How do you deal with a religious family?

[genkaus]

Fiction, outside of poetry, had not even been invented in Biblical times. So you can't use the argument that the Bible is a "work of fiction".

Ha.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_literature

To get back to my point. The OT is much more difficult and less reliable than the NT. But it still contains more than just myths. The layers have to be separated - so the Pentateuch is separated into 5 texts, it then needs to be further subdivided because what we have today is not the text in its first edition - it was edited and re-edited several times (see documentary hypothesis). Many scholars attempt to separate the texts by their perceived authors so they can be understood better.

So, it isn't reliable to begin with and has been edited and re-edited multiple times, thus further reducing its reliability - with you on that.

This is a way away from the NT. The epistles of Paul are all first-hand contemporary accounts and writings, and thus are considered quite reliable. Many of the teachings of Jesus can also be reliably derived from the gospel accounts - that doesn't mean the gospels are 100% accurate, but it does mean they contain valid events within them.

Reliable account of what, exactly? Did Paul meet the guy called Jesus? Was he an eyewitness to the whole crucifiction/resurrection affair?

If not, then his testimony is hearsay and therefore inadmissible.