Special Guest Blog - Why The Bible Is Necessary

I have asked a friend, who is far smarter and more of a scholar then I to write an entry on something that he felt would be valuable for the readership. So here is his Entry.

Why The Bible Is Necessary For Apologetics: A Brief Reflection On 1 Peter 3.15

Introduction

The study of defending the Christian faith has recently become extremely popular. Bookstores are filled with manuals on how Christians can defend their faith. Usually the books present “facts” from secular writings. The Big Bang Theory, Ancient Greek philosophy, Near Death Experiences, selections from secular Roman historians and even liberal theology are used to try and show unbelievers that Christianity is reasonable. Christians are encouraged to look at these “facts” with unbelievers in a “neutral” way as though God does not exist or the Bible is not His Word. I find this odd.

When we are looking for help in our marriages, or need to tell someone how to be saved, or we are trying to find a word of comfort to share with a hurting friend we typically go to the Bible. If we do not go to the Bible for these things, we at least should do so! I find it odd, then, that we should go anywhere other than the Bible when we are called upon to defend our faith.

God knows everything. Thankfully, God has revealed some of His knowledge to us. We have a basis for our knowledge because of revelation. It is for this reason we should turn to the treasures of wisdom (the wisdom of God) we have in the Bible when we need help with…well…anything! Defending the faith is not an exception.

Motive

The Bible is needed for motivation to defend the faith. If someone asks, “Why should we even defend the Christian faith?” the only way we are able to answer at all is if we turn to the Bible. “In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect…” 1 Peter 3.15 (ESV) This verse of the Bible commands Christians to always be ready to make a defense. This is one verse that gives us our motivation for defending the faith. There are many others. If we approach an unbeliever from a point of view where God does not exist or the Bible is not His Word then there is no need to defend our faith. There is no honest way to get on “common ground” with an unbeliever and still have a reason or motivation to defend our faith. We not only have to be committed to the Bible, we should be committed to it! The Bible tells us that we must defend our faith.

Material

The Bible is needed to tell us what we are defending. The answer to the question, “What is Christianity?” can only be found in the Bible. The verse referenced above mentions that Christ is Lord and speaks of the hope that is within us. This is one verse which presents at least two components of Christianity. There are many others. If we understand that we must defend our faith but do not know what our faith is in then we are unable to defend our faith. We must know what it is we are defending before we are able to defend it. We not only have to know the Bible, we should know it! The Bible tells us about the faith we defend.

Manner

The Bible is necessary to tell us how to defend our faith.

If we believe the Bible then we have a motive for defending our faith and we know what we have faith in, but how should we defend our faith? The verse we have been considering tells us to provide a defense and tells us what we are defending. It also tells us how to defend our faith. We start by regarding Christ the Lord as holy, and we present our arguments with gentleness and respect. This verse contains instruction on how we are to defend our faith. There are many others. There is no reason to regard Christ the Lord as holy or to be gentle and respectful toward those who oppose the faith if we do not recognize that the Bible is morally binding. We cannot even know who Christ is apart from the Bible, much less call Him Lord or regard Him in our hearts as holy. We not only have to submit to the Bible, we should submit to it. The Bible tells us the way in which we are to defend our faith.

Method

The Bible is necessary to tell us the method by which we are to defend our faith.

The Bible is necessary for the motive, material, and manner of the defense of the faith. There is another sense to the question, “How should we defend the faith?” This question is not asking for just the manner in which we defend our faith, but the method by which we defend it. Of course motive, material and manner are all parts of method and we have seen that all three come from the Bible. The method by which we defend our faith likewise comes from…you guessed it…the Bible! Remember that 1 Peter 3.15 commands that we are to honor Christ the Lord as holy. There is no realm in which Christ is not Lord; Christ is Lord of all. Those who do not submit to the Lordship of Christ Jesus are rebelling against God. They disagree with God in thought, word, deed, or some mixture of all of the above. However, no one can disagree with God on a point and still have the truth about it. Disagreeing with God is, to put it plainly, stupid. For example, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’ Psalms 14:1a (ESV)”; ^“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7 (ESV)”; and “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools Romans 1:21-22 (ESV)”.

Believing The Bible

When someone contradicts the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Truth (John 14.6), on a fundamental point (e.g. the universe is created by God, the Bible is the Word of God) that person is attempting to start off in the wrong direction when it comes to understanding anything correctly. Our method of defending the faith should be the same as what the Bible presents. The Bible makes the claim that it is the Word of God. It is self-attesting. ^“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. 2 Tim 3:16-17 (ESV)” If God is the final authority on all matters of truth, then what He says goes. Hence the Bible as the Word of God is also self-authenticating. There is no higher standard than the Word of God by which we may judge the Word of God. “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater by whom to swear, He swore by Himself Hebrews 6:13 (ESV)” If someone does not agree with the Word of God, you can be pretty sure that he or she will not agree with your words concerning the Word of God. The Bible is the Word of God, the Word of God is true, and to reject this results in futile thought.

Foolishness Of Unbelief

Many think it is foolish to have such faith in the Bible, including Christians. It angers many that someone should take the Bible to be the final authority, as we do, on faith. What alternative do those raising this supposed objection have to offer? They say that they object based upon what their senses and their reason tells them. Perhaps they claim to take “science” as their authority in matters of truth, even when it comes to judging whether or not the Bible is the Word of God. There is a serious problem with this view. How do we know that science is a reliable guide to truth? We cannot test “science” using science. Even if we could test science in this way, we would just be using science to test science, and the question is whether or not science is reliable in the first place! Those wanting to defend the view in question could say that they have faith in science, but this means that their final authority fails at the most basic level. Having “faith in science” is not scientific at all, and so the position falls under its own weight. The foundation is cracked, and even if it were not, it would not be wide enough. There are many things which cannot be touched by science. Logic is not scientifically testable, nor are moral laws, yet the reality of both of these press upon us every day! Furthermore, how do we know that the universe will continue to work in predictable ways? Should we remain open to new possibilities in scientific discovery, even unpredictable ones? If so, why should we continue in science upon the assumption that things will remain the same?

Christians believe the Bible. God has given us our senses and reason to use in coming to truth. Science is something we are able to do because God made and controls the world. Furthermore God has made us in such a way that we are able to come to know the world. While there is much to learn, we will never learn anything that overturns a fact which is known and revealed by our all-knowing and loving God. God has revealed Himself to us through His creation and given us reliable tools to know Him more. This we know because the Bible tells us so. We make observations and think about them and come to conclusions. However, in using our faculties we do not take them to be the final authority.

God has given us the Bible. May we reflect on this and allow it to shape our understanding of all we think, say, and do, even when it comes to defending the Bible itself.

About the Author

C.L. Bolt holds a B.A. Philosophy (High Honors) and B.A. Religion from Lynchburg College (Magna Cum Laude) where he was awarded with the 2007 Raymond Morgan Award in Philosophy, 2008 Virgil Hinds Award in Religion, 2008 Access Achievement Award, was inducted into Phi Kappa Phi and was a member of the 2008 VFIC Ethics Bowl Team. He is pursuing his M.Div. with a concentration in Biblical and Theological Studies at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. He contributes to Choosing Hats apologetics blog at www.choosinghats.com and wrote a chapter for The Portable Presuppositionalist by Jamin Hubner available at www.amazon.com. He lives in Indiana with his wife Kerri and dog Flash.

More of Steven Anderson's Antics

Well, I know... I shouldn't be shocked by the ignorance of the KJVOnlyist 'pastor' Steven Anderson, however, he has fallen to a new low in my book. He has video taped himself burning a copy of the NIV bible. This is truly a sad and stupid act. I have to say that the thing that sickens me the most about this video is Mr. Anderson's Smile.



Now Dr. James White, a Critical Consultant, on the NASB has issued a response that is very good.



I would ask that those who are KJVO or are KJV preferred really look into the issues here. There are a lot of complexities that need to be understood.

Funny Joke

Ok so I read this and laughed really hard. I hope you get it.


A pastor went out one Saturday to visit his church members. As he walked to the door of one house, he passed a beautifully kept flower bed. He knocked at the door. It was obvious that someone was home, but nobody came to the door, even though he knocked several times. Finally, the pastor took out his business card, wrote "Revelation 3:20" on the back of it, and stuck it in the door.

The next day, the card turned up in the collection plate. Below the pastor's message was the notation "Genesis 3:10."

The Word... The New Plan

Happy New Years! It's 2008!

Many people make goals or resolutions because of this
I am not
Therefore in the spirit of Matthew 5:37 I will make the following statement

I will read through my bible cover to cover in order again.

And so I would ask/tell you the following


There was a preacher whom I once heard say the following:
"You can't recall what you haven't called before"

So have you called your ENTIRE bible?

John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Can you remember something you haven't see or thought or experienced previously?

In a word: NO!

So Go read your bible!

I will even give some links to bible reading plans.

Heartlight
Bible Plan
The Bible in 90 Days
One Year Breakdown

Where did the Bible come from?

Where did the bible come from?

When looking at the basics of Christianity, I think that something we must be able to articulate is how we got the bible. All or most of us hold the bible to be scripture, the inspired word of God, but what do we really know about how this collection of books came to us. How do we know that this book is really the Word of God? So today we will address the issue of where the bible came from.

What were the writing tools that were used for transmission of both the Old and New Testament? The first form and most common substance that the Old Testament was written on, was papyrus. The oldest bible document that found on papyrus is dated to about 2,400 BC. Other substances that were used are parchment (dried and shaved animal skin) and vellum (which is dried calf skin) the oldest writings that were found on vellum were dated to about 1,500 BC. All three of these were written on by pen and ink. These pens and the type of ink changed with the area that they were written in. Ostraca is an unglazed pottery that is then written on with a metal stylus. Stone was also used and it was written on with a chisel. Clay tablets and wax tablets were also used and were written on with metal stylus.

How were ancient books and scrolls put together? Rolls/scrolls were glued sheets of papyrus that were wound around a stick. Normally the writings were on one side of the scroll. An opisthograph (Rev. 5:1) is a two sided scroll. These were very uncommon as they were more difficult to read from. The average scroll length was 20 to 35 ft. This is not the only form storing information. Codex form books were used for several reasons. They were easier to transport. One could have more information in a smaller area, a large scroll was difficult to handle, but because books were in leaf form they were far easier to have more information. The leafs were double sided and were made out papyrus.

In what ways did the Greek and Hebrew writers write? There were two types of writing, uncial and minusale. Uncial was deliberate and carefully executed letters, much like capital letters in English. Minusale were small letters written in ‘running hand’ and were used primarily for codex books. When looking at the spaces and vowels in the Greek and Hebrew, the term to remember is scriptio continua, which is continuous writing, no spaces were included. In Hebrew vowels were also excluded. This was not a problem for people of the day because reading was normally done aloud, even when alone. Vowels were added to the Hebrew sometime between the 5^th and 10^th century AD.

Where did the chapters and verses come from? There have been several different divisions of the Old and New Testament. The first divisions in the Old Testament were made prior to the Babylonian captivity in 586 B.C. The Pentateuch was divided into 154 groups called sedarim, that provided a three year reading and study cycle. Between 586 and 536 B.C. the Pentateuch was divided into 54 sections called parashiyyoth, which were later divided into 669 subsections. The prophetic books of scripture were divided into sections and subsections around 165 B.C. Standardized verse markings were made in about 900 A.D. these were done by putting spaces between words. The New Testament was divided into sections before the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D., perhaps as early as 250 A.D. The earliest divisions were found in the manuscript named codex Vaticanus, these chapter divisions were far smaller than modern chapters, as the Gospel of Matthew was divided into 170 sections. Modern divisions were made by Stephen Langton, in 1551 and he divided the bible into 1227 chapters. These divisions were in the Greek New Testament; our modern markings are the same as the 1555 version of the Latin Vulgate.

Where did the cannon come from? The early church father Origen used,” Cannon to denote what we call the ‘rule of faith’ the standard by which we are to measure and evaluate.” When looking at scripture the word cannon applies to a list of books that are officially accepted by the Church. This is why Protestants and Catholic churches have different cannons, we accept different books. There are correct and incorrect ways to look at the cannon and the churches relationship to it.

Incorrect	Correct
The Church is determiner of the Cannon	The Church is discoverer of the Cannon
The Church is mother of the Cannon	The Church is child of the Cannon
The Church is magistrate of the Cannon	The Church is minister of the Cannon
The Church is regulator of the Cannon	The Church is recognizer of the Cannon
The Church is judge of the Cannon	The Church is witness of the Cannon
The Church is master of the Cannon	The Church is servant of the Cannon

There are five tests to see if a book belongs in the cannon. First, was the book written by a prophet? In other words, was the author a person who had the ability to speak for God? Second, was the writer confirmed by the Acts of God? Examples of this come from Exodus 4:1-9, 1 Kings 18, Acts 2:22. Third, did the message tell the truth about God? Keeping in mind 2 Corinthians 1:17-18 and Hebrews 6:18. Forth, did the book come with the power of God? The Word of God is transforming and anything that claims to be the word of God must therefore also be transforming. Consider Hebrews 4:12, 2 Timothy 3:17 and 1 Peter 1:23. Lastly, was the book accepted by the people of God? Read 1 Thessalonians 2:13, Paul knew that the acceptance of the message was as important as the message itself.

What early Christians recognized the cannon of the New Testament? (Why only deal with the New Testament? Simple, in the New Testament, Christ defines the Old Testament, so if you accept one, you must accept both; References to follow.) Athanasius of Alexandria, author of the creed with his namesake, gave the earliest recorded list of the New Testament books, which is exactly the same as our modern New Testament; this was done in 367 A.D. Shortly after this was done both Jerome and Augustine did the same and included the same books. Polycarp (115 A.D.) the disciple of John, Clement of Alexandria ( about 200 A.D.) and the disciple of Polycarp, Irenaeus ( 180 A.D.) all accepted the 27 books of the New Testament. For references look in “Against Heresies, III, ii, 8” and Athanasius Letter 39. The New Testament has been divided in the following way, by both the ancient church fathers and modern scholars. Although there is some debate about who authored the book of Hebrews.

The Gospels	The History	The Pauline Epistles	The General Epistles	The Prophecy
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John	Acts	Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 &2 Thessalonians, 1&2 Timothy, Hebrews, Titus, Philemon	James, 1&2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude.	Revelation

Christ himself was a witness to the accuracy of the Old Testament. Consider Luke 24:44, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to be fulfilled.” Also Consider Luke 11:49-51, “from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah” This was a reference to the Old Testament Cannon, when looking at Gen 4:8 and 2 Chronicles 24:21 in light of the construction of the Old Testament in Christ’s time.

The Law (Torah)	Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
The Prophets (Nebhim)	Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings ( Former Prophets) Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, The Twelve ( Later Prophets)
The Writings (Kethubhim)	Psalms, Proverbs, Job ( Poetic Books) Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Esther, Ecclesiastes ( Five Rolls) Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles ( Historical Books)

These are only the beginnings of understanding how we got the bible and how we can know that it is indeed the word of God. When looking over this information I hope that you have learned something new about where the bible came from, and about its accuracy. I have heard it said that when looking at all the scripture quoted by the early church fathers that all but five verses of the New Testament could be compiled. The Early Church loved scripture, because they knew it was the word of God. I hope that when examining this brief look at the bible, it would inspire you to learn more. The information for this lesson came from the book The New Evidence that demands a verdict, by Josh McDowell.