Sunday Sermons

The Bible - Part 2

Mark Dunagan
08/26/07 - Sunday Evening

The Bible

Part 2

Verbal Inspiration

The term translated "inspired of God" in II Timothy 3:16-17 is the Greek word THEOPNUESTOS which means "God-breathed". The Old Testament claims inspiration 2600 times. Inspiration is claimed over and over again, especially in books like Haggai, where the author repeatedly says, “Thus says the Lord” (1:2). If God breathes something then obviously the product is not man’s word but God’s word. On this point consider the following passages:

· I Corinthians 2:6-13

God’s truth is revealed in “words” because man could not discover it by his own intuition or limited wisdom (Jeremiah 10:23). Scripture is the outcome when God gives both the spiritual truth or concept and the exact word or words to express that truth (2:13 “combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words”).

· II Peter 1:16-21

The word is confirmed by the seeing and hearing of the apostles. In addition, the prophets never preached their own opinions, but rather Scripture is the result when men are moved, not by their own impulses but by the Spirit of God.

· Matthew 22:29-33

Jesus made an argument from a single Scripture and even based His argument on the precise tense of a phrase, “I am the God of”, not, “I was the God of”. This reveals that Jesus knew that every word of Scripture was inspired right down to the grammatical details such as the tense of a word in a particular verse. Compare with Paul’s argument in Galatians 3:16, where the apostle makes an argument based on the fact that a word in a specific Scripture was singular and not plural.

The Corruption Assumption

Many have heard the claim that our modern Bibles cannot be trusted because the Bible was corrupted by influences from Catholicism or by miscopying. The problem with such a claim is that it does not agree with the facts. To begin with, the Old Testament was finished and was accepted by the Jews as a complete collection centuries before the Catholic Church ever existed. The same is true with the books of the New Testament; they were likewise accepted and known by Christians even before the first century closed and long before the arrival of the Catholic Church (2 Peter 3:16) in 606 A.D. There are also lists of New Testament books, thousands of manuscripts of New Testament books, and complete New Testaments that date prior to the formation of the Catholic Church. In the Fourth Century A.D., when the Council of Carthage issued the list of twenty-seven New Testament books, it did not decree which books Christians had to accept, rather, it simply listed the books that Christians had already been accepting for centuries. No one had to tell first century Christians that Paul’s letters were Scripture (2 Peter 3:16). The earliest portion of any New Testament manuscript dates around 130 A.D., and a complete New Testament manuscript exists which dates at 325 AD. Besides this, the entire New Testament can be reproduced from the quotes of Christian writers between 100 AD and 200 AD. In addition, Jesus clearly said that His words would never pass away (Matthew 24:35), and Peter said that the word of God is incorruptible seed, is always living and abiding, and is far more durable than man or his accomplishments (1 Peter 1:23-25). One can also compare the Biblical manuscripts to other classical manuscripts and we cannot doubt the accuracy of the Biblical text. The first thing that needs to be said is that there is absolutely no proof that the Bible has been tampered with or corrupted over the centuries. Consider the following observations on this point:

· There is a definite problem with the issue of credibility when fallible and mistake-prone men seek to attack the infallibility of God’s word, when men with agendas, preconceived ideas, and axes to grind, seek to attack the objective truth (John 17:17), or when sinners (Romans 3:23) try to convince us that the message of a holy God is tainted (Psalm 19:8).

· What is gained in claiming that the Bible has been corrupted? If the Bible has been corrupted then supposedly man is somehow suddenly freed from God’s jurisdiction. The truth is that if the Bible has been corrupted man finds himself condemned without any hope of salvation, for a corrupted Bible would be a false gospel (Galatians 1:6-9), a false witness (1 Corinthians 15:15), and a message that condemns and is unable to save. Faith in a corrupted message is worthless, and would mean that everyone is still in their sins and without hope of salvation for without an uncorrupted Bible no genuine message of salvation exists.

· Such an accusation is a definite attack upon the wisdom and power of God. “It seems to be no small reflection on the wisdom of the Divine Being, to say that He first influenced the writing of a set of books and afterwards permitted them by chance, or the negligence of men, to be irrecoverably lost. If they were not serviceable to instruct and direct mankind in the methods of attaining the great ends of being, why were they at first given?” (Introduction of the Scriptures, Thomas Horne, Volume 1, p. 56). See 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Romans 1:16; Hosea 4:6.

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. I can only encourage individuals to pick up the Bible, read it, and compare it with other writings. Yet 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 Timothy 3:16-17). While the claim does not settle the issue, the claim is something one should consider. 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 speaks of real historical places, events and individuals.

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

· The Bible 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.

· The Bible 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.

· The Bible is incredibility brief, although it claims to give us everything we need (2 Peter 1:3), and it is completely unbiased in its treatment of history as well as its heroes.

The Alternate Possibility

Concerning who Jesus is, we often point out to people that one cannot claim that Jesus was a good man, or even good religious teacher, but not God, because a mere good man does not claim to be God when he is not. The same lack of any middle ground exists also concerning the Bible. Some want to believe that the Bible is a good book, a good guide for life, helpful and practical, yet not the Word of God. However the Bible does not claim to be merely a good book (John 12:48; James 1:21; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). The Bible is either the Word of God, or it is a book of lies, for a mere good book does not claim to be the Word of God when it is not.

“To whom shall we go?”

“Before one turns his back on the Bible, he had better ask where he is going to look. He should not give up something unless he has something better to turn to. If one discards the Bible, where will he turn? Where would anyone find a book with teachings that surpass those of the Bible? Where could any book which equals the Golden Rule or the Sermon on the Mount ever be found?” (Pryor pp. 18-19). The disciples understood this point clearly. Even though Jesus was offering encouraging yet challenging teaching, and others were opting out for something easier, Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

We can understand it

Instead of really looking at the Biblical text, others have been convinced that it would be a waste of time even to pick up the Bible and examine it because someone has told them that it is too complicated or no two people can understand it alike. Yet consider:

· If God exists (and the majority concedes He does) then certainly God has the ability to speak on our level and have a book written that all honest men and women could equally understand.

· Why would God speak if not to be understood?

· The Bible commands us to understand it (Ephesians 5:17).

· The Bible plainly says we can it (Ephesians 3:4).

· And, even after 2000 years, the Biblical text is still the word of God, still the final standard, and still the word that will judge us at the last day (John 12:48).

Therefore I encourage you to discover all the life-changing blessings to be enjoyed by applying the word of God and living life God’s way!

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