Main Tropes Index

Troperville

Editing

Tools

Narrative

Genre

Media

Topical Tropes

Other Categories


Before we get to the tropes used in the Bible, it should be noted that there are several different traditions as to what the Bible contains; while most material is shared, historically members of religious groups have decided to include or exclude different writings. Debates about what's Canon and what isn't rage on, and Hilarity Ensues.

Relatedly, there are several major opinions on what the Bible is. According to the Christian viewpoint, the Bible is an anthology of books by divinely inspired followers of God and Christ over a period of 1500 years, including: biographies, histories, manuals of rules like The Pentateuch, advice for living like in Paul's letters, and divine revelations.

A laxer view, partially accepted by Islam, holds that some of it is to be taken at face value, while other parts, like the Book of Genesis, are to be taken as an allegory. The view of those who don't belong to the Abrahamic religions generally ranges from seeing the events of the Bible as somewhere between "exaggerated history" and "pure fiction". Likely, Your Mileage May Vary on which one of the views you take.

Comprising the works of many writers from the 11th century BC to about 140 AD, before the advent of mass communication, the Bible is one of humanity's best-known and longest-enduring books, with 1500 ancient surviving Greek manuscripts making it the ancient world's best seller (Homer, with 643 surviving manuscripts of The Iliad, comes in second). The absence of a single authority with a strictly defined canon policy has proven an obstacle, however. Historically, it resulted in the most devastating (literally) Flame Wars (also often literally) ever.

Due to the Bible's sheer size and literary value, in addition to the fact that it is in the public domain (as it predated the invention of copyright; the British Crown holds perpetual copyright over the King James Version in the UK), it is often used as a goldmine of stock plots and characters for modern writers. Sometimes, however, said modern writers cannot avoid the temptation to introduce gratuitous references for the sake of it, and when they take caution to avoid controversial subjects like a specific religion, it can degenerate into such phenomena as Jesus Taboo, Crystal Dragon Jesus and No Celebrities Were Harmed. On the other hand, writers unfamiliar with the religious symbolism can end up with "controversial" character portrayals like King Of All Cosmos, or, in The Theme Park Version, Fluffy Cloud Heaven.

Often cited by Moral Guardians, despite the fact that a considerable portion of its content would be considered immoral and even Squicky by modern standards. They don't ever seem to remember those bits, or if they do, they're quite willing to Handwave them away.

One of the Trope Makers. You know The Oldest Ones In The Book? Well, this is the book. It even says so in the title.

Not to be confused with Universe Bible. For more info on the fan clubs, see Useful Notes on Christianity.
Provides examples of: