Sunday Sermons

The Bible

Mark Dunagan
04/01/01 - Sunday Evening

THE BIBLE

From time to time Christians are confronted with the question, “How do you know that the Bible is the infallible Word of God?”

First Things First

God exists, which even the vast majority of non-Christians concede therefore, the next logical question would be, “What has God said?” For the Creator would certainly communicate with His creation. And then, “Where is that communication found?” Our own conscience reveals that such a communication from the Creator is not found inherently within our hearts and minds. We must also agree that God who is infallible would make an infallible communication. To deny that God could communicate all essential truth to mankind in an infallible format, is to deny that God exists. But only a few books claim to be the Word of God, and the Bible is one of those books. Please note that infallibility and the idea that the Bible is the complete and final revelation to mankind is not something that only man has said about the Bible, rather it is what the Bible claims for itself “The sum of Thy word is truth” Psalm 119:160; “But My words shall not pass away” Matthew 24:35; “He will guide you into all truth” John 16:13; “The Word of the Lord abides forever” 1 Peter 1:25; “All Scripture inspired of God” 2 Timothy 3:16; “Contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” Jude 3.

You Can Believe!

I stand unconvinced by the claims of people who deny they can believe that the Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God by simply examining the Bible itself, for on a daily basis such individuals believe many things, many important things, but with far lesser quality of evidence than that found in the Bible. Listen to the following:

“At the beginning of a class on the evaluation of court testimony, a law professor presented the following challenge to his students: ‘Prove that the woman whom you accept to be your natural mother actually gave birth to you.’ The task seemed to be rather simple and within a few minutes almost all of the students had constructed an apparently valid proof. In most cases the proof rested upon three lines of evidence: 1. A birth certificate bearing an official state seal, the name of the mother and birth date, 2. the unanimous testimony of doctors, acquaintances and supposed relatives, and 3. common family traits. However, in the discussion of these proofs, the professor questioned each piece of evidence. Could not the birth certificate have been issued with errors or even falsified? Could there not be reasons why friends and relatives would desire to hide the truth about the birth and the real parents? With regard to common family traits, are there not people who look alike but who are not at all related? Obviously none of the students had established absolute proof. Nevertheless, all remained firmly convinced that they knew their natural mother. Why? All the evidence pointed to the same conclusion. The professor wanted to demonstrate to his students that all ‘knowledge’ of historical events which they had not personally experienced was based on the belief of testimony of witnesses…When we think about it, we would be astonished at how much ‘faith’ we demonstrate in daily life. Our ‘knowledge’ of daily world events is, for the most part, faith in the statements of journalists. ‘Knowledge of history’ is, in the final analysis, nothing more than faith in the testimony of those claiming to have witnessed events in the past. Court decisions are based upon faith in the testimony of witnesses. We readily take medicine which could even be dangerous, because we have faith in our doctor and in the information on the label of the medicine bottle…Without ‘faith’ it is impossible to live in this world! However, as soon as we approach belief in God, Jesus Christ, or the Bible, the concept of faith suddenly becomes taboo and is rejected as naïve, emotional escape from reality” (Is Modern Man a Believing Man? Lesson 1, page 1.)

Everyday we make important decisions based on evidence and everyday we accept certain things to be true without having absolute proof. Hence to say, “I cannot believe in God unless He makes a personal appearance to me or I cannot believe the Bible is the Word of God without some supernatural manifestation”, is just as silly as saying, “I cannot believe that George Washington really lived, unless he would come back from the dead.”

Those Other Books

When people bring up the Koran, or the Hindu Scriptures, they are conceding that God has spoken, and that such a revelation is found in something written, yet a written revelation infers that God expects us to use our brain (Matthew 10:16; Acts 17:11; 1 Thess. 5:21-22; Ephesians 5:19; 2 Timothy 2:15). While the following is not exhaustive, I believe that we can hit the real core issue concerning the Bible and other religious books: Right off the bat even a very limited comparison between the Bible and other religions or religious writings will reveal many areas of incompatibility. One is forced to conclude that either: 1. The Bible is wrong. 2. All other religious writings are wrong. 3. Or, everything is wrong, but all cannot be right.

Hinduism

While the God of the Bible is the Creator of all things (Genesis 1:1; Colossians 1:16) and He is personal and can be known(Jeremiah 9:24 “that he understands and knows Me”). The God or gods described in the Hindu Scriptures are impersonal, completely unknowable, and inseparable from everything Created, that is, God is all and all is God. Man exists to realize that he too is God. In addition, most Hindus would contend that the world does not really exist at all, but rather is simply an illusion, including all suffering, pain, and even evil. If God is all, and God is good, then anything evil must not really exist. But evil does exist (Galatians 5:19-21), and suffering is not an illusion (James 1:2-4).

The Koran

The Koran claims to be the final word from God. It claims that the Bible was just a step in its direction. But the Koran, like the book of Mormon, or any “holy” book, which acknowledges the authenticity of the Bible, finds itself in a catch-22 situation. If these books condemn the Bible, they condemn themselves, because they quote extensively from it and acknowledge many events found in it. Without the Bible there would have been no Koran or book of Mormon. But on the other hand, if they acknowledge the Bible, then they are forced to acknowledge that the Bible condemns their existence (Galatians 1:6-9; Revelation 22:18-19; 2 John 9). Once again, either the Bible is right, or the Koran is right, but both cannot be right and both cannot be the Word of God. 1. Although the Bible says that Jesus promised that the apostles would be guided into all truth (John 16:13), the Koran condemns those who only accept the Bible. 2. Whereas the Bible says that Jesus was and is God (John 1:1) and is the only way to heaven (John 14:6), the Koran exalts Mohammed above Jesus. The Koran has Mohammed saying many times that Jesus was not God (Sura 5:79; 4:169). One writer noted, “Richardson says in his introduction to the Koran, ‘the Qur’an often contradicts itself as well as other scriptures. Allah, then, changes his mind and alters the text of the Heavenly Book accordingly(Surah 13:39).’ Compare this with Jesus’ statements, “Heaven and earth shall pass away but my word will not pass away”(Matthew 24:35), and “The Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35)”. (Why Christianity? Why The Bible? Kippy Myers, Reason & Revelation, Vol. XIV, No. 2, 1994, p. 10).

The Book Of Mormon

In comparing the book of Mormon with the Bible, one is forced to conclude that one of these books is wrong. 1. The book of Mormon has Jesus being born in Jerusalem (Alma 7:10), however the Bible has Jesus being born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2; Luke 2:4). 2. The book of Mormon has Christians and the church existing almost 200 years before Jesus came to the earth (Alma 27:27; 46:13-16; Mosiah 18:17). The Bible has the church still yet future even when Jesus is alive upon the earth (Matthew 16:18), and the followers of Jesus are called Christians first in Antioch (Acts 11:26). One writer noted, “The Book of Mormon contains many blunders of content…For example, the Nephites are said to have used a compass about 550 B.C. (1 Nephi 18:12); but this instrument was not invented until ca. A.D. 1100. Another anomaly of this nature is the appearance of the French word ‘adieu’ in Jacob 7:27. It strains credulity to believe that this is the correct English translation of a ‘reformed Egyptian’ word written upon metal plates by a Hebrew living on American soil in 421 B.C (which is the claim being made by Mormonism)”(Reason &Revelation p. 15).

You Just Have To Read It

Any attempt to find out whether or not the Bible is the Word of God without reading the Bible is a less than honest attempt. The proof is in the pudding, I can only encourage one to pick up the Bible, read it, and compare it with other writings. But the best way to defend the Bible is to let it defend itself, which requires that you examine it (Romans 10:17). As you are reading consider the following points:

· The Bible claims to be from God (2 Tim. 3:16-17). While the claim does not settle the issue, the claim is something for which one would look. Would God send His revelation anonymously?

· The Bible is rooted in history and not the subjective experience of one individual. That means it can be tested and when tested the Bible is historically accurate.

· It contains and sums up all morals and ethical teachings and constitutes the highest standard of morality in the world. A book that sums up and transcends the best morality of all books of all time is best explained as God’s Word.

· It contains prophecies that are made and fulfilled, prophecies which surpass the possibilities of man to predict or foresee.

· While the Bible is actually a collection of 66 books, all of the books fit into a perfect unity: a unity of doctrine, progression of thought, story line, details, and so on. In addition, every book is essential to make the book complete.

· It is accurate in every way: historically, geographically, scientifically, and so on. It contains medical and scientific knowledge ahead of its time. And it does not include the medical and scientific ignorance found in the time period when it was written.

· It has the best textual sources of any ancient book. That is, we can trace its history back to its beginnings more accurately, and with greater corroboration, than any major writing of the ancient world.

· It addresses every fundamental need of man and it answers every fundamental question that we have, such as, “Where did we come from?” “Why are we the way we are?” “Why does suffering exist?” “What happens after death?” “How did the universe begin?” “How will it end?” The teaching it offers fulfills our spiritual, social, psychological, and emotional needs.

· It is incredibility brief, although it claims to give us everything we need (2 Peter 1:3)

· It is completely unbiased in its treatment of history as well as its heroes.

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017