THE FOURTH DAY OF OCTOBER IN THE YEAR OF GRACE TWO THOUSAND AND FIFTEEN. A gracEmail subscriber writes: "No matter what the question, you answer them all the same. In the first paragraph you say, lawyer-like, 'It might be this way.' 'In the second paragraph you say, 'It might be that way.' In the third paragraph you say, 'Joy, grace, Jesus, and little gray squirrels.' Can't you ever just give a clear, straight answer?" * * * * * On some subjects, as least, I plead guilty as charged. For the record, I began preaching and teaching Scripture in 1961 and was not licensed as an attorney … [Read more...]
inspired scripture
A gracEmail subscriber writes: "I was wondering what you would say to the average person who was questioning how to believe in the innate infallibility of our biblical canon." * * * It seems to me both misguided and profitless to obsess about the precise canon of Scripture, or to become engrossed in hair-splitting definitions of infallibility, inerrancy and other such terms, especially if one limits the applicability of these words to the original autographs. The church was not built on a doctrine about either the canon or infallibility, but on the apostolic testimony about Jesus of … [Read more...]
Divine revelation–Word to words to Word
A crowning diamond in the Christian treasury is the gracious ease with which God's self-revelation to humankind occurs, and the beauty of its flow from Word to words and back again to Word, until every rift between God and humans is removed and relationship is fully restored. The cycle of redemption is thus completed: the fullness of God becomes human and, through dying and being raised from death, brings the fullness of humanity into the glory of its intended destiny in sharing the divine nature (Heb. 2:5-9; 2 Pet. 1:3-4). The cycle of revelation begins in the eternal beauty of God's … [Read more...]
GOSPELS TRUSTWORTHY — BAUCKHAM
For about a century now, the world of academic Gospels studies has been dominated by the assumptions and methods of scholars known as form critics. These particular scholars believed that after the death and reported resurrection of Jesus, tales and sayings of the "Jesus of history" circulated for many years as anonymous community traditions until their central character finally evolved into the "Christ of faith." This form-critical approach achieved popular notoriety when a leading practitioner named Robert Funk formed the so-called Jesus Seminar and proceeded to decide, … [Read more...]
BIBLE INSPIRED (2)
A gracEmail subscriber in Arkansas writes, "I've always been taught that the Bible was divinely given word by word (I think this is called verbal inspiration). But some passages just sound like a believer pouring out his heart to others. Could you offer some thoughts on inspiration and the Bible?" * * * Just as Jesus was both human and divine, so Scripture is written by men although it is called "the Word of God." But God used ordinary men to write it, men who usually had no idea that they were writing Scripture. The Bible includes a wide variety of ordinary types of literature, composed … [Read more...]
FAITH, NOT CERTAINTY
A Canadian preacher requests my response to an inquirer who asks how we "know with certainty and without doubt that the Bible is God's revealed and trustworthy Word." The inquirer says that he wants to believe that, and that if he could, it would launch him into "a life of faith." * * * We know almost nothing "with certainty and without doubt," and we do not normally require that standard in our daily lives. At most, we usually go with the preponderance of the evidence -- what is more reasonably likely than not -- what tilts the scales in its favor. If we could prove something "with … [Read more...]
ARE THE GOSPELS RELIABLE?
A gracEmail reader asks, "How do we know that the words ascribed to Jesus were actually his words? I have read that they were written down a century or more after his death? Was Mark even one of the original 12 disciples?" * * * The earliest Gospel was probably Mark's, which scholars generally agree was written within 30 years of Jesus' death and resurrection. Within a generation after Jesus' resurrection, the eleven Apostles (Judas had killed himself after he betrayed Jesus) and the special Apostle, Paul, carried the message about Jesus throughout the inhabited world. Eleven of these twelve … [Read more...]
ACCURACY OF GOSPELS
A university religions professor chides my quoting the Gospels with an assumption that they correctly record what Jesus actually said. "If you exclude the Bible from historical-critical scrutiny," he warns, "you will remain impervious to any historical argument and a discussion is indeed useless." * * * I certainly believe that Scripture will stand up to historical and scientific investigation, but I am not convinced that the various "criticisms" which attempt to go behind the text themselves meet the canons of rigorous science. That is particularly true when those who originally create … [Read more...]
BIBLE AND WORD OF GOD
"All my life, I have seen preachers hold up the Bible and say, 'This is the Word of God,'" writes a counselor in the Midwest. "When New Testament writers use the expression, 'the word of God,' do they not have something in mind other than the Scriptures themselves? We must not make the Bible our god, which is one form of idolatry." * * * Surely you raise a worthwhile caution, since Jesus himself warned his hearers not to allow a theoretical study of the Scriptures to distract them from recognizing the very Messiah-Savior to whom the Scriptures point (John 5:39-40). If the Old Testament … [Read more...]
PROVING THE BIBLE
A gracEmail reader asks, "How do we know that the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit? Those who wrote the Bible say so, but how do we know? How can I convince someone who is not a Christian to believe that?" * * * The Apostle Paul says that "all Scripture is inspired by God" and is therefore "profitable," adequately equipping the Christian worker for every required task (2 Tim. 3:16-17). This word "inspired" is literally "God-breathed," which reminds us of the story of God creating Adam from dirt, then breathing life into him to become an animated man (Gen. 2:7). That is a faith statement … [Read more...]