often resurfaces periodically. |
Some common urban legends have described:
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Alligators in the New York City sewer system. They were allegedly bought as pets when
they were very small and flushed down toilets when they grew too large. They allegedly
grew to full size in the sewers. |
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A U.S. couple, while on vacation in Mexico bought what was described as a Mexican
hairless puppy. They smuggled it back into the country. When it became ill, they took
it to a veterinarian, and were surprised to hear that it was not a dog; it was a sewer
rat. |
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Satanists kidnap about 50,000 infants and children per year, ritually
abuse them, kill them, and sometimes eat them. |
All are startling, many sound believable, but none ever happened.
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"Christian urban legends" (CUL) is a term used by the Institute
for Creation Research (ICR) on their "Science, Scripture &
Salvation" radio program for 1999-APR-17. 1 More
details. They use
it to refer to those urban legends which have a Christian theme. CULs are
similar to ordinary urban legends:
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the stories are unsubstantiated. |
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they do not come from authoritative sources. |
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they describe events that never happened. |
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etc. |
But they have one unique property: they tend to support some biblical passage or theme.
There are many themes and stories in the Bible for which no hard evidence has
ever been
found:
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If millions of Israelites lived in Egypt for centuries, one would expect some evidence
of their occupation to have been preserved in Egyptian writings. |
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If the Israelites camped for three decades in one spot, as described
in the Book of Exodus, one would expect that archaeologists might have
found evidence of their sojourn. |
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Other Christians might expect that there should be some evidence in the archaeological
record of Abraham, Moses, Joshua and other major Bible personalities mentioned in Genesis. |
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If Noah's ark landed on a mountain within a small mountain range there should be some
hard evidence of its remains; after all, it was the size of two football fields. |
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If Heaven is "up there" then there should be some astronomical evidence of its
existence. |
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If Hell is just under the earth, as described in the Hebrew Scriptures, then deep holes
drilled into the earth's crust should have produced some evidence of its
existence. |
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If dinosaurs and humans were created in one week circa 4004
BCE, then one might expect
some evidence in the fossil record of men and dinosaurs coexisting. |
ICR is concerned that sincere, well-meaning Christians may use CULs to prove the
accuracy of certain biblical passages and thus "win people to Christ."
The danger is that when the new Christian finds that the story was false, they might
conclude that other information that they had received was also unreliable. This might
destroy their new-found faith.
How Christian CULs are created:
Some are created by backward reasoning, as follows:
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One starts with the belief, held by almost all Conservative
Christians, in the absolute truth -- the
inerrancy -- of the Bible, when interpreted literally. | |
There are many Bible stories that involve miracles, or at least
require the reader to discount the findings of science. Examples are:
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The sun appearing to stop in the sky; |
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Noah's Ark floating for a year in spite of the fact that it would
take dozens of people continuously pumping out the bilge water to keep it afloat. |
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Hell being located deep below the Earth's crust. |
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Since God created the first humans and all species of animals in a
few days, dinosaurs and humans must have co-existed on Earth. |
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Devout conservative Christians believe that these events happened.
Thus, there must be some evidence today that will prove their existence.
Examples are:
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There would be a one-day discontinuity in time, back in the 15th
century BCE. |
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There must be some physical remains of Noah's Ark still existing
today. |
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A hole drilled downwards into the earth would reach Hell. |
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Fossilized dinosaurs and human footprints should exist together. |
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A conservative Christian then creates a fictional story that contains
hard evidence that these events happened.
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NASA scientists write a computer program that finds a time
discontinuity. |
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Some remains from Noah's Ark are found in Mount Ararat in Turkey. |
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Scientists drill a deep hole into the earth and hear people
screaming in agony. |
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Fossilized human footprints are found which intersect
dinosaur footprints. |
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The story spreads quickly and widely because it meshes neatly with
people's beliefs and offers proof that the Bible is true. | |
The story is finally exposed as a hoax. Some find their faith
weakened when they discover that a Christian has engaged in a hoax and
has intentionally deceived people. Doubt in the inerrancy of the Bible
increases. |
Why are CULs created and spread?
Those on the ICR program discussed whether these CULs may be really spread by
non-believers in order to discredit Christianity. They decided that it was a possibility.
But they felt that it is more likely that it is mainly Christians who latch onto unsubstantiated,
romantic ideas from the past, and spread the "evidence" by word of mouth. It is understandable how some Christians might want to fabricate pious frauds in order
to convince others of the reliability of the Bible accounts. A single piece of hard
evidence would go a long way towards convincing skeptics of the literal truth of the
Bible. The "Well to Hell" story alone allegedly convinced 2,000 people
to be saved. It is the case of the ends justifying
the means.
References:
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"Urban Legends," Science Scripture and Salvation radio program,
1999-APR-17. Available via RealAudio at: http://www.icr.org/rad-9904.htm
Copyright © 1999 to 2004 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Creation date: 1999-APR-5
Last update: 2004-OCT-16
Author: B.A. Robinson
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