Why would God write a book of lies and why would you worship such a being?

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I have seen a few Christians claim that many of what appears to be historical documents in the bible, actually did not occur at all. If the bible is book that is littered with stories that are pure fiction but that are conveyed in such a way to appear as legitimate, why would you trust anything else that it had to say?

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Storytelling through the ages wasn't just a means of entertainment. From what I can tell it was also a way of passing on information and wisdom.The story may not be a true event, but the lesson is real. The parables that Jesus told weren't real events. They were designed to teach a lesson.If one understands whether a writing is fiction or historical, then one trusts the information as is appropriate for the style of writing.One doesn't look for a moral in an historical document and one doesn't usually look for historical facts in a fairy tale although fair tales can give us a view of the culture of the time.

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f you say some of it is true, is it only because it already agrees with you have decided for yourself to be true?

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Hopefully what we understand to be factual can be verified by sources outside the writing.Ultimately we have to understand the writing techniques used by the writers to understand what the writers were telling their audience.

Until the scrolls were written, there were no Holy Scriptures (writings); but people worshiped God.The story of Abraham shows us that people believed in God before anything was written in a scroll. They didn't rely on a book to tell them what to do or believe.Since Judaism is the foundation of early Christianity, I look to Jewish History for more insight. From Jewish history we learn that the Jews had the written law and an oral law. Storytelling came before writing. Fiction can bring a teaching to life. It isn't a lie, it gives people a means to visualize.That's why I have no problem with fiction in the Bible. I try to understand what the author was trying to impart to his audience.Even when the NT writers quote from a fictional writing, I try to understand the point the writer is making to his audience. That's the take away.I also try to understand the literary devices employed by the writers, such as metaphors and hyperbole. These don't translate into lies, just creative ways to make a point and make the info more memorable.Since people believed in God before the existence of Holy Scriptures, I see no problem with still believing in God even with the knowledge that the Holy Scriptures contain storytelling.Now I do have a problem with dogma and tradition that claim to be based on what the Biblical writers were saying or teaching and it isn't. In my opinion, that is misleading.

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Job was not crazy for trusting God.

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Exactly! Even though Job is a fictional story the basic take away is that bad things can happen to good people due to no fault of their own. IOW, they aren't being punished by God for committing a sin.The story brings the issue to life. Gives people a visual to remember.

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If the exodus was pure fiction, then there was no state of Israel for God to condemn. You just defeated your ownself.

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As Arach pointed out in Message 54, per the Bible, Israel was formed from Jacob and his twelve sons. (Genesis 35:9-13)Even if the stories in Genesis are fiction or partial fiction, there are books in the Bible that refer to books outside the Bible that supposedly may have been more historical in nature. IMO, the Exodus story is a creative way to relate how the tribes came to be where they were. If the story hadn't been written, the tribes would still have been where they were and probably were there before it was written.Like I pointed out in Message 44, storytelling has a purpose and was very important in ancient times. Storytelling was a creative way to make a point and make the info more memorable.