The Bible? You've got to be kidding!

I didn't always believe what I now believe about the Bible, about God, Faith, reality etc. I came to where I am "at" (as we say here in Newfoundland) by process. There were periods when over a short time my thinking changed radically, but a lot of it was line upon line, line upon line, here a little there a little. I do not consider myself to have arrived by any stretch of the imagination. The more you know, the more you realize there is to know. I have not arrived, but I am more sure of the basics than I ever was. I don't know where you (the reader) are at, but I do know that many times (we) Christians have expected others to simply accept everything we say as gospel. It's not reasonable.

We live in a skeptical age, where everything that even smacks of faith is ridiculed and dismissed. It's not that Christianity has been weighed in the balance found wanting and then dismissed. It has been ridiculed and dismissed without hearing, without trial. In particular the Bible has come under heavy attack. Some Christians have overacted to these attacks and made claims that I find difficult to support. Some of them are just silly. There is, for example, the 'King James Bible only' movement. The claim is that only the original King James version of the Bible is inspired. The claim is of course completely arbitrary and comes from out of the blue! A missionary friend in Argentina was asked by his supporters if he only used this version. But there is no Spanish King James Bible! Of course the advantage of taking views like this, is that you don't have to think, but it does not go too well with the command to love the Lord with all of our mind!

It is not my intention to defend the Bible. I don't need to, it has survived all on its own down through the ages against countless attacks, and it's still the best seller of all time. You might as well defend a lion as defend the Bible. So “the Bible am I kidding?” No, I am not. I do defend my interpretation of it, but this is a long debate and not what I want to do here. It's a subject all on its own and it's huge. On the other hand, I do feel I needed say some things in response to what I have heard “out there” that seem to be oft repeated. Perhaps they are just questions! A lot of this “folk criticism” can, if we let it, undermine faith, and I want to at least start the process of showing that there are answers to these things.

Being in a University, I hear a lot of things Profs say about faith, both inside and outside of their disciplines. How people who don't believe in God can claim to be experts in the area is something of a puzzle to me! The problem though, is that for many students the Prof is like a god. They think that he (or she) must be right because he (or she) is smart, educated, articulate and supremely confident. In particular far too many simply take the Profs word as gospel, and they loose their faith as a result. Part of the problem is that some traditions do not allow you to question. It is regarded as doubt, and is considered wrong. However when difficult questions are raised (as they are at the University), people coming from such traditions are not used to thinking and wrestling things through, and most are essentially defenseless. As I said earlier though, most of the attacks on faith consist of ridicule rather than honest debate. I hear such things as “I know too much Science to believe in God.” My short answer to that is “No, you do not know enough science to make a statement like that.” I have addressed many of these things in the early posts on this blog (June-August 2010). But I am starting to digress.

What I want to do in the next few posts, is to answer some of things I hear that are directed against the Bible. I also want to suggest a way forward for those who are open to investigating the claims the Bible makes about itself. As I said above, I did not always believe what I now believe (about the Bible). It came by process. I will say more later in “the proof is in the pudding.”

I should confess I am using the blog to work on an appendix to my book. The title of the appendix is the same as the title to this post. I intend to address some (or all) of the following:

• Take away clutter add understanding
  
  • Do you take the Bible literally?
    
  • The Bible, isn't it full of errors?
    
  • What about miracles? How can you believe in miracles?
    
  • They were naive in those days, they would believe anything!
    
  • Can't you make the Bible say anything you want?
    

• The Bible has the best explanation of reality.
  
  • This book knows me!
    
• The Bible has the best solutions for life
  
  • Best Principles
    
  • Best Promises and Power
    
  • Best of the best, His Presence
    
• The proof is in the pudding.
  
  • If you continue in My Word ... then you will know the truth and the truth shall set you free.
    
  • Is it real, is it relevant? By their fruits you will know them