In 1992, the pope of the Catholic church made an awesome statement.  He apologized for the treatment of Galileo some 350 years prior.  (Even though it took 350 years for the church to acknowledge a mistake, you'll see that they are still ahead of many churches today)!  What had Galileo done?  He simply stated that the earth revolved around the sun.  Why was that such a big issue?  The bible says that God created man, and that man was created in the image of God.  If mankind's planet wasn't the center of the universe, then, (the thinking went), people would stop believing that God created man, and thus, stop attending church.  Now, while such thinking might be silly to most educated people now, it was not silly at the time.  Another notable decree from the pope during the 1992 apology: Evolution is "more than just a theory."
       A theory is a model which seems to address known facts and observations.  There are four central theories to science: The theory of the atom, Plate tectonic theory, The Big Bang, and         Evolution.
        It is interesting to note that Christians who accept a fundamental interpretation of the bible accept plate tectonic theory as the reason for earthquakes, and they accept the theory of the atom as the reason for chemical bonding and nuclear power.  This is despite the fact that nobody can directly observe a "tectonic plate," nor can anyone observe atoms.  Yet acceptance of scientific theories puts one in contradiction with the bible, since each of the theories (above) support each other, and two of the theories contradict the bible.  This essay is not to support any theory.  A web search will find plenty of scientific research which does a far better job than I could.  Rather, the purpose of this essay is to discuss what "truth" is in the bible.
        First one needs to realize that the bible has language problems.  Despite people referring to "the word of God", that "word" was first a collection of laws from Moses in Hebrew.  It was delivered unto generations by mouth, which always results in changes. (Ever play the party game "Gossip")?  Next it was recorded as mankind evolved written language, roughly 3,000 years ago.  Next it was translated, judged, and edited by a prophet named Huldah.  Several more prophets continued editing and adding.  Two books, Ezra and part of Daniel, were originally Aramaic.  The New Testament was in Greek.  By the fourth century, the bible was put into several translations of Latin.  Jerome's Vulgate edition was the dominant one until the Protestant Reformation, when Martin Luther had it translated for German Christians.  English had several editions including the King James version, which was based on several inaccurate Greek & Hebrew texts.  With so many translations to compare and so many languages to overcome and more scrolls discovered every few years, more translations continue to be made.  If you find this difficult to understand, try asking a jew what the word "shalom" means, or a Hawaiian what "aloha" means; these are but two examples.
        Next, one needs to be aware of the role of history.  If history is simply a written record of events, then why don't all history books agree?  Russian and American books disagree on the events in World War II, for example.  Rather, history is always subject to political, social, and regional background of the author; there is no absolutely "pure", "objective" history.  It is always an interpretation of the events, shaped by such factors as personality and cultural background.  History can be a biography; from decisions of leaders.  History can be based on cultural and political movements.  History can be a result of changing technology.  One needs to be aware of the terms in which the bible was written.  Authors of the bible rarely paid attention to the order of events!  It was understood that God had a purpose for each event that happened; order was irrelevant.  "For God there is no difference between a day and a thousand years" (Psalm 90:4)  An interesting contradiction is borne out in Genesis 1 vs. Gen. 2:3.  In the first creation account, light is created and shines on the earth.  Plants are created in vs. 12.  But the sun, the source of energy, isn't created until vs. 16!  It gets even more interesting when in 2:3 creation is complete, yet it begins again all over again in 2:4.  Adam is created in 1:26, then a second time in 2:7!  The point is that if one is looking for factual truth as defined by chronological historical order, it won't be found often in the bible.  Here's a good example:  Can you use a dictionary for a chemistry text?  Of course-- dictionaries have most all of the words in the chemistry book.  So why use the chemistry book?  Because the dictionary wasn't meant to be a chemistry book.  Similarly, the bible wasn't meant to be a historical scientific account of creation.
        Truth is not a simple concept.  It can mean faithful, or loyal.  It can mean reliable, or correct (this is the one adopted by anyone who has ever served on jury duty)!  True can meane genuine, or conforming to an original.  So are you asking, "Is the bible faithful to God", or are you asking, "Is the bible free of factual errors?"  Honestly, the bible contains fiction.  Try reading II Samuel 12. When Nathan the prophet hears how King David sent Uriah to the forefront of battle so he could be killed and David could take Bathsheba for a wife, he tells David a story about sheep and goats!  When a poor man called upon him, in accordance with custom, he killed a sheep to serve to his guest.  But the sheep was the only possession of a poor man-- a family pet, not one of his own, many sheep.  Nathan asks David what he thinks of the story.  David is furious and wants to know who the man is.  Nathan replies, "You are the man," and David realizes that the story was not about two of his subjects, but rather the King, Uriah, and Bathsheba.  Although Nathan's story was not literally true, but rather contained truth-- something much more important than facts.
        Let's look at Jonah and the whale.  I don't believe that Jonah was in the belly for 40 days and 40 nights; but that's not the point.  Instead, let's remember that the bible was originally oral tradition.  A good memory technique is to have some sort of "hook" to help people remember it; hence the whale.  Remember that Jonah is called as a prophet to Ninevah, the capital of Assyria.  Jonah, not surprised that God wills to destroy this sinful city, did not want to go and warn the people to repent!  So Jonah heads off to another city, which is where the whale comes in and redirects him to Ninevah.  Due to the turnabout, he did deliver the warning.  The people repent; Jonah is furious that he doesn't get to witness God trashing the place, and goes off to sulk.  God makes a plant grow next to Jonah to give him shade.  Jonah is delighted.  The next day, God destroys the plant.
"Do you miss the plant, Jonah?" asks God.
"You know I do, Lord" replies Jonah.
"Are you sorry it died?"
"Of course I am."
"Jonah, that was only a plant, here one day.  You miss it, and wish it had not died.  How do you suppose I would feel if I had to destroy a whole city of my people?"
        Suddenly the purpose of the whale becomes evident: to remind us all, clearly, of God's grace. The truth of the story is not about it's scientific, historical reliability, but rather is about loyalty to God's purpose for us.
        Suddenly a whole new world opens up as we read the bible.  With discrepancies over words and translations, use of metaphor and fiction, suddenly or search for "truth" becomes at once more mystifying and exciting.  The question is, are you willing to accept an idea on "blind faith" when you hear a pastor say "God says..." in a sermon, or are you going to be mindful of the history and realities of language in the bible.  Are you ready to go search for a deeper truth beyond the outdated literal translation of today?  Do you know which denominations search for truth, contending not to know all of the truth in the bible, and which churches use a literal translation to justify their own ends?
                             (For further reading, consider "Biblical Truth and today's World," by Bruce D. Rahtjen, c 1995 by Trefoil Press).