Sometimes atheists argue that if God is real, then there should be a way of investigating God just like other entities. They say that any phenomenon that manifests in reality can be studied. But in the Bible there are many instances when God manifests in reality. In the garden of Eden, God walks about and talks to Adam and Eve. When Moses goes up the famous mountain to parley with God, God appears as a burning bush. He also leads the Israelites through the desert to the promised land as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night. Most famously he walks past Moses and reveals his backside. My favorite manifestation of God is in Leviticus Chapter 9. It starts with a stunning statement by Moses... It came to pass on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel. And he said to Aaron, “Take for yourself a young bull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering, without blemish, and offer them before the Lord. And to the children of Israel you shall speak, saying, ‘Take a kid of the goats as a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering, also a bull and a ram as peace offerings, to sacrifice before the Lord, and a grain offering mixed with oil.’ ” "FOR TODAY THE LORD WILL APPEAR TO YOU !" Later, after messy details of how the animals were butchered and prepared on the altar, we get this manifestation of God... Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people, and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces. A number of times we are told that GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE ! Is that a metaphor or did they think fire is a manifestation of God ?
Anecdotal. We can investigate the accounts of events in the Bible, but we can't investigate the actual events that may or may not have happened long ago.
Religion, "Anyone and thing can manifest itself in a work of fiction" as defined by you do not look so.
