Bunch of Bible Questions Part 3

Here are our next round of Bible questions. Today's grouping has to do with the Bible and the writings of other belief systems.

Q- How do we know the bible is the standard (the only authoritative Scripture) and not other writings (e.g., Qur'an, Hindu scriptures, etc.)? How should we look at things like the Book of Mormon that claim to be in alignment with the Bible and subsequent 'revelations from God'?

A- This is a classical postmodern, pluralistic question. We live in a time when the only real sin, according to our culture, is to stake your claim in one Truth. With so many other belief systems out there, especially some major ones like Islam, how can Christianity say that our scripture is the True Scripture?

It basically comes down to the issue that there are major contradictions between all of these holy books. Contradictions cannot be true on major belief points. It's like one person saying that George Washington was the first president of the U.S., and someone else saying that Thomas Jefferson was the first. Somebody's wrong here!

Norman Geisler, a leading Christian apologist and editor of "Who Made God?", writes the following:

"If the Bible declares that Jesus died on the cross and rose bodily from the dead three days later (1 Corinthians 15:1-6), and the Qur'an teaches that he did not (Sura 4:157), both cannot be true on such a crucial teaching. If the writings of Joseph Smith teach that there are many gods (in his Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible as well as the Mormon books of Moses and Abraham), and the bible declares that there is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4; 1 Corinthians 8:4), then both of these writings cannot be true."

Other belief systems may indeed teach things are true (for example, the "Golden Rule" is found in some form in nearly every belief system), but where they differ from the bible, then they are false.

The bottom line is truly found in the fact that the Bible continually gets affirmed in its teachings throughout history, that it does indeed transform people's lives, and that it implores people to live selfless lives of love, not seeking their own glory, but only the glory of God.

Q- How can I help my friends (who are Jehovah's Witnesses) to understand that Jesus is God? They have a hard time understanding that Jesus can be the "Son of God" and God at the same time.

A- This isn't so much a bible question, but an important one about how we help build bridges with people of other belief systems. Honestly, trying to understand the Trinity is like a high school guy trying to understand why girls go to the bathroom in packs. Thinking on it too much makes your brain hurt!

Jesus said that he was God (John 10:30) and his claim to be God was the blasphemy that we was accused of by the Jewish High Priest in Matthew 27:63-65. Also, Jesus made many "I am" statements about himself (John 8:58) that equated himself with God. Jesus also forgave sins (Mark 2), something reserved for God. Jesus also allowed his disciples to worship him as God (John 20:28; Matthew 16:15-17).

The great theologian and church father Augustine makes the argument that for God to be perfect, he has to exist in community. Since God is love (1 John 4), and love has to be shared; it is an action. And since God is self-sufficient, he must be able to share that love within Himself. Therefore, God must exist in community so he can express the love that is inherent to Him. Again, Norman Geisler say that with love, there must be a love (God the Father), and loved one (God the Son), and a spirit of love (God the Holy Spirit).

The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are not separate entities...they are three persons yet one essence. Visually, you can think of God like a triangle - three distinct corners, but one shape. You can also picture God mathmatically in the equation: 1x1x1=1 (as opposed to 1+1+1=3; this would be polytheism). But in the end, every illustration breaks down; for this is one of the greatest mysteries of our faith.

A Bunch of Bible Questions part 2

OK, here's the next round of questions about the Bible that we'll tackle this week. Remember, these are real, honest questions from the peopel at Delta Church.

Q- Did only the disciples write the Bible?

The Bible was written by solely by Prophets. Prophets were basically mouthpieces for God; speaking to people on behalf of the Lord. Some writers were prophets by office (e.g., Moses, Samuel, Jonah, etc.); and some writers were prophets by gifting (e.g., David & Daniel). In the New Testament, the writers were Apostles (Matthew, Paul, Peter) or a disciple of an Apostle (Luke, Mark).

Q- Was the Bible written in different languages?

The Bible was originally written in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic.

Q- How can we take literally a translation (the Bible wasn't written in English, and surely the cultural and linguistic context of Scripture are important to its interpretation)?

Generally, there are 2 categories of Bible translations. The first is word-for-word, where the original language is translated, remaining true to the original sentence structure. Examples of this type of translation is the KJV, NASB, and the ESV (which Delta uses). The difficulty with these sometimes is that they can be more difficult to understand due to sentence structure from the Greek to English can be tricky, and honestly, the reading level is higher than the typical American adult. The average reading level for an adult is around 8th grade, but 1 out of 5 adults have a reading level below 5th grade; and 2 out of 5 older Americans and minorities read below a 5th grade level.

The other category of Bible translation is thought-for-thought. This is where the tranlation team will look at the idea of the original language, and interpret the idea into English. Examples of this type of translation are the NIV, RSV, NLT, and the CEV. Sadly, important theological terms often get substituted. A common word that is substituted is "propitiation"; which means that the wrath of God toward sin was satisfied with Jesus' death on the cross. But thought-for-thought translations will use the words "sacrifice", "atonement", or "expiation" which do not carry the weight that God intended with using "propitiation."

A last category would be a paraphrase. Popular paraphrases are the Living Bible, The Message, or Philips. These Bibles "update" the language into common language, but their starting point is a translation and not the original text. They are fine for personal reading (along with a good translation), but are insufficient for teaching and preaching.

For a more in-depth look into this question, specifically of why Delta has chosen the ESV as our preferred translation, please read this article.

Lastly, it is important to understand the context of the text. To understand why it was such a big deal that Jesus made friends with tax collectors like Matthew and Zaccheus, you need to understand the cultural implications of being a tax collector during those times (tax collectors basically were traitors to their own people (the Jews) and worked for the oppressive Roman government who ruled at the time, over-taxing in the process to make themselves rich). Same principle goes for Paul's oft-misunderstood teaching regarding women (not be allowed to speak, not wearing jewelry or make-up, etc). Knowing the cultural context allows us to see the eternal truths and translate them into our own day (e.g., modesty and living out our God-given Biblical roles are the principles that Paul talks about).

Q- Are all the stories in the Old and New Testament actually (literally) true or an analogy for teaching?

Everything is the Bible is true. The flood, Jonah and the big fish, Daniel in the lion's den; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego in the firey furnace; the Virgin Birth of Jesus, and Jesus' resurrection are all true. With that said, since God chose to inspire human writers to record his truth, he did use their personalities, situations, and different literary forms to communicate his truth. So, in the Bible you will find historical narrative (Samuel), poetry (Psalms), parable (much of Jesus' teaching in the Gospels), metaphor (John 15:1-8), allegory (Galatians 4:21-5:1), and even hyperbole (Matthew 5:29; Luke 14:26). So, read the literal parts literally, and read the metaphorial parts metaphorically.

That's good for now. We'll tackle some more questions next week in regards to the Bible and other religious writings.

Tragedy at NIU

A horrible thing happened yesterday. A gunman stormed the campus of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. 21 were shot. 6 were killed (including the gunman, who shot himself). Lives will forever be changed.

Sin has a devestating effect on the world and on individual lives. I pray for those who are wounded and for the families and friends who have undergone a terrible loss.

Many questions will be put forth in regards to God, suffering, and justice. The questions can really wait a couple days, for now is the time to grieve. But to help you process the relevant issue of pain and suffering in the world, and where the Gospel fits into all of it, I encourage you to listen (or watch) Dr. John Piper from his message during the Gospel Coalition back in May 2007: http://thegospelcoalition.org/plenary_downloads.php

I'll continue the mini-series on "A Bunch of Bible Questions" later today, or perhaps on Monday.

Grace+Peace to all...

A Bunch of Bible Questions

This past Sunday I began preaching through the Gospel of John. I began the series in a very introductory manner, emphasizing the reliability of Scripture and Jesus as the center of the entire Bible. Now, teaching a subject like that brings up a myriad of questions, so I gave Delta the opportunity to write down some questions about the Bible that I would categorize and answer here on the blog. There are some great questions, and I will be posting answers over the next couple weeks. But to get us started off, one question (which really isn't a question, but more of a positional statement) jumped to the front:

"There is no absolute truth. I don't believe the Bible, so any response that finds its foundation in the Bible I reject. Christians are narrow-minded thinking there is only one way, their way."

Now, I have no idea who wrote this, so I'm not going to worry about offending anyone in my answer.

The first statement, "there is no absolute truth", ironically is an absolute statement. He (the handwriting looked like a guys, so we'll go with that) absolutely said there is no absolute truth. Right off the bat he is condraticting himself. So in the attempt to pull his gun out of the holster, it went off and shot himself in the foot.

The second statement about rejecting any internal biblical evidence is a very fair one. The only problem here is that making a statement, or assumption, like this completely denies any historical accuracy of the bible. Doing so is simply ignoring nearly 4000 years (going back to the Old Testament) of biblical steadfastness. But there's a question to be asked here, what about the bible don't you believe? If you say you don't believe the bible, then you're saying that you don't believe obvious historical facts of something as obvious as the nation of Israel existing. So, I'm guessing that what is meant is that any truth claims the bible makes is what's being rejected, specifically revolving around the person of Jesus Christ. Now, there are extra-biblical sources that speak to the existence of Jesus Christ and the influence of Christianity. Writings by the Jewish historian Josephus and Roman historians Cornelius Tacitus and Pliny the Younger are the most popular. You can read their writings for yourself here and here.

The last statement about Christians being narrow-minded is both true and very ignorant. Jesus himself said in John 14:6 "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one come to the Father except through me." And in Matthew 7:13-14 Jesus says, "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." So Christians are narrow-minded because that's what Jesus himself taught. The problem isn't with Christians, it's with Jesus.

But this is narrow view is not limited to Christians. Any devout follower of any religion would believe the same thing about their religion. Author and theologian Ravi Zacharias says, "All religions are not the same. All religions to not point to God. All religions do not say that all religions are the same. At the heart of every religion is an uncompromising commitment to a particular way of defining who God is or is not and accordingly, of defining life’s purpose. Anyone who claims that all religions are the same betrays not only an ignorance of all religions but also a caricatured view of even the best-known ones. Every religion at its core is exclusive.”

I would argue that the same would be said of those who are pluralists or even atheists. To be accepting of all ways, or not accepting any way, is being narrow minded as well. And trying to convince others of your position (or should we call it a belief) is doing the work of what we Christians call an "evangelist"...or what secular people refer to as proselytizing - an effort to convert someone to your way of thinking or believing. So, the rules that a pluralist, or a Religious Reletivist (as Tim Keller puts it), makes about being narrow minded are broken as soon as they are made. As soon as you say that all religions are subjective, that is that the "path to god" is completely personal and that is the position you try to get others to accept, suddenly the pluralist is just as narrow as the monotheist. So that is a useless argument and position.

So, either Jesus is THE way, or there's NO way. Jesus is the only major religious leader to claim that sort of exclusivity. Jesus is the only major religious leader who claimed to come down from heaven, as opposed to 'ascending' to heaven or a god-like position. When it comes down it, in the midst of a myriad of religions and belief-systems, you have to ask yourself, "which of these religions leads me best in the path of love and service to my fellow man?" At the heart of Christianity is a God who became a man and sacrificed himself for the beings that he created. The heart of Christianity is the highest form of love: sacrificing yourself for another, especially one who is undeserving and by all rights deserves punishment, not love and grace and mercy. Following Jesus is about living a life of love, service, and reconciliation. There have been many who have gone to war, have acted tremendously selfish, and have oppressed their fellow man in the name of Jesus. These people have missed the whole point of the Bible and the life that Jesus lived. But they have illustrated the darkness of the heart of man, and why we need a Savior so desperately. And that is exactly why Jesus came to earth, lived, died, and rose again.