text: what is god?   god. this explanation is what everyone eventually resorts to when the other answers fail. throughout all of human history, we've been trying to explain existence. but nobody has ever succeeded. and it's likely that nobody ever will. so we create the concept of god, whose only necessary property is being "that which explains existence."   this doesn't tell us much about god, though. it doesn't mean that any particular religion is correct. it merely defines god as something which answers the question, because we have not been able to.  but... the bible represents a fundamental guidepost for millions of people on the planet, in much the same way the koran, torah, and pali canon offer guidance to people of other religions. if you and i could dig up documentation that contradicted the holy stories of islamic belief, judaic belief, buddhist belief, pagan belief, should we do that? should we wave a flag and tell the buddhists that we have proof the buddha did not come from a lotus blossom? or that jesus was not born of a literal virgin birth? those who truly understand their faiths understand the stories are metaphorical."sophie looked skeptical. "my friends who are devout christians definitely believe that christ literally walked on water, literally turned water into wine, and was born of a literal virgin birth.""my point exactly," langdon said. "religious allegory has become a part of the fabric of reality. and living in that reality helps millions of people cope and be better people." "the da vinci code"