The debate about the material facticity of the Bible is a controversy that Christians should not engage in, as it is a temptation, just as the Devil tempted Jesus in the desert with material goods, including the material good of proof that would come from leaping off the Temple.

The truth of a religion, any religion, is not in its material proof but in its spiritual aptness.

This is a difficult path to walk, because the temptations grow by the day. Archaeological research has provided material evidence of some biblical stories, and it seems every year another discovery confirms some part of the historical content of scripture.

But, when we are being religious adherence to scripture, we are not concerned about material proof. We are concerned about spiritual truth. Now, it is true that one can do both: have a religious adherence to scripture on one hand and also be curious about the history contained therein. But, “do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”

Metaphorically here, the left hand is the hand of material gain: empirical proof, fiscal profit, social standing. When Jesus said not to let your left hand know what your right is doing in regard to giving charity in Matthew 6, this was a principle articulated which applies beyond the specific example.

And, more importantly, Jesus did not mean your material left and right hands. He meant your metaphorical hands, the two parts of your personality constantly struggling. The material and the spiritual.

Knowing that some evidence confirming the history in scripture has been found might be fascinating, but is this what it means to be Christian? No. Whether or not Jesus or His miracles were materially factual, the faith is in the teaching. This might be hard for many Christians to accept but it is, in truth, how Jesus Himself taught.

Can a person be good without believing the material “facts” of a religion? The Good Samaritan of Jesus’s parable was from a sect considered heretical to his listeners, yet it was this fictional character that Jesus elevated above a priest and a Levite (a sort of deacon servant in the Temple) as the exemplar of true morality.

More importantly, the Good Samaritan was a fictional character in a parable. Does the material fact that this character almost certainly did not exist and the events described never happened undermine Jesus’s teaching? Does it make Jesus a “liar”? Of course not. The religious truth is in the spiritual aptness of the story, not its material fact.

If someone acts as the father of the Prodigal Son did, are they a good person despite that this man was almost certainly a fiction? A Christian must say yes. Again, the religious truth is in the spiritual aptness of the story, not its material fact.

This, telling fictional stories with spiritual importance, is central to the teaching of Christ. Christians should heed this implicit lesson.

So, what if—let’s just entertain the idea for a moment—what if Jesus were a fiction? Should this matter to the Christian? Many Christians would insist it should. But, if the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son’s father can be fictions without losing their spiritual truth, isn’t this central to what it means to be a Christian?

That material fact and religious truth are two masters that cannot be served simultaneously is something Jesus taught and demonstrated. To deny this truth is to deny the ministry of Christ.

This isn’t to say that Christians should not care whether the story of Jesus is a fiction. This is only to say that the issue of material or historical fact should not matter to faith, because true faith is about the moral teaching. This may be a difficult truth to accept, but it is ever-present in the ministry of Christ, who taught extensively in fictional parables.