A better response to the existence of evil and suffering...

This week we are addressing the fifth of these eight common questions that those who are skeptical ask as a challenge to God and the Christian faith. And that question is this: “Why would a good God allow so much suffering?” Yesterday we discovered that this is a question that we all ask at some point in our lives. And, for many people, this question serves as the chief objection to the Christian faith. 

The timeless reality is that every human being experiences suffering. We experience suffering as a result of the frailty of our bodies and the inevitable march toward death that we all experience. We also experience suffering as a result of the seemingly cruel laws of nature that produce earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis, or a branch falling on a moving car in a storm. We experience suffering as a result of the hatred and hostility of humanity toward one another.

And it is not just the quantity of the suffering that causes us to question the existence of God. The very nature of the grief that surrounds suffering causes us to question God. Those who reject God often make a very strong case against God when it comes to the issue of suffering in the world. As Bill Kynes points out, the philosophical case against God often goes something like this: A God who is all powerful would be able to prevent evil in the world. A God who is all good would want to prevent evil in the world. However, evil exists in the world. Therefore, an all-powerful and all-good God cannot exist.

Often religious people will try to respond to this philosophical argument against God by trying to water down one of the premises. For example, some religious people will respond to this argument against God by proclaiming that evil is not as real as we imagine. Other religious people will respond to this argument against God by proclaiming that God exists but He just simply isn’t as powerful as we thought. Still other religious people respond to this philosophical argument against God by proclaiming that God is all powerful, but He is just not as caring as we would like.

But this morning, are these the best responses that we can come up with to this philosophical argument? That evil is really not that bad? That God is really not that powerful? That God is really not that good? What if I told you that there is a better response? What if I told you that there is a response that is found, not just in the letters that make up the Bible, but in the very life of the historical figure of Jesus?

First, the response of followers of Jesus to the existence of evil and suffering in the world is not to deny or minimize its existence. Instead, as followers of Jesus, we are to readily admit the reality of evil and suffering because Jesus and the letters that make up the Bible shed a spotlight on it in a way that exaggerates and reinforces the existence of evil and suffering in the world.

You see, Jesus and the letters than make up the Bible declare that the evil and suffering that is in the world is far worse that we realize. As a matter of fact, the existence of evil and suffering in the world is itself a pointer to the existence of God. Think of it this way: if there is no God, is there really any ground for believing that injustice and evil exists? If there is no God, wouldn’t evil just be the result of genetics, or bad luck? But who really believes that? No, we know evil when we see it, don’t we?

But the evil we see is only the tip of the iceberg of the evil that God sees.  You see, as human beings our experience of evil is focused on the outward acts of violence and hatred or the suffering caused by natural disasters. However, God sees an additional dimension of evil, which is the spiritual dimension of evil that is personified by a being that the letters that make up the Bible refer to as Satan, or the Devil.

Now Jesus and the other authors of the letters that make up the Bible teach us that demons are a group of supernatural beings who are under the leadership of the Devil, or Satan. We also know that the Devil and demons have superhuman, but limited knowledge and power. The Devil and demons are angels that were created by the Lord before the creation of the universe, who rebelled against God sometime before the fall of humans that is recorded for us in the very first letter in the Bible in Genesis 3. And the Devil and the demons that follow the Devil are driven by a desire to destroy the Kingdom of God and the people of God. The Devil and the demons are driven by a desire to be worshipped as gods instead of worshipping God.

However, the letters that make up the Bible also reveal another element of evil that we can often be oblivious to. And that is the evil that is found within our own hearts. We see this reality revealed for us in a section of a letter that is recorded for us in the Bible called the book of Romans. Here is what a man that we know today as the Apostle Paul had to say about the human condition in Romans 3:9-18:

What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; ¹⁰ as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; ¹¹ THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ¹² ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE." ¹³ "THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING," "THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS"; ¹⁴ "WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS"; ¹⁵ "THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, ¹⁶ DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, ¹⁷ AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN." ¹⁸ "THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES."

Here we see the Apostle Paul provide the evidence to demonstrate that all humanity has a huge problem with God as a result of the evil of our hearts. Paul reveals the reality that this problem that is the result of the evil in our hearts is universal. Paul reveals the reality that this problem that is the result of the evil in our hearts is revealed by our words and by our actions that cause suffering and harm to others. Paul reveals the reality that this problem that is the result of the evil in our hearts is insurmountable.

You see, evil is real and is deeper and far more pervasive than we can possibly fathom because God is far more right and just than we can possibly imagine. And this is where what is referred to in church mumbo jumbo talk as “the fall” comes in. The world that God created was good, very good. God did not create evil. Now a natural question that could arise here is “Well if God did not create evil where did evil come from?” 

Evil is not something that has an existence all its own; evil is a corruption of that which already exists. Evil is the absence or deprivation of something good. For example, tooth decay can exist only as long as the tooth exists. The cause of evil is not material. Instead the cause of evil is moral.

Evil came into existence the moment that Adam and Eve used their God-given freedom of choice to choose to rebel against God by disobeying God, which is recorded for us in a section of the very first letter in the Bible called the book of Genesis, in Genesis 3. As a result of this choice by Adam and Eve, the relationship between God and Adam and Eve, and humanity throughout history, was drastically changed. Now the church mumbo jumbo talk phrase for this event from history and the consequences from this event from history is “The Fall of Man”.

You see, for humanity to be truly human requires the ability to choose and to freely love. By very definition, love is voluntary and must be freely expressed. Free choice, however, leaves the possibility of wrong choice. Evil is inherent in the risky gift of free choice. While God’s plan included evil when he gave humans the freedom of choice, the actual origin or evil came from man who directed his heart away from God and toward his own selfish desires.

Thus, whereas God created the fact of freedom, man created the act of evil. Through Adam’s act of selfishness and rebellion, all humanity acquired a natural bent toward selfishness and rebellion against God. Through Adam’s act of selfishness and rebellion, all humanity through history has acted on that selfish and rebellious bent to do things that hurt God and others. And it is this selfishness and rebellion that alienates, or separates us from the relationship with God that we were created for.

However, not only does evil exist and is far worse than we realize as a result of what is found in our own hearts that rebel against God. A second response of followers of Jesus to the existence of evil and suffering in the world is that evil and suffering actually reveals that God is far more loving than we could ever hope.

After all, if evil originates from the rebellion of humanity who directed their hearts away from God and toward their own selfish desires, then an all good and all-powerful God should simply do away with humanity so as to do away with evil. If the problem is humanity, just remove humanity and the problem is solved.

But the letters that make the Bible make it abundantly clear that God did the exact opposite. Friday we see the Apostle Paul reveal this reality just a few chapters later in the book of Romans...

“Why would a good God allow so much suffering?”

At the church where I serve we are in the middle of a sermon series entitled Skeptic. During this series we are spending our time looking at the eight common questions that skeptics pose as a challenge to the Christian faith. And as we go through this series, our hope and prayer is that we would address these eight common questions that skeptics pose to challenge Christianity in way that answers these questions and that equips us to have confidence and convictions about the nature and character of God and His activity in the world around us.

This week I would like for us to address the fifth of these eight common questions that those who are skeptical ask as a challenge to God and the Christian faith. And that question is this: “Why would a good God allow so much suffering?”

Now this is a question that we all ask at some point in our lives. And, for many people, this question serves as the chief objection to the Christian faith.  The timeless reality is that every human being experiences suffering. For example, we experience suffering as a result of the frailty of our bodies and the inevitable march toward death that we all experience. For some that death involves the suffering of disease.

For others, that death involves the suffering that comes from some type of accident.  We also experience suffering as a result of the seemingly cruel laws of nature that produce earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis, or a branch falling on a moving car in a storm. The second law of thermodynamics, which is the scientific law of entropy, that demonstrates that the earth is moving from order to disorder, in a process of decay, produces acts of nature that result in suffering.

However, what makes suffering even worse is the human element- our suffering is magnified by the hatred and hostility of humanity toward one another. Whether it is the terrorism of 9/11, the human sex trafficking market, ethnic violence, or crime, human beings often feel surrounding by the suffering that flows from the mistreatment and exploiting of one another.

And it is not just the quantity of the suffering that causes us to question the existence of God. The very nature of the grief that surrounds suffering causes us to question God. It only takes a single person that we care about coming into a season of suffering to bring us to a place where we question God. It doesn’t take the murder of 6 million Jews to question God. It only takes a small personal tragedy to drive us to ask “Where is God? How could an all-powerful God let this happen? Is God real? Is God really there? Does God really care? Or is God distant and disinterested? Or does God even exist?

So how should we respond to the skeptics question “Well if there is a God, then why would a good God allow so much suffering?” Those who reject God often make a very strong case against God when it comes to the issue of suffering in the world. As Bill Kynes points out, the philosophical case against God often goes something like this: A God who is all powerful would be able to prevent evil in the world. A God who is all good would want to prevent evil in the world. However, evil exists in the world. Therefore, an all-powerful and all-good God cannot exist.

This argument is referred to as a syllogism. A syllogism simply states that if A = B, and B = C, then A = C. And when you look at this philosophical argument against God, it seems like a very strong argument. So how should a follower of Jesus respond to such a strong argument?

Often religious people will try to respond to this philosophical argument against God by trying to water down one of the premises. For example, some religious people will respond to this argument against God by proclaiming that evil is not as real as we imagine. As a matter of fact, much of Easter Religious philosophy, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, tends towards this direction.

However, the problem with this view is that its truth is fundamental challenged by universal human experience. Across continents and cultures, throughout human history, evil has been a real and present reality. And because of that reality, denying evil is not a right and realistic response to this question because evil is an all too present reality that hurts too badly.

Other religious people will respond to this argument against God by proclaiming that God exists but He just simply isn’t as powerful as we thought. This was the position taken by Rabbi Harold Kushner in his popular book “When bad things happen to good people.” This thinking is promoted by proponents of what is referred to as “open theology”.

Advocates for open theology maintain that God allows sickness and cruelty to come into the world because He just can’t do anything about it. God wanted a loving relationship with real people, so he decided to take the risk of creating humanity with free will, and how could he possibly know what they would choose? So God has to simply let things play out according to the rules He’s established. God is like a master chess player who does not know the moves that humanity will make but is so great a chess player that He will eventually win the game in the end.

So when bad things happen to good people, the question for humanity, according to Kushner, is can humanity learn to love and forgive God despite His limitations? In response to Kushner’s book, Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel powerfully proclaimed, “If that is who God is, why doesn’t he resign and let someone more competent take his place?” Elie accurately pointed out that this idea of a limited God that is promoted through open theism is not the God who is proclaimed in the letters that make up the Bible.

Still other religious people respond to this philosophical argument against God by proclaiming that God is all powerful, but He is just not as caring as we would like. He is a God who created the world but now lives in a way that is distant and disinterested with what is happening in the world. This view pictures God like a clock maker who makes a clock, starts the clock, then walks away from the clock, distant and disinterested in the clock as it keeps time.

This seems to be the predominant view of Islam, for example.  The Qur’an expresses it simply in 57.22: “Every misfortune that befalls you is ordained”. Buddhism, while having a very different view of God, reflects a very similar attitude of resignation when it comes to how God engages the word that is created.

But are these the best responses that we can come up with to this philosophical argument? That evil is really not that bad? That God is really not that powerful? That God is really not that good?

What if I told you that there is a better response? What if I told you that there is a response that is found, not just in the letters that make up the Bible, but in the very life of the historical figure of Jesus?

Tomorrow we will begin to discover that response together…

The letters that make up the Bible are the words of God that have been given to us by God so that we might come to know and live in relationship with God...

This week we have been addressing the fourth of eight common questions that those who are skeptical ask as a challenge to God and the Christian faith, which is “Why should we believe in the Bible?” Or more specifically, “Why should we believe that the Bible is the word of God?”

So far this week we have looked at several different arguments for you to consider when it comes to the claim that the Bible is the word of God.  We considered the claim behind the claim that the Bible is the word of God. God is a personal being who created human beings for a relationship with Him and for relationships in community with others. And because of that reality it is not at all unreasonable to think that God would not desire to speak to us as well as part of that relationship.

We considered the Bible’s own claims. The Bible is a collection of letters that were written by more than 40 authors from every walk of life over a 1,600 year span that have been preserved and collected together in what we refer to today as the Bible. These letters were written in three different languages over the span of over 60 generations and are divided up into two main sections, which we refer to as the Old and New Testament. God spoke through these human authors throughout history to communicate His message to humanity throughout history.

We then considered the argument surrounding the character and content of the letters that make up the Bible. The letters that make up the Bible consist of a wide variety of literary genre. The letters that make up the Bible contain history, poetry, proverbs, prophetic predictions, legal documents, worship songs, and letters. Yet in spite of the amazing diversity of genre, writers, languages, and time, these letters fit together to proclaim in a single united voice a grand story. And that grand story can be summarized as the revealing of God’s glory through His activity in the creation, pursuit, and rescue of rebellious humanity.

We considered how Jesus talked about the letters that make up the Bible. You see, when Jesus talked about the letters that make up the Bible, He spoke of them as being the very word of God that carried the very authority of God. Paul took the reality that Scripture was without error to the very letter when He wrote to the Galatians about who was the fulfillment of God’ promise to Abraham. And Peter placed Paul’s writings as the word of God and without error.

We also to considered how the letters that make up the Bible speak to the world we live in. What we discover when we read the letters that make up the Bible is that its message is timeless and timely.  In other words, the letters that make up the Bible contain a message that reflects reality and matches what we experience and observe about human nature. You see, the letters that make up the Bible make sense of some of the most basic and most mysterious aspects of the human experience.

Today, I would like for us to consider how the letters that make up the Bible’s capacity to lead us into a relationship with God. We see this reality revealed in the previous passage that we looked at in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. Let’s take a minute and look at that passage again:

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

In these verses we see Paul reveal for us four different ways that the letters that make up our Bible lead us into a relationship with God and lead us to faithfully live our lives as followers of Jesus. First, Paul explains that the letters that make up the Bible are useful to teach us. In other words, the letters that make up the Bible show us the path that we are to take in our lives as we strive to follow Jesus.

Second, Paul states that the letters that make up the Bible are useful for reproof. Paul’s point here is that the letters that make up the Bible show us where we have gotten off track and off the path that we are supposed to take in our lives as we strive to follow Jesus. Third, Paul explains that the letters that make up the Bible are useful for correction. In other words, the letters that make up the Bible show us how to get back on the path of following Jesus after we got off track and off the path that we are supposed to be following as followers of Jesus.

And fourth, Paul states that the letters that make up the Bible are useful for training in righteousness. Paul’s point here is that the letters that make up the Bible show us how to stay and remain on the path when it comes to following Jesus. Paul’s here is revealing for us the reality that, like a navigation app on our cell phone, the letters that make up the Bible provides us the guidance necessary to help people encounter and experience a relationship with God and to stay on the path and continue towards the destination of a growing relationship with Jesus that reveals and reflects Jesus to the world.

And it is here that we discover the timeless answer to the skeptical question “Why should we believe in the Bible? Why should we believe that the Bible is the word of God?” And that timeless answer is this: The letters that make up the Bible are the words of God that have been given to us by God so that we might come to know and live in relationship with God.

The letters that make up the Bible have been given to us by God so that we might come to know and live in the relationship with God that we were created for. The letters that make up the Bible have been given to us by God so that we might come to know how to live in the relationship with one another that we were created for. The letters that make up the Bible have been given to us by God so that we might come to know Jesus. The letters that make up the Bible have been given to us by God so that we might come to know how we can come to live like Jesus. And the letters that make up the Bible have been given to us by God so that we might come to know how we are to live in community with one another.

You see, I don’t believe in Christianity because the Bible says so. I don’t believe in simple trite phrases like “The Bible says it so that settles it.” I don’t believe that the letters that make up the Bible is the word of God because the Bible says it is the word of God.

I believe that the letters that make up the Bible is the word of God because Jesus, a historical figure who is the Son of God, said the Bible is the word of God. I believe that the letters that make up the Bible is the word of God because Paul, a historical figure who saw Jesus after He was raised from the dead, said the Bible is the word of God. I believe that the letters that make up the Bible is the word of God because Peter, a historical figure who saw Jesus after He was raised from the dead, said the Bible is the word of God. I believe that the letters that make up the Bible is the word of God because James, a historical figure who was the half-brother of Jesus who saw Jesus after He was raised from the dead, said the Bible is the word of God.

The final argument that I would ask you to consider is how the letters that make up the Bible are confirmed as being the word of God by the Spirit of God. You see, there is nothing that I can say that can prove that the Bible is the word of God. There is no authority apart from God Himself who could stand above God to authoritatively prove that the letters that make up the Bible are the words of God.

However that is exactly what God does through the letters that make up the Bible through the very Spirit of God. Not only does Jesus, as God in a bod, confirm that the letters that make up the Bible are the words of God. In addition, as we read letters that make up the Bible, the Holy Spirit confirms that the letters that make up the Bible are the words of God.

So, if you really want to know if the letters that make up the Bible are the word of God, we must take the time to read the letters that make up the Bible. Now right about now, this brings up a natural response and reaction, which would sound something like this: “Well Dave I don’t read the Bible because the Bible is not true”. And if I have just described your reaction and response to what I have said, here would be my response. You do not have to believe that the Bible is true in order to read it. As a matter of fact, we do not read anything because it is true. We read things to discover and determine whether or not it is true.

So would you read it to discover for yourself whether or not the letters that make up the Bible are the word of God? Would you take the step to read the letters that make up the Bible and consider what we have talked about this morning? Would you consider the context of the claim that the letters that make up the Bible are the word of God? Would you consider the claims that the letters that make up the Bible themselves make? Would you consider the character and the content of the letters that make up the Bible? Would you consider how the letters that make up the Bible speak to the world we live in? Would you consider the capacity that the letters that make up the Bible have to lead us to a relationship with God?  And would you consider how the letters that make up the Bible are confirmed as being the word of God by the Jesus the Son of God and the Spirit of God?

Would you take the step to read the letters that make up the Bible with those considerations in mind? Because, the timeless reality is that the letters that make up the Bible are the words of God that have been given to us by God so that we might come to know and live in relationship with God…

What did Jesus think about the Bible?

This week we are addressing the fourth of these eight common questions that those who are skeptical ask as a challenge to God and the Christian faith, which is “Why should we believe in the Bible?” Or more specifically, “Why should we believe that the Bible is the word of God?”

Yesterday, we began to look at several different arguments for you to consider when it comes to the claim that the Bible is the word of God.  First, we considered the claim behind the claim that the Bible is the word of God. After all, to claim that the Bible is the word of God is to claim that God is personal, isn’t it? And because of that reality it is not at all unreasonable to think that God would not desire to speak to us as well as part of that relationship.

The next argument we considered was the Bible’s own claims. The Bible is not a book. Instead the Bible is a collection of letters that were written by more than 40 authors from every walk of life over a 1,600 year span that have been preserved and collected together in what we refer to today as the Bible. These letters were written in three different languages over the span of over 60 generations and are divided up into two main sections, which we refer to as the Old and New Testament.

The Old Testament, which records events of God’s activity in history from creation of the universe until the events surrounding the birth of Jesus, is comprised of letters written by prophets, who individuals who were messengers from God who were sent from God to deliver God’s message to humanity. Similarly, the New Testament, which records events of God’s activity in history from the events surrounding the birth of Jesus through the birth and expansion of the early church, is comprised of letters written by “Apostles and Prophets.” These Apostles and prophets were individuals who had received specific spiritual gifts that enabled them to communicate God’s message to humanity and help lay the foundation for God’s new movement in history called the church.

God spoke through these human authors throughout history to communicate His message to humanity throughout history. We see this dynamic process most clearly in the gospels, which are the accounts of Jesus life that are found in the Bible. One of the best ways to summarize this idea of inspiration is to think of inspiration as the process by which God worked to ensure that what God says the Bible says and what the Bible says God says.

We then considered the argument surrounding the character and content of the letters that make up the Bible. The letters that make up the Bible consist of a wide variety of literary genre. Yet in spite of the amazing diversity of genre, writers, languages, and time, these letters fit together to proclaim in a single united voice a grand story. And that grand story can be summarized as the revealing of God’s glory through His activity in the creation, pursuit, and rescue of rebellious humanity.

Today, let's consider how Jesus talked about the letters that make up the Bible. You see, when Jesus talked about the letters that make up the Bible, He spoke of them as being the very word of God that carried the very authority of God. We see this reality in a section of an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Matthew. Here is what Jesus had to say about the Old Testament in Matthew 5:17-19:

"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Here we see Jesus explain that He did not come to earth in order to get rid of the Old Testament. Instead, Jesus came to earth to fulfill all the promises and the predictions that were made in the Old Testament. Jesus came to earth to demonstrate that the Old Testament was about Him and pointed to Him. Jesus came to earth to follow and show that the Old Testament was true and trustworthy. Jesus came to earth to follow and show that the Old Testament was to be followed.

Well, what about Paul? Did he believe that the Scriptures were the word of God and were authoritative and without error? Let’s look at what Paul stated in Galatians 3:16:

Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ.

Here we see that Paul took the reality that Scripture was without error to the very letter when He wrote to the Galatians about who was the fulfillment of God’ promise to Abraham. “It is not seeds, but seed”.

Well what about Peter. Did Peter think that what Paul wrote was the word of God?  Did Peter think that what Paul wrote was authoritative and without error? This is what Peter said about Paul’s writings in 2 Peter 3:15-16:

            and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as

            also our beloved brother Paul,   according to the wisdom

            given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking

            in them of these things, in which are some things hard to

            understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as

            they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own

           destruction.

Now I don’t’ know about you, but I find this very encouraging. I mean if Peter read some of Paul’s letters and walked away saying “Wow this is pretty deep stuff. Some of this is pretty hard to understand” then that gives us the freedom to feel the same way. But did you notice how Peter referred to Paul’s letters? Did you notice that Peter placed Paul’s writings as the word of God and without error? Did you notice that Peter referred to Paul’s letters as the rest of the Scriptures?

Peter wrote his letters in 64 A.D., which was within 35 years of Jesus death and resurrection. Now some of you may be thinking, or have heard others say “Well what about all the contradictions in the Bible, what about the differences in some of the stories of Jesus in the gospels?”

Just like the witnesses to a car accident, the letters that make up the Bible record events from the perspectives of the writers observing a scene in the life of Jesus. Now while each writer may describe different aspects of the scene they had witnessed, everything that they write about that scene is without error.  

Now a natural objection that could be raised here is “Well Dave, aren’t you just making a circular argument? Aren’t you just using the Bible to prove the Bible? If that objection resonates in your mind, I just want to let you know that is a fair objection.

And here would be my response: No, I am not making a circular argument because I am not assuming that the Bible is the word of God to make the case that Jesus believed that the Bible is the word of God. I am not making a circular argument because I am not assuming that the Bible is the word of God to make the case that Paul, Peter, and the writers of the gospels believed that the Bible is the word of God.

 So the question “Is the Bible the word of God?” ultimately leads us back to the question that we addressed last week, which is “Who is Jesus? Is Jesus the Son of God?” because the answer to that question should also answer this question. 

Next, let’s take a minute to consider how the letters that make up the Bible speak to the world we live in. What we discover when we read the letters that make up the Bible is that its message is timeless and timely.  On the one hand, the message of the letters that make up the Bible are timeless. The truths contained in these letters transcend time.

At the same time, the message of the letters that make up the Bible are timely. The truths contained in these letters speak to the times and circumstances that we experience in life.  In other words, the letters that make up the Bible contain a message that reflects reality and matches what we experience and observe about human nature.

You see, the letters that make up the Bible make sense of some of the most basic and most mysterious aspects of the human experience. For example, why are human beings’ individuals of immense dignity and at the same time individuals who can engage in such depravity? When we read the letters that make up the Bible, we discover that the reason that this is the case is because human beings have been created in the image of God but have rebelled and rejected God. When we read the letters that make up the Bible, these letters expose and explain ourselves, our hopes, dreams, and frustrations like nowhere else.

Friday, we will look at two additional arguments surrounding the claim that the Bible is the word of God...

“Why should we believe in the Bible?”

At the church where I serve we are in the middle of a sermon series entitled Skeptic. During this series we are spending our time looking at the eight common questions that skeptics pose as a challenge to the Christian faith. And as we go through this series, our hope and prayer is that we would address these eight common questions that skeptics pose to challenge Christianity in way that answers these questions and that equips us to have confidence and convictions about the nature and character of God and His activity in the world around us.

This week I would like for us to address the fourth of these eight common questions that those who are skeptical ask as a challenge to God and the Christian faith. And that question is this: “Why should we believe in the Bible?” Or more specifically, “Why should we believe that the Bible is the word of God?”

Usually, when I engage someone who has this skeptical question, the conversation goes something like this: “You Christians claim that the Bible is the very word of God. You Christians claim that in the Bible, God has miraculously made Himself know verbally. But why should I believe that? Why should I believe that the Bible is the way that God reveals Himself to us?”

Now the reason why this question is so important is due to the fact that, if the Bible is, in fact, the Word of God, then we can know what God is like. If the Bible is, in fact, the word of God, then we can know what God wants from us when it comes to a relationship with Him. And most importantly, if the Bible is, in fact, the word of God, then we have to take seriously the command and demands that it makes on our lives.

The challenge that this question presents surrounds how Christians explain and defend the claim that the Bible is the word of God. The challenge, if summarized in a single question, is this: “What proof can Christians present to prove that the Bible is the word of God?”

You see, similar to our conversation about the existence of God when we launched this series, as Bill Kynes points out, many people tend to approach the question of whether the Bible is the Word of God in the same what that they would approach the question “is the earth round?” In other words, many people want to approach the questions that surround the Bible with the same approach that they would use to determine something scientifically or to prove something logically. For many people, the driving assumption that drives their search for the answer to the questions surrounding the Bible is that only what can be known and proven scientifically counts as being true.

But, as we talked about earlier in this series, is that assumption true? Is only what can be known and proven scientifically true? After all, we all claim to know that things that are true that can in no way be proven by scientific methods. As a matter of fact, any time we make any kind of moral judgment we are making a statement that is outside the realm of what science can demonstrate as being true. Even ardent atheists agree with this reality.

In addition, there are many other things that we believe that exist but cannot be measured scientifically. For example, can you see an object called love? Does love exist as a material object that you can see and purchase at Wal-Mart? Can you measure love with a Geiger counter? Can you measure justice with a thermometer? No, you can’t. And in a similar way, scientific methodology is not equipped to determine or prove whether or not the Bible is the very Word of God.

So I would like to present seven different arguments for you to consider when it comes to the claim that the Bible is the word of God.  First, let’s take a minute to consider the claim behind the claim that the Bible is the word of God. After all, to claim that the Bible is the word of God is to claim that God is personal, isn’t it? Earlier in this series, we talked about the reality that the personal and rational nature of human beings is a reflection of the nature and character of God.

So, if that is true, then isn’t our ability to communicate itself also a gift from God? And if we can communicate in this way, couldn’t God do so as well? God is a personal being who created human beings for a relationship with Him and for relationships in community with others. And because of that reality it is not at all unreasonable to think that God would not desire to speak to us as well as part of that relationship.

However, this reality immediately provokes a question. And that question is this: Has God spoken to us? And more importantly, is the Bible the means by which God speaks to us? These questions lead us to the next argument that we need to consider, which is the Bible’s own claims.

The first thing that we need to understand is that the word Bible is not found in the Bible. As we will see, the word Scripture, or the Scriptures, is in the Bible. The word Bible simply means “book”. So the phase Holy Bible, just means “Holy Book”.

The second thing that we need to understand is that the Bible is not a book. Instead the Bible is a collection of letters that were written by more than 40 authors from every walk of life over a 1,600 year span that have been preserved and collected together in what we refer to today as the Bible. These letters were written in three different languages over the span of over 60 generations and are divided up into two main sections, which we refer to as the Old and New Testament.

The Old Testament, which records events of God’s activity in history from creation of the universe until the events surrounding the birth of Jesus, is comprised of letters written by prophets, who individuals who were messengers from God who were sent from God to deliver God’s message to humanity. For example, Moses was a prophet who wrote the Law, which are the first five books that are recorded for us in the Bible today. Another whole section of letters in the Bibles were written by various prophets. And other letters in the Old Testament were written by prophets were prophets by gift, such as Daniel, King David and King Solomon. These prophets claim to have been addressed directly by God and called by God to proclaim His message to humanity.

Similarly, the New Testament, which records events of God’s activity in history from the events surrounding the birth of Jesus through the birth and expansion of the early church, is comprised of letters written by “Apostles and Prophets.” These Apostles and prophets were individuals who had received specific spiritual gifts that enabled them to communicate God’s message to humanity and help lay the foundation for God’s new movement in history called the church.

God spoke through these human authors throughout history to communicate His message to humanity throughout history. We see this reality revealed for us by the Apostle Paul in a section of a letter in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of 2 Timothy. We see Paul say the following in 2 Timothy 3:14-17:

"You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."

Now when Paul uses the phrase “inspired by God” this phrase refers to a dynamic process that was led by the Holy Spirit where God worked through the personalities and life experiences of the writers of the letters that make up the Bible to place His timeless truths on paper. We see this dynamic process most clearly in the gospels, which are the accounts of Jesus life that are found in the Bible. We see a tax collector, a doctor, and two fishermen moved by the Holy Spirit to write about Jesus life.

Each one of the gospel writers had different levels of education and experiences that God used while inspiring, or moving them, to choose and write His timeless truth of His story of the rescue and redemption of selfish and rebellious humanity through Jesus life, death, and resurrection. One of the best ways to summarize this idea of inspiration is to think of inspiration as the process by which God worked to ensure that what God says the Bible says and what the Bible says God says.

Next, let’s take a minute to consider the argument surrounding the character and content of the letters that make up the Bible. The letters that make up the Bible consist of a wide variety of literary genre. The letters that make up the Bible contain history, poetry, proverbs, prophetic predictions, legal documents, worship songs, and letters.

Yet, in spite of the amazing diversity of genre, writers, languages, and time, these letters fit together to proclaim in a single united voice a grand story. And that grand story can be summarized as the revealing of God’s glory through His activity in the creation, pursuit, and rescue of rebellious humanity.

Tomorrow, we will consider how Jesus talked about the letters that make up the Bible...

Jesus is the only way because only Jesus can provide the way to a relationship with God...

This week we have been addressing the third of eight common questions skeptics pose as a challenge to Christianity. And that question is this: “Is Jesus the only way?" In other words, do Christians believe that there is only one way to God and that everyone who is not a Christian is condemned by God?”

We have looked at several objections to the claim that Jesus is the only way to God. We then looked at  the reality that there is absolute truth and that everyone believes in absolute truths. Only in the moral or spiritual realm would anyone think to live life in a way that believes that two competing truths can be equally true. And because every religious system believes in its exclusive truth, then only one of two things can be true: either every religious system is wrong or one religious system is right.

And the timeless reality is that the message of Christianity is distinctive and unique from every other religious system because it is a message about a unique person-Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is unique in His activity in history that provides humanity the opportunity to experience a relationship with God. Jesus is unique in who He is as God in a bod. And Jesus is unique in that Jesus Himself is the personification of truth.

We see this reality revealed for us in a section of an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of John. We discovered that, as C.S. Lewis famously pointed out: Jesus does not allow us to think of Him as simply a good moral teacher. For Jesus claimed to be much more than that. Jesus claimed to be God.

And because Jesus claimed to be God  only one of three things can be true of Jesus: Either he knew that he was not God and deceived people, which would make him a liar, which is not something that a good person would do, or He believed He was God, but he really wasn’t, which would make him a coo-coo for cocoa puffs lunatic, which is not something that is good, or He really was “God in a Bod”, the Messiah, the promised one who provides the one way to be right with God and to enable us to have the relationship with God that we were created for.

So, are Christians being arrogant for believing that there is no other way to God but through Jesus? Or are Christians responding and recognizing the incredible lengths that God has gone to provide us an opportunity to experience forgiveness and the relationship with Him that we were created for through Jesus?

And it is here that we discover the timeless answer to the skeptical question ““Is Jesus the only way?” And that timeless answer is this: Jesus is the only way because only Jesus can provide the way to a relationship with God. You see, it is the love of God as demonstrated by sending His son Jesus to earth to live that life that we were created to live but refused to live, and then willingly allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life that makes Christianity both unique and exclusive.

After all, Moses did not give his life for you? Mohammed did not give his life for you? Confucius and Buddha did not endure shame and suffering for you. Jesus is the only way because only Jesus, as God in a bod, died for you. You see, the message of Christianity is that Jesus is the exclusive truth about God, who is God, and who died in humility and weakness on the cross, in our place, for our rebellion.

And the timeless reality is that there are only two kinds of religions in the world: a religion that seeks to do things for God in order to earn God's favor or a religion that sees that the favor of God that has been offered to us by trusting in what God has done for us through His Son Jesus. There are only two kinds of religions in the world: a religion of performance that leads to either pride or despair or a religion of gratitude that humbly takes pride in and trusts in Jesus performance for us.

And it is the message of Christianity that provides the basis for true tolerance. A true tolerance that recognizes that every human being bears the thumbprint of God and is to be treated with dignity as an image bearer of God. And because of that reality, as followers of Jesus, we can seek to persuade people about Jesus, but we are never to tell others about Jesus in an arrogant way that seeks to impose our beliefs about Jesus upon others. In telling others about Jesus we are to reveal and reflect Jesus by humbly displaying a true tolerance toward all people that reflects the love of Jesus to all people.

Now one final objection that I often hear at this point might sound something like this: Well if Jesus is the only way, then what about those who never heard of Jesus? What about the people around the world who never read the Bible? How can God hold the pygmy in Africa accountable for something that he has never been exposed to?

That is a great question. And if we were having a conversation in the Courtyard coffeehouse, here would be my response: All of humanity will be responsible for their actions and their response to God based on the amount of revelation that they have received about God. You see, God is perfectly just and right. He treats everybody the same way. Regardless of the level of our exposure to the claims of Christ or the message and teachings of the Bible, our consciences testify and provide evidence of our guilt or innocence.

For those who never read a Bible or heard the message of the gospel, they will be held accountable for how they respond to God’s general revelation of Himself through the creation and through their conscience. If they lived a life that perfectly followed that internal standard as testified by their conscience, they will be declared not guilty. However, if they selfishly rebelled against God’s law that was written in their hearts, their conscience will testify against them the moment it happened and again when they stand before Jesus.

For those who have received God’s special revelation in the form of the letter that make up the Bible and exposure to the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel throughout history, they will be responsible for their response to the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. And the standard is the same for all: perfection.

So the question before us is the same question that we faced last week: Who is Jesus? The possibility that God has acted in history through Jesus in a way that provides us the opportunity for forgiveness and rescue so that we can experience a relationship with God places us face to face with the reality that we have to take what Jesus said seriously when it comes to how one experiences a relationship with God.

And it is this reality that leads us to the next skeptical question that we will look at next week...