Yesterday’s points of Biblical Claims and Biblical Integrity have resounded in many hearts and bring us to the 3rd point of reliability:
The Bible is a reflection of its Author. All books are. If you pick a book you’ve never read, written by Mark Twain, you expect deeply political thought disguised in hilarity. With Dickens, the same complaints appear in the sad point of view of the abused.
We pick our reading according to our mood and when we desperately seek truth, where should we go?
The Bible was written by God, Himself, as He worked through human writers in a process called inspiration. “Inspire” means “breathe in”. The Biblical writers used their own styles but God guided them into all truth through His Holy Spirit.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17
“Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation, For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:20-21
I believe that the God Who created the universe is capable of writing a book. And the God Who is perfect is capable of writing a perfect book. The issue is NOT simply “Does the Bible have a mistake?”, BUT, “Can God make a mistake?”
I say “no”.
If the Bible contains factual errors, then God is not all-knowing and is capable of making errors Himself. If the Bible contains misinformation, then God is not truthful but is a liar. If the Bible contains contradictions, then God is the author of confusion.
In other words, if Biblical Inerrancy is not true, then God is not God, and the Bible becomes a fabrication of man.
Atheists spend a great deal of effort trying to fabricate proof the Bible contains errors by taking parts out of context and twisting them. They do the same as Satan, speaking to Eve: “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5
Satan purposely did not include the fact that this knowledge would be the end of life as they knew it, the end of Eden as they knew it, and the beginning of the end of their own physical existence.
The Bible’s message must be taken as a whole. It is not a mixture of doctrine from which we are free to select. Many people like the verses that say God loves them, but they dislike the verses that say God will judge sinners. We simply cannot pick and choose what we like about the Bible and throw the rest away.
What if a doctor had told a patient that he would enjoy health to an old age and the patient then ran, exalting, from the exam room, without the prescription that would give that promised health?
Once we grasp a picture of God and the goodness of His ways, we learn to ask Him for more understanding and to rest in the goodness of what we do know.
Would that Adam and Eve, in the midst of all that goodness, had waited and asked God!
Oh, that we would wait and ask God!
“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalm 27:14
God has said what He has said, the Bible presents us with a full picture of Who God is.
“Forever, O LORD, Thy Word is settled in heaven.” Psalm 119:89
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The Bible is truth, written by the Author and Creator and Source of Truth. Well said, Katharine ❤
Thanks so much, Kate, for your constant encouragement! I need it. 🙂
Katharine,
Good job! I read it twice and benefited from it. I especially liked the fact that you base confidence in the Bible this way: “The Bible is a reflection of its Author.” How true! It is therefore perfect, eternal, and completely trustworthy. We can rest on what we know of it now, and look forward to greater wisdom and insight in and from it.
Thanks so much, Maria! Loving the rest He gives. 🙂 Loving the looking forward . . .
Great post! This is a flawless argument against people who pick and choose what they would like to believe from the Bible. It’s all or nothing…
Wow, Amy! Thanks for this comment! You are right, it is all or nothing. I am constantly concerned with folks who fight against a God they believe does not exist! Thanks, again, and I hope it is a flawless presentation, but appreciate your kindless, none the less!
Jesus said “Whoever is not with me is against me” (Matthew 12:30). I think this is support for “all or nothing” in terms of Biblical acceptance. You can’t be with Jesus on a few things and against Him on others. You can’t agree with some parts of the Bible and not with others.
There are no Switzerlands in God’s army!
Hey, Victoria! Thanks for this! The quote from Matthew is perfect. Yes, Jesus is “all or nothing”. Thank you for bringing that to light, here! I so appreciate that you are following, here, and that you get it. ❤
I find myself working with a growing population whose truth is based on what they decide is true. It’s challenging, but it good ways. I am very thankful for the foundation given me that taught his word is true and he is truth. I’m also thankful I’ve decided to believe in that truth. Thank you Katharine.
Oh, I SO know what you mean. Each one chooses his own truth, and HOW IT HURTS to know they’ve been lied to and cannot hear the real truth! Oh, what I would give to change even one heart! To show even one person! What would it be worth? Everything. Everything.
Good points all around, and I also like the concise pointedness.
How do you address those who say, “Yes, God’s ORIGINAL word to the writers was perfect, but it’s been mis-copied, mis-translated, mis-interpreted, and sometimes purposefully changed over the centuries so that what we have NOW is no longer perfect.”?
Hey!
First, I make sure everyone knows there is a curse on anyone who changes the Word. No one who believed the Bible would change it while copying it!
Then, usually I point to the Dead Sea Scrolls, how they have been separated from the rest of the copies of the Bible for eons, yet show no change, to speak of. (Something like .001% or something.) I tell of how the scribes worked, memorized, counted, etc., to make sure they copied without error, etc.
Also, I remind that there are far fewer errors in the Bible than in the average history text, yet we still believe George Washington existed, Hitler was bad, etc.
I acknowledge the purposeful changes in the King James version, because I am aware of some of them, but I also remind that having ANY English translation was a miraculous blessing to the people of those days, given how dead-set satan seemed to be against it, and we should be thankful for the added miracle that God was able to minister to His saints through it, in spite of us.
In short, God’s perfection is infinite and totally able to overcome our very finite imperfections. It is His Word and He watches over it to perform it, in spite of us.
And in the end, it is not about the ink and the paper, but about the heart. The stubborn heart will find any excuse. Any excuse. A misspelling on page 1253? God must be a fiction, right? It’s about the heart, in the end.
Things like that.
And THAT is an excellent answer!! 😀
Thanks, Andy! 😉
Reblogged this on Home's Cool! and commented:
This series really opened up the comments–hope you find it as inspiring…