New Bible Park in Tennessee

It is very discouraging to discover that we have so many biblical illiterates in our midst. Biblical ignorance is a growing epidemic largely due to the Southern Baptists, mega church pastors, independent "Bible" churches and especially the fundamentalist TV preachers who don't know the difference between Ezekiel and Jeremiah the bullfrog. They spew their crap out into TV land and their followers lap it up as if food from the deity herself.

Thus we have seen the construction of a Creation Museum, which is an incredibly stupid monument to ignorance and superstition yet draws thousands of people to ooh and aah about nonsensical mythological figures and events which have no historical basis whatsoever, and become even more convinced, in spite of literally tons of evidence to the contrary, that the Earth is 6,000 years old, and that humans and dinosaurs roamed the Earth together.

Now, to complement the Creation Museum, we have a Bible Park under way in Tennessee which will be at least as idiotic and in some ways, even more stupid than the Creation Museum. The Bible Park USA in Rutherford County, Tennessee, "is a non-denominational Bible-based themed attraction depicting well-loved Bible stories and providing an authentic historical representation of life as it was in ancient times in the Holy Land."

According to the Bible Park website, "The Park is without a particular religious ideology or theology and does not promote specific religious beliefs of any kind; instead, it is designed to bring to life history of Biblical times and stories from the Holy Bible."

That is all nonsense, of course. The entire operation is built on a fundamentalist, literalist view of the Bible, which treats Biblical stories, persons and events as historical, which in many cases is simply not true.

There is to be a "Galilean Village" that "depicts life in Galilee in the days of Jesus. ... Some of the stories from the Old Testament include: The Creation; The Parting of the Red Sea; Noah's Ark; Abraham and Isaac of Mt. Mariah; and others.

"The New Testament is represented by the birth of Jesus, the Crucifixion and Resurrection; the Garden of Gethsemane; and others."

Altogether, when completed, the Park will depict 50 Biblical stories.


Unfortunately, the entire operation is a bad joke. It reinforces in the minds of gullible and ignorant people a serious misunderstanding of the Bible and because it treats allegory, legend and myth as literal history, misses the point of much of what the Bible says. The two creation stories in Genesis were never meant to be taken literally, but are mythical interpretations as to how god was involved in putting together the world as these ancient people knew it.

There is literally no evidence whatsoever of the Hebrews ever being in Egypt, much less crossing a parted Red Sea. And the Egyptians kept voluminous and complete records of both minor and major events in their land. Additionally, the Hebrew words do not translate "Red Sea," but "sea of reeds," which, if one takes the story as history, gives it an entirely new location.

There was no tower of Babel, no flood, no Noah's ark, no Abraham and Isaac. Nazareth did not exist in the first century C.E. The birth of Jesus is pure legend. There is a total absence of evidence for either the crucifixion or resurrection of someone named Yeshua.

So you can play around with these Biblical stories all you want, but in the end that's all they are -- stories; not history.

I can just imagine what the Yahweh of the Bible, thundering on the mountain, would say about this Bible Park travesty. And I have a hunch I know what he would do: Bible Park USA would come to the same flaming end as Sodom and Gomorrah!