Did Jesus really walk on water?

An instructor at Southwestern Community College in Iowa was fired from his job because he didn't agree with his students that the Bible is literally true, or factual. A student walked out of his Western civilization class when he said he wouldn't agree with her that the story of the Garden of Eden was historically true. Several other students were upset, claiming that the instructor was degrading their religious beliefs by claiming their beliefs to be false. Parents called the college and threatened to sue. A college vice-president fired the instructor. The vice-president claimed that the instructor was supposed to teach history, not religion. The instructor claimed that it was impossible to study Western civilization without including religious topics. The class had previously discussed Gilgamesh without any problem.

I've finally begun reading Borg's book on Jesus. Early on he points out the futility of arguing about whether or not the universe was created in six days, or Adam and Eve were real people, or Jesus really walked on water. Focus on superficial facts simply gets in the way of the deeper, transforming truths contained in those accounts.

Why is it so important to certain Christians that the Bible is a factual, historical record? It was never, ever intended to be so for the early Christians. I think it is because modern Christians approach Scripture with a modern mind shaped by scientific reasoning. I think that's funny because the same people argue against scientific reasoning that seems to disprove Biblical accounts. They refuse to consider that if one account in the Bible isn't factual, it doesn't automatically negate everything else contained in the text. That is another artifact of modern thinking.

The Bible wasn't written to give us a factual account of the history of the Jewish people, the life of Christ, and the actions of the early Christians. That is not its purpose. It was written to TEACH us something. The writings were preserved so future generations would know what the early Hebrews believed about God, and what the early Christians believed about Jesus. Let's focus on the truth, and not the facts.