August 29, 2023
To read Why Believe the Bible – Part 1, click the link below: Bringing Jesus into Focus – Why Believe the Bible Part 1 (bringingjesusn2focus.com)
The very first thing when talking about Christianity is that many people will tell you to read the Bible. Why? You ask and they say, “Because it’s true.” OK, how do you know it’s true? Some will say, “it just is.” Not a really good reason, huh?
There are a lot of arguments concerning the validity of the Bible. In Why Believe the Bible – Part 1 we went through the secular issues such as documentation, archaeology, various sciences, medicine and so on. I will be referring to some of that information in today’s blog. Now, let’s look at the book itself. What are the main arguments? Here are just a few. I may have to write a Part 3 and Part 4, because there are so many more arguments beyond these four and some explanations may be longer than others in the telling. So, Part 2 will be discussing how we got the Bible, who wrote it and God’s part in the writing and how it is unique among other religious texts.
- How it was passed from generation to generation verbally long before it was written down so it can’t be an accurate account of creation and history.
- It was written by men. God didn’t have anything to do with it.
- How it has too many authors and was written over a long period of time, so it can’t be consistent.
- It is the same type or book as other religions texts.
Oral Tradition vs. Oral Transmission
One of the objections is that the stories were passed down by oral tradition from generation to generation and could not possibly be accurate. It had to have changed from person to person. First of all, there is a difference between oral tradition and oral transmission, which is how the scripture was passed to future generations.
Oral tradition is the keeping of practices of long held beliefs. Back in the day it was things like dancing, cooking, sewing, quilting, spinning yarn, knitting and crochet, etiquette, running a house or business, herbal medicines and so on. Here is one example of oral tradition. A young woman was preparing a ham for Easter dinner. She carefully cut off about one half inch from each end of the ham before putting it in the pan. Her husband asked why she did that. She said that her mother had always done it. So, she called her mother to ask why she did it that way. Mom said, her mother always did it that way and that was how she was taught to prepare a ham. They then asked Grandma. Grandma laughed and told them that her pan was just about an inch too small for the hams she used so she trimmed off about a half inch from each end. That is oral tradition. Oral tradition passes down the practices and traditions of cultures for future generations. These days many of these skills and traditions are transmitted via the written word. Oral tradition still exists in many native cultures across the world.
The Pharisees used oral tradition to interpret the Mosaic Law. Jesus spoke highly of the scripture but condemned their reliance on the traditions which reflected the desires of the traditionalists over God’s word. The Encyclopedia Britannica states that Talmud and Midrash are commentative and interpretative writings that hold a place in the Jewish religious tradition second only to the Bible (Old Testament). In its broadest sense, the Talmud is a set of books consisting of the Misha (“repeated study”), the Gemara (“completion”), and other materials. The Mishna is a collection of original oral laws supplementing scriptural laws. The Gemara is a collection of commentaries on and elaborations of the Mishna, which in “the Talmud” is reproduced in side by side with the Gemara. For example, In Talmud today there are approximately 900 traditional rules that govern the keeping of the Sabbath. Six hundred and thirteen of those rules come from a rabbi in the 3rd century A.D. The Talmud made the Sabbath a burden rather than a day of rest. Jesus said that Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27). The Pharisees believed that to do mercy or kindness on the Sabbath was contrary to tradition and did not honor the Sabbath.
The scriptures were passed to successive generations via oral transmission. This is the method of passing on information. It was transmitted by direct explanation of facts, people, places, events and times. Contrary to popular belief, writing had to have been in existence much earlier than archeologists suggest. For example, Noah had to have a way to plan the building of the ark, keep track of the food gathered to sustain all on the ark and to keep track and record of all the creatures on the ark. Without writing this would have been impossible. Some of the scriptures could have been written and passed to future generations and some could have been verbally transmitted to those same future generations. But oral transmission was done in a very strict manner. The teacher passed the information to the student(s) and would not let those students teach others until they had it down perfectly. It could not be paraphrased or put into the student’s own words.
Most of the scripture was written down soon after the actual events by eye witnesses of said events, so there was little time for the memories to fade. Others were taken down by investigators who spoke with eye witnesses. Here are some examples: Joshua wrote of the entrance into the Promised Land, the battles that took place there and the division of the land among the tribes. The judges of Israel kept records of the events that occurred. Kings had scribes that kept meticulous records of their kingdoms. The Gospels were written by eyewitness and from interview with eyewitnesses. The Old Testament was intentionally written to record the events of God’s people from creation forward and was not a collection of tales of other cultures.
The Old Testament was written with little to no reliance on oral history but from oral transmission. The New Testament was written by eyewitness within the 1st century A.D.. That is not to say that oral transmission is perfect. The Old Testament was common knowledge among the Israelites and getting right was paramount. Written transmission of the scripture preserves the even to read over and over again with accuracy. The manuscript evidence of the Bible is overwhelming. There are over 5300 Greek, 10,000 Latin and 9000 other language manuscripts
Written by man; not inspired by God
This is another of the adamant arguments against the validity of the Bible. It was written by men, not God. There are many places in scripture where it is recorded that God said to write what is seen or heard. What the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 30:2) was told “Thus says the, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you.” And what the Apostle John was told in Revelations 1:19, “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. are two such examples. Moses was told by God what to write down when he was on Mount Sinai, including the Ten Commandments. The Apostle Paul stated a number of times that Scripture was inspired by God. (2 Timothy 3:16, 1 Corinthians 14:37, 1 Thessalonians 2:13). Old Testament scripture also show that God was part of the narrative. (Exodus 14:1, Exodus 20:1, Leviticus 4:1, Ezekiel 1:3). So, God was guiding what He wanted to be written in the Scriptures.
This is Inspiration. In Latin inspiration means ‘”to breathe into”. God breathed His words into the writers of the Bible. Webster’s Dictionary defines it as 1) divine influence or action on a person believed to qualify him or her to receive and communicate sacred revelation. 2) The action or power of moving the intellect or emotion, 3) The act of influencing or suggesting thoughts or deeds.
If the Bible had been written without the inspiration of God, it would have whitewashed the ‘heroes’ of the Bible. They would have appeared perfect, but they don’t. Adam disobeyed God and got kicked out of the Garden of Eden, Abraham lied about his wife, not once but three times. Isaac did the same thing. Jacob cheated his brother of his birthright. King David was an adulterer and murderer. King Solomon worshipped idols. King Hezekiah also worshipped idols. And yet their stories are in the Bible and spelled out clearly. No hedging. No making them look better that they were. They are there, warts and all. But be aware that although God inspired the writing of these things, it does not mean that He approved of what they did. Murder is a sin, but He has the stories of murder included in the Bible. The Ten Commandments are inspired and so is the written account of the murder of Amnon by King David’s son, Absalom.
Another proof of the inspiration of God in the scripture is the prophecy that runs from cover to cover in the Bible. Man cannot foretell the future no matter how adamant the so-called ‘psychics” are. The writing of the Bible was inspired by the omniscient (all knowing) God who IS in the Past, IS in the Present and IS in the Future. He know was it is in the future and will bring it to pass. Most of it has occurred just as God said it would. There is still much of Revelation that is still to come. Much of the Old Testament contains prophecy. The Bible is 27% prophecy. Most of these prophecies came hundreds of years before the actual event. They were predicted accurately as far as person, place time and event. And it occurred just as prophesied. Nostradamus and Edgar Cayce are hit and miss with prophecies so vague that to “make” them be true, they have to be twisted and guessed at. The Bible is 100% accurate, every time.
The Greek translation of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament was completed about 100 years before the birth of Jesus and contains precise prophecies about that birth. There are over 360 prophesies concerning Jesus. To fulfill just 8 prophecies is 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. To fulfill 49 prophecies is a 1 in 10157 chance. That is a 1 with 157 zeroes after it. Pert near impossible. But Jesus fulfilled all 365 prophecies. That chance is astronomical, but He did it.
Too many authors and languages; too long a time span. Can’t be consistent.
The argument is that the Bible has 40 writers and written over an approximate 1500-year period (around 1450 B.C. to 90 or 95 A.D.), so it cannot be consistent. But it is and the content is unique among religious texts. The writers are from all walks of life. Moses was a prince, then a shepherd. David was a shepherd and then a king. Isaiah was a prince and prophet. Daniel was the second highest ruler of a kingdom and a prophet. Peter was a fisherman and an apostle. Paul was a Pharisee and then an apostle. Luke was a physician, Matthew a tax collector and Ezra was a priest. It was written in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and was still consistent across the board. Other religious texts were originally written in one language. The Qur’an was written in Arabic over four decades after the apparent author. Hinduism’s Vedas was written in Sanskrit and orally passed down centuries before being written. The Book of Mormon was written in English in 1830.
There are four Gospels that seem to contradict each other. There are books in the Histories of the Bible that seem to be repetitive. These are different perspectives, not contradictions. Matthew saw Jesus as the Messiah, the Lion of Judah. Mark saw Him as the Suffering Servant, who took the burden of our sin. Luke showed Him as the Son of Man, in His humanity and John revealed him as the Son of God, in all of His divinity. Four different aspects of the same Jesus. The Gospel of Luke was written from interviews with the people who experienced the events or had been eyewitnesses to the events. The Gospels of Matthew and John were written by eyewitness and participants in the events of Jesus’ life. The Gospel of Mark was written by John Mark, a disciple of Paul, who may have been an eyewitness to the life of Jesus.
The Bible is unique. It was ultimately written by God through men of His choosing. It would have been impossible for single human writer. The New Testament was written within years of Jesus’ death and resurrection and was immediately copied and distributed. In contrast, the Qur’an was not written in one book by Muhammad and there is no manuscript support for it. It was written on scraps paper, stones, pieces of leather, shoulder blades of camels and palm leaves and attributed to Muhammad. But was kept in oral form until about 40 years after his death. It was put into written form when disagreements over the content began. It was compiled and edited numerous over many decades until one ruler destroyed all competing copies, presenting his compilation as the ‘official’ version.
Same as any other religious text
The Bible is just like any other religious book is a very common argument. However, that statement couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Unlike other religious texts, it is the unvarnished truth of the sinfulness of all of its ‘heroes’. It does not teach that a man can be saved by good works. In fact, Ephesians 2:8-9 says it best, “ 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.” That is one of many verses that says the same thing. It does not tell us that if we follow the rules and regulations we will be saved. It says that man has sinned and was sinful. The penalty is death. God made a provision for man’s sin to be forgiven. First by the sacrifice of a living animal. Then, by the death of the Son of God, Jesus. No other religious text contains this. The Bible is not a religion, which is man’s search for God. Jesus is God’s search for man and that is what the Bible tells us.
No other book has God becoming man to die for the atonement of Mans’ sin and to restore Mans’ relationship with Himself. The Hindu Vedas explains salvation this way: the soul goes through reincarnation—a rebirth of the soul into a new body after death. Life, birth, death, and rebirth is an endless cycle called samsara. Rebirth is affected by karma—the result of deeds or actions—in the present life. Sounds depressing to me. The Qur’an teaches that salvation is attainable through sincere worship of God alone. It states that salvation is the saving of the soul from sin and its consequences. There is no concept of inherited sin in Islam. We are born without any sin or sinful condition. Sin is an activity which renders the human soul sick and incapable of viewing the face of God. Salvation from sins is achieved through developing and understanding the purpose of life as established by The Holy Quran, gaining knowledge about sinful conditions through over 600 commandments of The Holy Quran and making “righteousness” as the guiding principle of decision making. Sounds like a lot of work to me. The Mormons have a different explanation of salvation. In the doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), the terms “saved” and “salvation” have various meanings. Their teaching includes six different types of salvation. Confusing, to say the least.
This is how the Bible came to be. We have discussed how it was passed down, how it was written and by whom. I have tried to show the uniqueness of the Bible and how it differs from other religious texts. We have seen that, although the writing spanned about 1500 years, the central theme of the Bible is consistent. Brutally consistent. We have seen that God inspired the writers and how the content of the Bible itself proves that it couldn’t have been written any other way. We’ve discussed that prophecy is the telling proof of that inspiration because man is incapable of foretelling the future. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. There is more to come.
Thank You Father for Your Blessings. Thank You for teaching us about the Truth of Your Word. Help us to learn and be able to stand against detractors. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Food for thought
- What do you believe about the Bible?
- Do you know of traditions passed down in your family? Can they possibly be completely accurate? Why or why not?
- What do you think about the Bible being inspired by God?
- Do you think the Bible is the same as any other religious text? Why or why not?
- How would you discuss the truth of the Bible with those who disagree with it?
