Basic Christianity

Other Religious Writings

The writings held sacred by other religions are greatly inferior to the Bible. Hindus revere the Vedas, and Buddhists the Pali texts, but anyone who rejects the esoteric practices and philosophies that these writings promote would have no reason to read them. The other so-called scriptures are likewise uninviting. The Book of Mormon has no admirer outside Mormonism, and the Koran excites little interest outside Islam.

The Koran, based on visions of Mohammed, lacks both substance and imagination. The author's picture of the afterlife, for example, is simply a fantasy that his own personal desires—desires conditioned by his own cultural experience—will be perpetually fulfilled. He says the blessed will dwell in a luscious garden filled with trees. Which varieties? He mentions lote-trees and plantains, both found in Arabia.¹ Also, the blessed will eat the flesh of fowls² and the most delicious fruits,³ and for drink they will find rivers of wine, milk, and honey.⁴ In other words, they will dine on the best food and beverages available to a wealthy sixth-century Arabian. Another joy of the blessed will be to recline on couches and converse with each other.⁵ What kind of furniture is he talking about? The kind in his own house. It is obvious that Mohammed had no conception of anything better than what he already knew. But the real heaven will furnish nothing less than heavenly wonders.

What family life did Mohammed promise any man who is a loyal servant of Allah? He can expect a harem of beautiful girls, of course.⁶ What can a Muslim woman expect? Apparently no more than the privilege of belonging to somebody’s harem. But in the eternal family awaiting all Christians, men and women will have equal standing, and the binding force in all relationships will be the love of Christ.

Uniqueness of the Bible

After God makes us desirous of finding Him, He leads us to His book of self-revelation, the Bible. By every relevant test of credibility, the Bible appears worthy of our consideration.

1. Vision of man's future. Like Islam, all other non-Christian religions and worldviews fail to rise above the limitations of human thought when they attempt to picture man's afterlife. All they see after death is a descent to nothingness, or survival as a ghostlike spirit, or reincarnation in this world, or removal to another world hardly better or clearly worse than ours, or passage into a nebulous existence without personal experience or identity. Only in the Bible do we find hope of a future transcending finite imagination (Isa. 64:4; 1 Cor. 2:9). The Bible’s exalted vision of things to come is therefore strong evidence that its author is not man, but God.

2. Trustworthiness of its authors. Its authors were such pious men that no fair-minded person could seriously accuse them of deliberate lying or manipulation. Indeed, many Biblical writers, including perhaps all writers of the New Testament, went to a martyr's death rather than recant their faith in God. According to credible traditions, both Paul and Peter were martyred by the Romans, Paul by beheading (the most humane form of Roman execution, reserved for Roman citizens like Paul) and Peter by crucifixion.⁷ The Jewish historian Josephus testifies that James was stoned to death after being tried and condemned by Jewish leaders.⁸ The Babylonian Talmud, which preserves the traditions of the Pharisees, reports that Jewish leaders also killed Matthew.⁹ The earliest account of John’s death is similar. Coming from Papias, a writer in the early second century AD, it remembers that John was martyred by the Jews.¹⁰

3. Accuracy. No artifact or credible document from antiquity contradicts the Bible. Every discovery bearing on places, people, or events mentioned in the Bible has supported rather than contradicted what the Bible says.

At one time the critics alleged that there was never a people called the Hittites, as the Bible claims. But archaeologists discovered that the Hittites were a powerful nation in Asia Minor.¹¹ The critics once asserted that Bel-shazzar in the Book of Daniel never existed. Then it was discovered that he did exist.¹² Also, the critics denied the existence of Darius the Mede in the Book of Daniel, but it has been proved beyond reasonable doubt that Darius is the same as the man named Gubaru in ancient sources.¹³ Another claim of the critics has been that Luke used the wrong titles for some of the officials he mentions in the Book of Acts, but evidence has come to light proving that his titles are correct.¹⁴ In recent years one school of archaeologists tried to convince everyone that David and Solomon were legendary figures rather than real kings, but their contention has shipwrecked on two discoveries. In 1993 and 1994 archaeologists found an inscription dating from the mid-ninth century BC which refers to David by name. Subsequently, experts reexamined a previously discovered inscription from the same period and established that it too speaks of David.¹⁵

Especially alarming to critics has been the unearthing of a palace and tomb in northern Egypt that confirm the Bible’s story of Joseph, the great-grandson of Abraham who became chief adviser to the pharaoh of Egypt (Gen. 37–50). Found amidst the ruins of a large city of Semitic people that had come from the northeast, this tomb, dating from the 12th Dynasty (roughly from 1950 to 1750 BC), is a small pyramidal structure that would have been appropriate for the grave of a high official. Inside are the remains of a statue portraying the deceased as a Semite with a coat of many colors such as Joseph’s family remembered him wearing (Gen. 37:23–33). In the same burial ground are eleven other tombs of lesser distinction, each a vaulted chapel. Adjoining the burial ground are ruins of an impressive villa fronted by a porch with twelve columns. The total number of tombs and the total number of columns strongly suggest that they honor Joseph and his eleven brothers, who were the forefathers of the twelve tribes comprising the nation of Israel. The site of these discoveries lies in the region known in antiquity as Goshen, the very region where, according to Scripture, the twelve tribes resided before their departure from Egypt (Gen. 45:10; 47:27).¹⁶

4. Realism in its point of view. The Bible in all parts has a down-to-earth truthfulness. It refuses to flatter the reader. In its accounts are no details that must be dismissed as mere imagination. Rather, the impossible is limited to divine miracles. Also, the Bible never turns heroes into supermen. The only one it recognizes as a true hero is God Himself. Nor does it gloss over the faults of people that it expects the reader to revere. Even in its portrait of Abraham, father of the Israelite nation, the Bible exposes conspicuous flaws, and such flaws as his cowardice in the face of Pharaoh’s desire to take his wife, Sarai, do not even arouse our sympathy (Gen. 12:10–20). The realism of Scripture sets it apart from Homer's Iliad, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and all other ancient writings that tell stories about the distant past.

5. Treatment of the supernatural. If the Bible contained the thoughts of man rather than the thoughts of God, its backdrop would be ancient philosophy or mythology. But unlike Greek philosophy, which denied God's existence or confined it to our universe, the Bible presents God as a real being who, in relation to created things, is distinct and transcendent. And unlike mythology, the Bible never ascribes personality to natural objects or forces. The angels that the Bible places higher than man but lower than God live within a spiritual realm rather than within the realm of nature. Also unlike mythology, the Bible gives us a God who is perfect in knowledge, absolute in power, and unfailing in holiness. In contrast, the Greek gods were just overblown human beings, full of faults and vices.

6. Internal consistency. Although the Bible is the work of many different authors spread over a great span of places and years, its spiritual teachings are marvelously self-consistent, as are its historical narratives.

An outstanding example of consistency in the Bible is the perfect symmetry between Genesis and Revelation. Despite the closing words in Revelation (Rev. 22:18–22), which clearly anticipate being read as the last words in the Bible, no secular critic imagines that the author intended his work to serve as the final book in a new collection of holy writings. Therefore, the symmetry between the two ends of the Bible, especially between the very opening chapters and the very closing chapters, creates a huge problem for all who deny the supernatural, for they have no way to explain and dismiss this evidence of a divine craftsman. Let us explore that symmetry.

1. a) Genesis records the creation of our universe (Gen. 1:1). Revelation foretells its destruction and its replacement by a new universe that will never pass away (Rev. 20:11; 21:1–4).
   
   
2. Genesis reveals that God intended mankind to multiply and become great in number (Gen. 1:28). Revelation reveals that His purpose will be fulfilled when a vast multitude of people from every nation, kindred, and tongue will enter heaven and live with God forever (Rev. 21:3; compare with Rev. 7:9).
   
   
3. Genesis reveals also that God intended man to exercise dominion over the earth (Gen. 1:28). Again, the fulfillment appears in Revelation. There we learn that the eternal dwelling place of God’s people will be a new earth which they will govern (Rev. 5:9–10; 21:1-3).
   
   
4. Genesis records God bringing a woman to Adam and declaring them one flesh (Gen. 2:21-24). Revelation speaks of God bringing a bride to Christ (Rev. 21:2; compare with Rev. 19:6-9), whom Scripture identifies as the second Adam (1 Cor. 15:45-47). He bears this title partly because He accomplished what the first failed to accomplish.
   
   When Eve sinned, what should the first Adam have done? He should have offered to die in her place. As a sinless man, he was an acceptable substitute. No doubt God would have raised him from the dead, as He did the second Adam, and the first couple would have remained in Paradise forever. Mankind would have been spared from the curses of sin and death. Instead, our forefather followed his wife in eating the forbidden fruit.
   
   The second Adam was far superior. To save His bride, the church, from the just penalty for her sin, He became her substitute and went to a horrible death on a cross. Then God raised Him from the dead, so that He can live with His bride forever in Paradise.
   
   
5. Genesis tells us the penalty that God laid upon the serpent for beguiling Eve into sin (Gen. 3:15). The only other text in the Bible that calls Satan a serpent is at the beginning of a passage in Revelation (Rev. 20:2) which shows his penalty being imposed. The final crushing of his head will be his permanent banishment to a lake of fire.
   
   
6. Genesis recalls the curse pronounced on mankind after Adam and Eve sinned (Gen. 3:16-19). Revelation foresees the future lifting of that curse (Rev. 21:3–4; 22:3).
   
   
7. Genesis and Revelation are the only sources of information about two remarkable trees. Looking into the remote past, Genesis tells of a Paradise where both were planted. One, the Tree of Life, provided life-giving fruit. The other, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, bore forbidden fruit (Gen. 2:9). After man sinned by eating the fruit that God had set off-limits, God denied him further access to the Tree of Life lest he escape sin's penalty, which is death (Gen. 3:22–24). Looking into the future, Revelation tells of a Paradise called the New Jerusalem where God will replant the Tree of Life so that the saints may partake of its fruit and live forever (Rev. 22:1–2). But the same book says nothing about the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Rev. 21–22). It will evidently be missing. Why? Because in the eternal Paradise, sin will no longer be possible.

All seven points of symmetry support the same message. Together, they show that the world to come will set aside the failures in our world and fulfill all of God's original purposes in creation.

7. Caliber of its ethical teachings. The Bible teaches ethical ideals far loftier than those found in other religious writings. The oldest system of laws in the Bible is the law of Moses, which many people unfamiliar with its provisions wrongly suppose to be harsh and inhumane. The truth is quite otherwise. The Mosaic code displays many evidences that the author is a being of supreme tenderness and love. It spares a man from military service if he has recently built a home or planted a vineyard, lest he die before he can enjoy the work of his hands (Deut. 20:5-6). It even grants an exemption to a man on his honeymoon (Deut. 24:5). In the laws of what other society, ancient or modern, do we see such compassion? Some of the regulations in the Mosaic code demand kind treatment of animals (Deut. 5:14; 25:4). One that is especially remarkable requires an Israelite to help an ox or donkey in distress even if it belongs to his enemy (Exod. 23:4–5). Other regulations call for simple neighborliness (Deut. 22:1; 23:24). The code is imbued with concern for the poor (Exod. 23:6; Deut. 15:7–11; 24:14–15), as well as for the "stranger" (that is, the foreigner), the fatherless, and the widow (Deut. 10:17–19; 24:17–18). It enjoins farmers to pass over some of the crop at harvest time so that the needy can gather whatever remains (Lev. 19:9–10; Deut. 24:19–21). A terrible curse is pronounced on anyone who "maketh the blind to wander out of the way" (Deut. 27:18). The summation of Mosaic law is a supremely high standard that is without parallel in pagan societies: "Love thy neighbor as thyself" (Lev. 19:18).

A divine perspective transcending all human perspectives can be seen also in the moral teachings of the New Testament. The new conception of love that Jesus articulates in the Sermon on the Mount is the most exalted ever introduced to human thought. Love according to Jesus is a selfless love for all mankind including one's enemies (Matt. 5:44). The only valid proof of this kind of love is a willingness to perform every conceivable good on behalf of others (Matt. 7:12).

8. Resilience under attack. Many educated people have learned a smattering of so-called higher criticism, which treats the Biblical writings as mere story and fable written long after the time when their principal characters supposedly lived. Higher criticism makes some pretense to be a science, but it is really a highly speculative theory of history—a theory that has stubbornly refused to die despite a growing mass of contrary evidence. Although no archaeological discovery in the last century has proved incompatible with the traditional view that the Biblical writings are authentic, many discoveries have utterly contradicted some view of the higher critics. Yet higher criticism continues to be well respected because it is the only alternative to taking the Bible seriously.

When an ordinary person hears learned attacks on the Bible, he may assume that these spring from logic or evidence. In fact, they spring from another foundation—from the assumption that miracle and prophecy are impossible, even unthinkable. For example, the overarching reason for the late dates that critics assign to Old Testament books like Daniel and Isaiah is that with uncanny precision these books tell of certain future events. Isaiah reveals the name of Cyrus long before he lived (Isa. 44:28; 45:1). In Daniel 11, the prophet provides a detailed survey of Jewish history between 500 and 200 BC. So, in both cases the critics conclude that the predicted events must have come first.

Yet the God of the Bible offends many modern readers. They dislike thinking of God as a wrathful Being who pours vengeance upon His enemies. But their failure to understand the wrath of God proceeds from a more fundamental failure to understand the love of God. People today imagine that love never transgresses the elusive ethic, “Live and let live.” But what parent who truly loves his child would not react angrily if a stranger perversely attempted to poke out the child’s eyes? Although human anger may be a form of animal defensiveness or a device for selfish purposes, it may also be a natural expression of love. God too has children. From humanity He has called out a people for Himself, and He has placed them in the position of sons. Because He loves them with the love of a perfect Father, He hates any enemy, human or superhuman, who would hurt them. As a perpetual threat to the children of God, the ungodly among men and angels will suffer divine wrath forever.

Spiritual Nourishment

The Christian life is a process of growth from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity. Just as bodily growth depends on nourishment, so also does spiritual growth. The food that enables a believer to grow is the Bible (Matt. 4:4). To a babe in Christ, the Bible is milk (1 Pet. 2:2). To a mature believer, it is meat (1 Cor. 3:2; Heb. 5:12-4).

We find a list of the nutrients that the Word of God supplies in 2 Timothy 3:16-7.

Doctrine. The Bible informs us about all necessary truth that is beyond the reach of our own experience. It affirms the existence of God and paints a full picture of His character. It tells us about heaven and hell, the two places of eternal destiny. It surveys both the beginning and the end of world history. It relates the ministry and redemptive work of Christ. In its record of prophecy and miracle, it provides an evidential foundation for Christianity. And, of surpassing importance, it shows us how to be saved.

Still today, many Americans say they believe in God and heaven, but decline to accept the full truth and authority of the Bible. They do not realize that except for the Bible, their belief system has no real basis. Also, they do not understand that drawing from the Bible only what they like is an arbitrary procedure. If the Bible is untrustworthy in some things, it is untrustworthy in all things, and their belief system stands on slippery ground. Lacking any solid foundation, their faith in God and hope of heaven are just wishful thinking.

In fact, however, the Bible is trustworthy in all things.

Reproof and correction. The Bible is God's way of contradicting our fallible human notions. Just as foolishness is bound in the heart of a child (Prov. 22:15), so it is bound in the heart of a sinner. The aim of Biblical correction is to bring us to repentance and faith.

Instruction in righteousness. The Bible presents itself as a moral guidebook (Psa. 119:11, 105). Its objective throughout is the same as Paul’s when he was instructing Timothy—to provoke us to good works from a pure heart (1 Tim. 1:5).

The last two nutrients complement each other. Reproof and correction enable us to know what is wrong, while instruction in righteousness enables us to know what is right.

All Truth

The Bible is God's Word to man. Nothing in the Bible is extraneous to divine revelation. The whole of it comes from God. Yet today, many who profess a Biblical Christianity boast that they see mistakes in the Bible. Their willingness to cavil at God's Word is reckless and arrogant. We will lay out five crucial arguments that the Bible is in fact inerrant.

1. The Bible, speaking of itself under the names "the law of the Lord," "the word(s) of God," or "the word(s) of the Lord" ascribes perfection to itself.
   1. Several texts agree, for example, that the Word of God is pure—that is, without any adulterating falsehood or deception (Psalm 19:7-11; Prov. 30:5-6; Psa. 12:6).
   2. Other texts, speaking even more plainly, say simply that the Word of God is true (Psa. 119:151, 160).
   3. Elsewhere, we find the remarkable assertion, "For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven" (Psa. 119:89). It is absurd to imagine that a patchwork of truth and error would be a fixture for eternity. Surely, truth alone is worth preserving.
   4. In debate with those who mocked His claims, Jesus resorted to an argument drawn from the Psalms (Psa. 82:6) and then added, as a warning against trying to evade His argument, "The scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:34-36). The term "scripture" refers to the whole body of sacred writings. "Broken" is better rendered "annulled" or "abolished." By resting His argument on the brief statement, "Ye are gods" (two words in the Hebrew), Jesus is conferring authority upon very small portions of Scripture—indeed, upon individual words. He is saying most emphatically that everything in the Bible is fully true and reliable.
   5. We find an equally reverent view of Scripture in the writings of Paul (2 Tim. 3:15-17). He says that all Scripture is inspired and all is profitable to the reader. Surely he did not imagine that anything false was inspired or profitable.
2. God is a being who excels in honesty and forthrightness. Truthfulness is at the core of His character (Psa. 146:6; 2 Sam. 7:28; Rom. 3:4; Heb. 6:18). He would never compromise His character by allowing errors within the book that He expects us to treat as His vehicle of self-revelation. We cannot reckon any portion of this book as erroneous without making God an accomplice in falsehood.
3. If the Bible contained errors, it would be impossible to sift them out except by relying on human judgment. Either we would look to presumed experts for guidance, or we ourselves would try to find the errors. But our present view of reality is extremely narrow. We have lived but a moment, seen but a tiny corner of the universe, and learned but a thimbleful of knowledge. Moreover, we have a perverse nature that often prefers nonsense to the truth. Why then should we make ourselves the final judges of where truth lies in the Word of God? Any assertion we judge to be mistaken may only be God's attempt to correct our ignorance.
4. Trusting human judgment to find the errors in the Bible, if they existed, could not lead to assured results. In those churches that reject the inerrancy of Scripture, the attempt to separate truth from falsehood is a subjective procedure, unaided by any generally accepted rules. No two practitioners of destructive criticism agree as to exactly which assertions are erroneous. Clearly, then, if we also were to decide that the Bible contains errors, we would soon fall into utter confusion as to how much of the Bible is trustworthy. Soon thereafter, nothing in the Bible could evoke from us the unclouded faith and simple obedience that God desires. But God assures us that He has not spoken to us in mumbles amid noise (Isa. 45:19). Since God promises that He will speak to us plainly, and since the idea that the Bible contains errors has the effect of muffling His voice and creating confusion, we must dismiss the idea as false. The Bible is not full of errors, but is inerrant.
5. God is a loving father. If you had vitally important instructions to share with your child, what kind of words would you use when conversing with him? Would you expect him to pick out the truth from a confusing blend of truth and error? Of course not. You would speak only truth, assuring that he would understand your instructions and be able to carry them out. Likewise, in His exceeding compassion for His children, our Father in heaven does not want us to be victimized by errors in His Word. He wants us to find nothing but truth helpful to our spiritual growth.

Objection

Many spurn the inerrancy of Scripture because they doubt that God could convey complex, perfect truth through mere men using mere human language. But we tend to project our own weaknesses upon God. In His inspiration of Scripture, as in the Incarnation, the Holy Spirit was able to create a miraculous blend of the divine and human. Some of the words came to the author as the spoken words of God. Some came to him as the creation of his own mind. Because of their human character, all the words exhibit the author's peculiar style, personality, and experience. Yet because of their divine character, all the words are fully true, and their scope is not limited to the author's prior knowledge. Moreover, unlike any religious writing proceeding solely from human will and imagination, the Bible refuses to tell man that he is okay, or to give him a recipe for working his way to heaven. Instead, it tells man the unvarnished truth—that he is a wretched sinner.