Bible scholar James Kugel (born: 1945) says of the biblical tales: ". . . if they were written down in the Bible, it was not so as to record what has occurred in some distant past, but 'for our instruction, so that . . . we might learn some vital lesson for our lives." This is an understanding of the biblical tales which Paul, founder of Christianity, understood, as did the Jewish medieval sage Rashi—and as does Rabbi Jaech today. 

The text of this podcast is available on our blog.
If you like this podcast, you might enjoy the book Biblical Origins: The Political Intent of the Bible's Writers, by renowned Bible scholar Dr. S. David Sperling.