By: Dale Weckbacher
This Saturday’s post is the fifth segment of the six-week
series on empowered evangelism. The
studies are based upon the Book Empowered Evangelism, which is available at https://sites.google.com/site/dalesrbooks/
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God
is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to
the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
NKJV
As we saw in Ephesians, the
arsenal of the believer contains many weapons.
We saw that the arsenal contains a shield, helmet, belt, breastplate,
shoes, and a sword. Of these weapons,
the only offensive weapon is the sword or Word of God. As such, a believer without the Word of God
would only be able to defend him or herself and unable to move forward in
spiritual battle. I believe this is why
our spiritual enemy attacks the Word of God with such fervor.
Attacks on the Bible are nothing
new and even today carrying one in countries like Saudi Arabia or North Korea
could mean imprisonment or even death.
Some believe the reason for this reaction stems from the claims of the Bible
to be the inspired Word of God. Since
God is the creator of the universe, this claim makes the Bible the final
authority. Anyone coming against the
views of the Bible or touting some other view is therefore coming against God,
the creator. Since people and nations
dislike finding out they are wrong, they attack the standard of truth judging
them as wrong. (1)
In the United States, people have
traditionally had freedom of religious expression and can carry a Bible almost
anywhere. However, when the Supreme
Court banned prayer in school, the door was opened to not only ban prayer in
schools, but also banning the Bible. Recently,
a teacher told a 12-year-old student at a middle school that he could not read his
Bible in school. The child was not
reading his Bible aloud or sharing it with others, he was simply reading it to
himself. (2) I guess a 12-year-old honing his sword
fighting skills by learning the Word of God threatened this teacher.
Besides attacking individuals’
rights to carry or even study the Bible, the Bible’s authenticity also comes
under frequent attack. These attacks
cite alleged contradictions in the Bible and since we as Christians claim that
the Bible is free from errors, even one contradiction means that the Bible is
just another book and not the inspired Word of God. As believers desiring to share the good news
of the Gospel with others, we must be prepared to confront these alleged
contradictions.
Alleged biblical contradictions
happen for the following reasons.
1) Translation
errors
2) Scribal
errors
3) Theological
conflicts
4) Literary
techniques
5) Contradictions
regarding Jesus
The book Empowered Evangelism
investigates examples of each of these types of contradictions in detail, showing
them not to be contradictions at all.
Most alleged contradictions are explained by taking the scripture in its
historical and contextual context. For
example, the Bible is an ancient text and the literary techniques used in its
writing differ from the literary techniques in modern writing.
Recently the Pentagon in a course
on sexism claimed the Bible, as well as the Constitution and Declaration of
Independence are sexist documents. (4) In Wednesday’s posting, I challenged this
claim by citing the important role women have played in scripture. However, claims of sexism are also made
because the Bible, when referring to mankind, uses the word man. In our modern politically correct society,
such writing would be considered sexist.
However, taken in the context of ancient literature the word man refers
to mankind, which includes men and women.
In addition, unless one is a
Hebrew or Greek scholar, the Bible most of us read is a translation from the
original Hebrew or Greek text. As with
all translations of literature, there might be translational errors since imperfect
humans perform the translations. This is
why we as believers must attend church and Bible studies where someone versed
in Greek and Hebrew can clarify any errors or inadequacies in translation.
Anyone endeavoring to become a
student of the Bible must take care to study all scripture in its historical and
contextual context and refer to the original text when a contradiction seems to
appear. This clarifies the alleged
contradiction and demonstrates the inerrancy of the Bible. Instead of causing us to doubt the validity
of the Bible, resolution of these alleged contradictions through study of
scripture in context referring to the original text actually increases our
confidence in the validity of the Word of God.
Followers of Jesus Christ have no
reason to be on the defensive. Even
though the armor of God only provides believers with one offensive weapon, it
is a very powerful weapon for it is the inerrant Word of God. We therefore must become proficient in the
use of our sword as we engage in the spiritual war for the souls of lost men
and women.
1. Truthnet.org. What is the Bible. www.truthnet.org.
[Online] Truthnet. [Cited: April 22, 2015.]
http://www.truthnet.org/Bible-Origins/1_WhatistheBible/.
2. teaparty.org.
Banned from Reading the Bible? In America? www.teaparty.org. [Online]
Teaparty.org, January 6, 2015. [Cited: April 22, 2015.]
http://www.teaparty.org/banned-reading-bible-america-75978/.
3. The Devine
Evidence. Answering Alleged Bible Contradictions. www.thedivineevidence.com.
[Online] [Cited: December 1, 2013.] http://www.thedevineevidence.com/skeptic_contradictions.html.
4. Goldberg, Ashley
Rae. Defense Department: The Bible, Constitution And Declaration Of
Independence All Perpetuate Sexism. www.dailycaller.com. [Online] The
Dailey Caller, April 13, 2015. [Cited: April 16, 2015.]
http://dailycaller.com/2015/04/13/defense-department-the-bible-constitution-and-declaration-of-independence-all-perpetuate-sexism/.
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