Tagged: Christians

How do I know the Bible is true? (Part 3)

The Word of GodThis is the third in an eight-part series addressing skeptics’ claims against the Bible. Click on the “Bible” link under Topics to see parts 1 and 2.

Objection 3: The books of the Bible were chosen arbitrarily by councils of men in highly political processes. As a result, they left out some very good books – perhaps some equally inspired writings.

Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, compiled a list of the 27 books we now know as the New Testament in 367 A.D. He also was the first person in the church to use the word “canon,” which comes from the Greek kanon and means measure or rule. The councils of Carthage (393 A.D.) and Hippo (397 A.D.) fixed the final list of New Testament books, but it’s important to note that the question of which books were truly “scripture” was being addressed long before this. Even more important, Christians believe the Holy Spirit, who authored scripture, also managed its preservation and organization (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21).

Four developments prompted the church to act to “close” the canon: 1) heretics began circulating false writings; 2) counterfeit books, falsely written under the name of an apostle, began to appear; 3) Christianity spread to new lands, and missionaries needed to know which books should be translated into the native languages; 4) the edict of Diocletian (A.D. 303) ordered the destruction of the Christians’ sacred writings and threatened death for those who refused; believers needed to know which books were worth dying for.

The early church used a number of criteria in discerning which books belonged in the canon: 1) Evidence/claims of inspiration; 2) apostolic origin (written by an apostle or an associate who preserved the apostle’s teaching), the only exceptions being granted to James and Jude, brothers of Jesus who became followers after His death and resurrection; 3) written while the apostles were still alive; 4) general acceptance and use by the church and in continuous use in worship services; 5) agreement with accepted and undisputed scripture.

What about the Apocrypha, a collection of 14 books of Jewish history and tradition written from the third century B.C. to the first century A.D.? The argument against these books includes the following: 1) The Jews never accepted these books as scripture and did not include them in their Bible; 2) any acceptance the books enjoyed was local and temporary; 3) no major church council included these books in scripture; 4) many of the books contain errors; 5) some books include teachings that contradict scripture; 6) neither Jesus nor the New Testament quoted from the Apocrypha even though they quoted from the Old Testament hundreds of times; 7) the Christian churches that accepted these books did so many centuries after the Canon was closed.

The term “Bible” derives from the Greek word biblion (book); the earliest use of la biblia in the sense of “Bible” is found in 2 Clement 2:14, around 150 A.D.

 

Next — Objection 4: It’s silly to assume that one book – the Bible – contains all of God’s truth and that other great writings, from the Vedas to the Book of Mormon, do not come from God.

 

How do I know the Bible is true? (Part 1)

The Word of God This is the first in an eight-part series addressing skeptics’ claims against the Bible.

Christians believe in the reliability and authority of the scriptures. That is, we trust the Bible to be the inerrant, infallible, and inspired Word of God and the authoritative source of all we believe and practice. By inerrant, we mean the original autographs are without error because they come from God (2 Peter 1:20-21). By infallible, we mean the Bible is incapable of error because God, as its author, does not lie or make mistakes (Num. 23:19). By inspired, we mean the Bible is “God breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16) And by authoritative, we mean that the Bible, as God’s Word, is His written revelation to us and must therefore guide our thoughts, words and deeds (Heb. 4:12).

But many people do not share such a high view of scripture. In fact, some raise serious objections to claims about the Bible’s truthfulness and reliability. While there are many objections, eight of the more common objections include:

  1. No one really knows what Bible says because the original manuscripts are lost.
  2. The Bible has been copied so many times, with so many variations, there’s no way to know what was originally scripted.
  3. The books of the Bible were chosen arbitrarily by councils of men in highly political processes. As a result, they left out some very good books – perhaps some equally inspired writings.
  4. It’s silly to assume that one book – the Bible – contains all of God’s truth and that other great writings, from the Vedas to the Book of Mormon, do not come from God.
  5. The Bible is full of contradictions.
  6. The Bible can’t be true because it depicts a different God in the Old and New Testaments.
  7. There are so many translations of the Bible today, it’s impossible to know which translation is the right one.
  8. There are so many Christian denominations today, it’s clear that Christians can’t agree on what the Bible teaches.

Responding to these objections is a daunting task – in part because critics raise some valid points. For example, it’s true that we do not have the “autographs,” or the original documents. At the same time, the Bible soars above other ancient documents in many convincing ways, providing evidence of reliability and consistency that gives Christians good reasons to trust it as the Word of God. Our faith is not, as some critics say, “blind faith,” but reasonable faith based on the evidence.

Every Christian should be confident the Bible is true because there are good answers to the skeptics’ objections.

Objection 1: No one really knows what Bible says because the original manuscripts are lost.

The second part of this statement is true: The “autographs,” or original manuscripts, written on a variety of degradable surfaces from parchment to papyrus, no longer exist. But the remarkable number of copies, dating back in some cases to within a generation of their authorship, makes the first half of this objection false. In fact, we have tremendous confidence in the reliability of the Bible because of its manuscript trail. Craig L. Blomberg writes, “In the original Greek alone, over 5,000 manuscripts and manuscript fragments or portions of the NT have been preserved from the early centuries of Christianity. The oldest of these is a scrap of papyrus containing John 18:31-33, 37-38, dating from A.D. 125-130, no more than forty years after John’s Gospel was most probably written” (“The Historical Reliability of the New Testament,” Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics, pp. 193-94). Andreas J. Kostenberger adds, “The total tally of more than 6,000 Greek mss., more than 10,000 Latin Vulgate mss., and more than 9,300 early versions results in over 25,000 witnesses to the text of the NT” (“Is the Bible Today What Was Originally Written?” found in www.4truth.net).

So how does the Bible stack up against other ancient manuscripts? According to scholar F.F. Bruce, we have nine or 10 good copies of Caesar’s Gallic Wars; 20 copies of Livy’s Roman History; two copies of Tacitus’s Annals; and eight manuscripts of Thucydides’ History. The most documented secular work from antiquity is Homer’s Iliad with 643 copies. But the New Testament, with its thousands of Greek manuscripts alone, is the most highly documented book from the ancient world (The New Testament Documents, Are They Reliable?, p. 16).

In short, while it’s true we are lacking the “autographs” of scripture, we have every sound reason to be confident that what we read today has been faithfully preserved through thousands of copies, many of them written in close chronological proximity to the time they were originally penned.

Next — Objection 2: The Bible has been copied so many times, with so many variations, there’s no way to know what was originally scripted.

Copyright 2008 by Rob Phillips

Questions and Answers: World Religions and Cults

This week our Sunday school class completed a six-month study of world religions and cults. Members were invited to submit questions for discussion during our final week together. Below, I have posted their questions, along with my responses. To access all the documents we used in our study, click on the World Religions and Cults link to the right of the screen, or click on the  link to individual studies such as Islam, Mormonism, etc.

 

 1. What long-term trend does the Bible address regarding the growth or shrinkage of major religions and their current growth rates?

 

From the beginning, Satan has been a liar (John 8:44), producing false religions and promoting false doctrines through false Messiahs, false prophets, and false teachers. From a New Testament perspective, there will always be false religions, including counterfeit forms of Christianity, vying with true Christianity for the hearts of men and women. In the days before Christ’s return, they will all give way to the one-world religion of the Antichrist. Many Christians believe the church will be raptured, or caught up into heaven, before the Antichrist emerges, thus giving way to this false one-world system. Some speculate this religion will embrace New Age concepts and Eastern philosophies; others believe Islam is poised to become that one-world religion, but the Bible does not specifically say so.

 

The Bible warns of false prophets and counterfeit Messiahs in the last days – the days between Pentecost and the return of Christ. Some of these “antichrists,” as John calls them, will even perform miracles, leading many astray (see Matt. 7:21-23; 24:4-5, 11-12, 24; 1 John 2:18; 4:1-4). Even Jesus wondered aloud whether He would find faith on the earth when He returns (Luke 18:8). Paul, Peter, John, and Jude exhorted believers to hold fast to the true doctrines of Christianity because they will come under attack. And the book of Revelation describes a one-world religion led by the Antichrist – one opposed to the real Jesus, and one who also happens to stand in His place. At the same time, Jesus assured us that during the dark days prior to His return, the gospel would be preached in all the world (Matt. 24:14).

 

While there are many false belief systems in the world today, the apostle Paul tells us to watch for three common threads. False teachers will preach another Jesus, a different Spirit, and a different gospel (2 Cor. 11:3-4).

 

2.      What are the reasons the Seventh-Day Adventists give for holding Saturday as their Sabbath? What about their dietary restrictions?

First, it’s important to note that Seventh-Day Adventism (SDA) is not a cult as we have defined it (a religious organization whose members claim to be Christian, and who use the Bible and Christian terms, yet who deny the central beliefs of biblical Christianity). SDA’s views on the Trinity, the person and work of Christ, the personhood and deity of the Holy Spirit, and the inspiration and authority of Scripture are orthodox. Rather, SDA should be seen as a sect – that is, a Christian denomination that embraces distinctive doctrines not in accord with historic Christianity.

The SDA view of the Sabbath is one such teaching. The organization’s official Web site, www.adventist.org, says this about the Sabbath:

The beneficent Creator, after the six days of Creation, rested on the seventh day and instituted the Sabbath for all people as a memorial of Creation. The fourth commandment of God’s unchangeable law requires the observance of this seventh-day Sabbath as the day of rest, worship, and ministry in harmony with the teaching and practice of Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a day of delightful communion with God and one another. It is a symbol of our redemption in Christ, a sign of our sanctification, a token of our allegiance, and a foretaste of our eternal future in God’s kingdom. The Sabbath is God’s perpetual sign of His eternal covenant between Him and His people. Joyful observance of this holy time from evening to evening, sunset to sunset, is a celebration of God’s creative and redemptive acts. (Gen. 2:1-3; Ex. 20:8-11; Luke 4:16; Isa. 56:5, 6; 58:13, 14; Matt. 12:1-12; Ex. 31:13-17; Eze. 20:12, 20; Deut. 5:12-15; Heb. 4:1-11; Lev. 23:32; Mark 1:32.)

In response, we should note two things. First, the early church adopted the practice of worshiping on Sunday (the “Lord’s Day”) in commemoration of Christ’s resurrection (Mark 16:9; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2). Second, the apostle Paul made it clear that the day one chooses to set aside for worship is a matter of personal conviction, not divine mandate (Rom. 14:5-8). SDA’s insistence that Sunday worship is the “mark of the beast” is in error. As Tal Davis puts it, “Salvation and commitment to Christ are not demonstrated by adherence to external legalities (see Rom. 13:8-10, 14:4-13; 1 Cor. 16:2; Gal. 4:9-11; Col. 2:13-17)” (“Seventh-Day Adventism,” found on www.4truth.net).

 

As for dietary restrictions, the SDA Web site says:

 

Along with adequate exercise and rest, we are to adopt the most healthful diet possible and abstain from the unclean foods identified in the Scriptures. Since alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and the irresponsible use of drugs and narcotics are harmful to our bodies, we are to abstain from them as well. Instead, we are to engage in whatever brings our thoughts and bodies into the discipline of Christ, who desires our wholesomeness, joy, and goodness. (Rom. 12:1, 2; 1 John 2:6; Eph. 5:1-21; Phil. 4:8; 2 Cor. 10:5; 6:14-7:1; 1 Peter 3:1-4; 1 Cor. 6:19, 20; 10:31; Lev. 11:1-47; 3 John 2.)

 

The Web site www.religioustolerance.org adds: “They (SDAs) were once also expected to abstain from caffeinated drinks such as coffee, tea, cola drinks, etc. The church has since removed this from the baptismal vows, although they still recommend that policy. They have interpreted the Old Testament dietary laws as prohibiting the eating of some foods. The church recommends avoiding red meat. Many SDA members are vegetarians who supplement their diet with eggs and milk.”

 

A brief response is in order. While a person’s diet may testify to his or her beliefs about the body as the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and while Seventh-Day Adventists may be commended for promoting exercise, rest and healthy eating habits, the Old Testament dietary restrictions for Jews are not to be imposed upon the New Testament church (see Mark 7:15-23; Rom. 14:1-23).

 

 

3.      What is the most threatening to the basic foundation of Christianity on a short and long-term basis?

 

The immature Christian. Too many believers remain infants in the faith, feeding on milk rather than on the meat of God’s Word (Heb. 5:11-14). Such people fill the pews of our churches yet are ill equipped to recognize and rebuff false teachings. With “itching ears” they follow eloquent false prophets, and like chaff they are blown about by “every wind of doctrine” (see 2 Tim. 4:3; Eph. 4:14).

 

Beyond that, the greatest threat to Christianity today is not Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism or other world religions that distance themselves from Christianity and attack it from without; it is the counterfeit forms of Christianity that attack it from within. False prophets, whom Jesus called “ravaging wolves in sheep’s clothing” (Matt. 7:15), are devouring the flock, and we have no excuse for it. Peter wrote a stark warning to the church when he said: “For the time has come for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17).

 

Christians today should follow the advice of the apostle John, who exhorted us in 1 John 4:1-4 to:

·        Not believe every spirit (that is, every person proclaiming a divine gift for service; or “antichrists”);

·        Test the spirits to see whether they are of God;

·        Know the Spirit of God.