Reasons To Believe The Bible

Reasons To Believe

The Bible Are there writings that prove to speak for God? Who wrote the Bible? Are there errors in the Bible? How many writings make up the Bible? Has the Bible changed over the years? How good are today’s translations? Is the Bible the best source of knowledge available to humankind? Can we achieve consensus on what the Bible teaches? How important is it to understand what the Bible teaches?

©2009 by George A. Kohl This Bible study booklet was written by Rev. George A. Kohl with gratitude for those who consulted and edited. Rev. George A. Kohl may be contacted at Belmont Street Baptist Church, 25 Belmont Street, Worcester, MA 01605, [email protected], 508753-0312. All Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House and Hodder & Stoughton, Ltd. All rights reserved. The NIV does not capitalize pronouns related to deity and these materials do. To remain faithful to the NIV, no changes were made when the NIV was being quoted.

DIRECTIONS: The reader should attentively read each recommended Scripture passage and reading. While most readings are one page, a few are longer and a few are shorter. Mark places where you have questions for your mentor or group leader. In a separate notebook, honestly respond in writing to the “Heart Checkups” that follow each reading. Entire books have been written about each readings. This course is merely a primer that attempts to get people pointed in the right direction. Mastery of these materials will take you quite far in the development of a Christian world view and lifestyle. In Appendix 1 you will see cross references to places in the Life Transformation curriculum where you can get more information about a topic. In Appendix 2 and 3 there are helpful books and Web-Sites you can turn to dig deeper into a topic.

Reading 1 A Word from Beyond Jeremiah 10:23 As one ponders the beginning of the universe, the design in the universe, the purpose of the universe, and their experience in the universe, it is most natural to assume that a Transcendent Being exists. This is why there is an almost universal belief in the transcendent. Thinking atheistically does not come naturally. It must be learned by intensive indoctrination in the principles of the enlightenment. Where the enlightenment has not indoctrinated cultures, the people are much more receptive to belief in a Transcendent Being. The Enlightenment was an eighteenth-century movement in Western philosophy. It questioned and reevaluated everything in light of the scientific method. Every idea, including religious ideas, were subjected to scientific scrutiny. Whatever was within the reach of scientific discovery was considered real. All else was deemed unreal or unknowable at best. That means God, heaven, hell, angels, demons, evil, forgiveness, reconciliation, salvation, spiritual growth, spiritual gifts, prayer, and many other Christian realities were deemed merely superstitious. While the enlightenment and modern science have led to many improvements in life, their over-optimism has led to much disillusionment and criticism. This can be seen in a newer strain of philosophical thought called postmodernism which is highly critical of enlightenment principles and is growing in influence. Universally, people sense that there is more to this universe than meets the eye. They naturally feel a deep need for answers that science cannot provide. Left to our own empirical resources, much about the universe will be left unknown: How did everything begin? What is the purpose of everything? Where is history headed? Who am I? Where do I fit into everything? What happens after this life is over? Is there a Transcendent Being? Is the Transcendent Being a person? Is there a way to know what this Person is thinking? What is the Transcendent Being like? What does He expect from me? What are the consequences of pleasing and displeasing Him? We could go on and on. Universally, the human soul is crying out for answers to these kinds of questions. Because of its limits, science has left us with many unanswered questions, much emptiness, and a great deal of disillusionment. The yearning for a word from beyond is great in the human soul. This partially explains why billions of people turn to sacred writings for answers to the ultimate questions of life. The Hindus turn to the sacred Vedas. The Jews turn to the Old Testament. Christians turn to both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. The Muslims turn to the Koran. The Mormons consider both the Bible and the Book of Mormon to be revelations from God. Adherents of other religions turn to different revered writings. Without a word from beyond we will never know the answer to many questions that are important to us. Maybe we just need to accept the fact that the answers to the ultimate questions in life are unknowable. At the same time, we at least owe it to ourselves to investigate the sacred writings to see if one or none of them prove to be a word from beyond. We need to be cautious as we do our investigation. When the need is strong, as is the need for a word from beyond, people will believe anything. Charismatic religious leaders can generate books that come from their imaginations rather than from beyond. At the same time, if one such collection of writings demonstrates that it has supernatural origins, it could be the one that our hearts are yearning to find. Heart Checkup: Where you grew up, is it an enlightenment stronghold or not? Have you been indoctrinated in the principles of the enlightenment? Do you think there is more to the universe than science can touch and measure? Do you have a yearning within you for answers to questions beyond the reach of science? Do you understand why people look for a word from beyond?

Reading 2 Who Speaks for God? 1 Thessalonians 2:13 Just because several sacred writings make the claim to speak for God, does not make it so. Nor does the fact that millions of adherents claim that it is a word from beyond. With the limitations of empirical research and the yearning in the human heart for a word from beyond, it is easy to understand how a religious leader could exploit the situation. He could easily generate writings out of his imagination that meet the need but do not accurately portray the invisible realities of the universe. He could also generate a movement that believes his writings to be a word from beyond. When the need is strong, as is the need for a word from beyond, people will believe anything. Therefore, we do need to be cautious as we investigate whether or not a writing is indeed a word from beyond or a word from God. It is my argument that there is one set of writings proves to be a Word of God. It is, at least, far superior to the all the other writings that claim to speak for God. It demonstrates that it has supernatural origins and that it meets the yearnings of our hearts. Over the course of these readings, I will present the evidence that gives me a satisfied heart that the Christian Scriptures are a word from God. I will present several lines of evidence. I am not suggesting that any one of these lines of evidence proves the Christian Bible to be the Word of God by itself. Considered together, however, they present such a plausible case to me that I have a strong conviction about it. For now, let me summarize what these arguments will be. First, the Christian Scriptures are logically accurate. If a writing was from God, you would expect it to be consistent with itself. It wouldn’t contradict itself. The Bible is an amazingly harmonious sacred writing. To get forty some authors to write a harmonious collection over a span of 1600 years is truly amazing. It indicates that a Divine Mind had to be behind the formation of the Bible. Most other sacred writings were written by one person. Second, the Christian Scriptures are historically accurate. Unlike most other ancient and sacred writings, there are no contradictions between history as recorded in the Christian Scriptures and what we know to have been factually true in history. If it could be shown that there were contradictions, we could at least doubt that the Bible is a revelation from God. Third, the Bible is prophetically accurate. Unlike most sacred writings, the Bible dares to make numerous and specific predictions about the future. It does so with great accuracy. This is the argument that especially puts the Christian Bible in a class of its own. It demonstrates that a Divine Mind had to be behind its formation. Fourth, the Bible is scientifically accurate. Unlike other sacred writings, there are no contradictions in the Christian Bible between the facts of science and its proper interpretation. In fact, there are some scientifically advanced concepts in the Christian Bible that are not characteristic of ancient literature. This indicates that a Divine Mind was behind its formation. Fifth, the Bible is experientially accurate. The teachings of the Christian Bible provide satisfactory answers to the ultimate questions of life and produce good results in the lives of adherents. By itself this is not evidence enough to say the Bible is the Word of God; but one would have the right to doubt that it is a word from God if it didn’t produce such results. Sixth, the Bible is endorsed as God’s Word by the resurrected Christ. If Jesus Christ died and rose again from among the dead never to die again, then He is who He claimed to be--fully God and fully man in one person. That makes His testimony of extraordinary value. He clearly endorsed the Bible as God’s Word. Heart Checkup: What are your initial impressions regarding these arguments? Are you going to immediately dismiss them or are you going to seriously investigate them?

Reading 3 Contradictions in the Bible 2 Peter 3:14-16 Some people accuse the Bible of being full of contradictions and logical inconsistencies. They are usually just parroting what they have heard someone say. It is something many people believe with blind faith. One day a man said to me, “In one part of the Bible it says an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth while in another part one is told to turn the other cheek. There’s a contradiction.” I explained that an eye for an eye was a court administrated civil law in the nation of Israel while turning the other cheek is a non-retaliatory response in personal relationships. Is it a logical contradiction if I tell a subordinate at work that I want his report today while telling my son he can do his household chores tomorrow? Not at all. Likewise, telling one thing to one group of people does not contradict giving different instructions to another group of people living in a different time period under a different set of circumstances. It is far easier to accuse the Bible of being contradictory than it is to prove it. To accuse the Bible of being contradictory, one would have to be very familiar with the Bible. Just because something in the Bible may be difficult to harmonize with something else does not mean it contradicts itself. As long as there is a somewhat plausible explanation for the difficulties, a reasonable person could not accuse the Bible of being contradictory. When I read the Koran there are many things that strike me as contradictory. For example, I remember reading some verses that encouraged congeniality toward Christians and Jews. I read other verses that allowed Jews and Christians to peacefully coexist if the Christians and Jews were heavily taxed. I also read some verses that encouraged violence against Christians and Jews. I don’t know how to reconcile these statements. Perhaps they are contradictions. I would not judge them as contradictory until I heard a Muslim explanation. I’m asking for that same fair-mindedness and graciousness to be extended to the Bible. Dr. Gleason Archer has written the Encyclopedia of Christian Bible Difficulties (Zondervan, 1982). I am amazed at how many issues easily cleared up with just a little background information. Some issues are not so simple. Some alleged discrepancies puzzle me to this day. Having studied the Bible since 1970, however, I am satisfied that there are no contradictions in the Bible, only difficulties. The Apostle Peter said this about the letters of the Apostle Paul: His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16). If the Apostle Peter had difficulty harmonizing the writings of the Apostle Paul with his own, don’t you think that we should expect the same? The Bible was written by forty some authors. They mostly wrote in isolation of each other. They wrote on three continents and over a span of 1600 years. Amazingly their 66 writings stand together as a tightly interwoven and harmonious whole. Each writing is internally consistent with every other writing in the Bible. Most of the other sacred writings of the world were written by one person on one continent over that person’s life span. The Koran was all written by Mohammed, the Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith, and the Al Kitab Al Aqdas by Bahaullah. It is much, much easier to maintain logical consistency in such writings than it is in a collection of books like the Bible. There is something very special about the Bible. I take its cohesiveness to be an indication that it is a revelation from God. I am not suggesting that this argument alone provides conclusive proof that the Bible is the Word of God. It is a part of a cumulative case I am building. Heart Checkup: Make a list of the contradictions in the Bible of which you are aware. Have you researched your list to see if the items listed are contradictions or just difficulties?

Reading 4 Predicting Future Events Ezekiel 26:3-21 Prophetic accuracy is the most amazing thing about the Bible. The Bible does something risky that the other sacred writings do not do–it dares to make hundreds of specific predictions about the future. Some have already been fulfilled and many have yet to be fulfilled. The Bible contains over one hundred predictions about geographic locations and they are stated with a high degree of specificity. In his original Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Josh McDowell shows these Bible prophecies and their fulfillment. The prophecies were verifiably spoken well in advance of their fulfillment in history. If you studied them, you would be amazed at the astronomical improbability that this could have happened by chance. One amazing prophecy is about the ancient city of Tyre in Ezekiel 26:3-21 written around 590 B.C. In verse 3 God promised that multiple nations would come against Tyre like waves hitting a shore. Verse 4 tells us that those nations would level Tyre’s walls and towers, scrape away her rubble, and make her flat like a bare rock. Verse 5 says Tyre will be cast out into the sea and be left so desolate that fishermen would go there to spread their nets. Verse 7 says that God would bring the emperor of the Babylonian empire, Nebuchadnezzar, and his mighty army against the city. Verse 8 says Nebuchadnezzar would destroy Tyre’s inhabitants with the sword and set up siege works against her. Verse 12 says Tyre’s wealth will be plundered, her walls broken, her fine houses demolished, and her rubble thrown into the sea. And in verse 14 God promises that Tyre will be destroyed and never be rebuilt. This is how this prophecy was historically fulfilled. King Nebuchadnezzar attacked the city of Tyre in 585 B.C. He laid siege to the city. It took months before his armies were able to batter down the city’s walls and gain entrance. When his infantry and cavalry entered the city, they completely leveled it. Nothing was left erect. Many of Tyre’s citizens were killed, however, most of them escaped to an island just off shore. There they set up their defenses. The Emperor tried to overtake the island for thirteen years. In 532 B.C., he gave up, signed a truce, and pulled his armies. The people of Tyre then built a 150 feet high fortified wall around the island. They also built an underwater obstacle course surrounding the island so that foreign ships could not charge the island. To get to the island by ship one would have to know the secret maze. January 332 B.C. brought another wave of attacks. Greek Emperor, Alexander the Great, came against Tyre. He brought 37,000 soldiers and 160 ships against her. He lost many of his ships in the secret maze and was not able to take the island. Determined, he built a causeway from the mainland to the island out of the rubble from Nebuchadnezzar’s attack 250 years before. Finally, in July 332 B.C. the city was overtaken. People have continued to try and rebuild Tyre, however, various armies continued to tear it down. In A.D. 1600, Tyre fell with finality and has never rebuilt again. (We should not confuse modern Tyre with ancient Tyre.) The drifting sands have changed the causeway into a peninsula where fishermen are found casting their nets. Heart Checkup: Do you see how God, over a span of 2185 years, completely fulfilled the predictions of the future that He gave to the prophet Ezekiel? How did Ezekiel know what was going to happen? Isn’t it plausible to think that a Divine mind was behind the formation of the Christian Scriptures?

Reading 5 Predictions About Jesus Christ Psalm 22:1-18 In addition to prophecies about geographical locations, the Bible also has about 60 predictions about Jesus Christ. These are listed out in The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict where Josh McDowell also shows how they were fulfilled. According to the Scriptures, these numerous and specific predictions were given so people could identify the Promised Messenger God sent into the world. Some of these prophecies were made 1100 years before their fulfillment, others 400 years before, and the rest were made in between. They were fulfilled in a man named Jesus the Christ. It is impossible that these prophecies could have all been fulfilled by chance. Psalm 22:16 is one of the predictions that amaze me the most. It predicts that the Promised Messenger will have His hands and feet pierced. It says, . . . they have pierced my hands and my feet. What is amazing is that this prophecy was issued 970 years before Jesus Christ had His hands and feet pierced on the cross. More amazing is the fact that the Greeks didn’t even invent death by crucifixion until 200 B.C. This means that crucifixion was not invented until 770 years after the prediction was made. The Jews of the day in which the prediction was written were accustomed to capital punishment by stoning, beheading, and thrusting with a sword. They couldn’t have seen crucifixion in their wildest imaginations. How could the prophet have predicted that the Lord Jesus was going to have His hands and feet pierced if it was not the result of a Divine Mind providing the thought? Did a man named Jesus, who was familiar with these predictions, deliberately set out to fulfill them so that people would think He was the Promised Christ? That would be impossible because of the sixty prophecies regarding the Promised Christ there are several over which He would have no control. For example: • Micah 5:2 says that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem. (For the fulfillment of this prophecy see Matthew 2:1.) • Isaiah 7:14 says that he would be born of a virgin. (See Matthew 1:23.) • Psalm 22:16 predicts the manner of His death as we saw above. (See Luke 23:33 and John 20:25.) • Zechariah 12:10 predicts that His side would be pierced. (See John 19:34.) • Psalm 22:17-18 and 69:21 and 109:25 predict the reactions of the people standing around the cross. (See Matthew 27:39 and Luke 23:35.) • Isaiah 53:9 says He would be buried in a rich man’s tomb. (See Matthew 27:57-60.) The chances of these six prophecies being fulfilled in one person are greater than one in one trillion. That is like saying that it would be next to impossible. One will search in vain to find another person who even comes close to fulfilling these prophecies in his life. We have just looked at the very tip of the iceberg. If you are curious or skeptical, I recommend McDowell’s book, Speaking for myself, I’m convinced that a Divine Mind had to be behind the prophetic utterances of the Bible. While I am not suggesting that biblical prophecies provide conclusive proof that the Bible is a word from God, they come as near to it as anything. I see them as part of a cumulative case that has become a strong conviction within me. Heart Checkup: How would you described yourself regarding these readings on Bible prophecy–convinced, impressed, curious, intrigued, skeptical, unbelieving? Why are you convinced, impressed, curious, intrigued, skeptical, unbelieving? What will you do to help you decide with certainty whether Bible prophecies are supernatural or fictitious?

Reading 6 Scientific Accuracy of the Bible Job 38:1-18 I once worked with a man who kept telling me that the Bible was full of scientific errors and constantly taunted me about basing my life on such an ancient piece of literature. I kept asking him to show me a contradiction between a scientific fact and the teachings of the Bible since he was so certain that such contradictions existed. Several weeks later he handed me a little slip of paper with two Bible references on it--Mark 16:2 and Psalm 50:1. He said to me, “Here you go. The Bible says that the sun rises and, scientifically, we all know that the sun does not rise; instead the earth rotates making it look like the sun rises.” I replied, “Aren’t these verses of the Bible simply The Scientific Method describing the situation the way we experience it? After all, it 1. Formulates a question looks like the sun is rising to us. Isn’t the Bible just speaking 2. Research the subject figuratively the way we do? I just can’t see that as a 3. Articulate a hypothesis contradiction between science and the Bible.” 4. Experiment for consistent Several weeks later I saw this man in the break room results reading the newspaper. In those days the time of the sunrise and 5. Analyze the results sunset were printed in a little box in the upper right hand corner 6. Draw a tentative of the front page. I asked him, “What time is the sun rising these conclusion days?” Without knowing what I was up to, he immediately 7. Report findings to others looked in the corner and answered my question. I then reminded for cross examination him about our discussion from a few weeks back. 8. Draw a final conclusion He replied, “The newspaper is not a scientific regarding hypothesis handbook.” I responded, “Nor is the Bible. Speaking of the sun as rising is just the way we speak of it.” By his response I could see that I won the argument but not the heart. It’s true! We expect ancient literature to be riddled with scientific errors. The Hindu Vedas say that the moon is about 150,000 miles higher than the sun and the moon is made of honey, butter and wine. Dr. A.T. Pierson has studied the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Seneca, Kepler, Shastra, Zendavesta, Zoraster, Confucius, Muhammad, Phyagoras and Anaxagoras. He has found serious scientific blunders in them all. We have come to expect scientific blunders in ancient literature. Therefore, it is natural to assume that there would be scientific errors in the Bible. Part of what led Dr. Pierson into the bible is that he found no such blunders on its pages I also have not found this to be the case. Christians freely admit that there are contradictions between some of the theories of science and the proper interpretation of the Scriptures. For example, the broadly accepted Darwinian theory of evolution. Christians also admit that there are contradictions between the facts of science and the improper interpretation of Scripture. For example, we all know that when we speak of the sun as rising we are speaking figuratively. There are, however, no contradictions between the facts of science as established by the scientific method and the proper interpretation as established by the rules of interpretation. This distinguishes the Bible from the other sacred writings of the ancient world. It is part of a cumulative case that leads me to believe that the Bible is a word from beyond, a word from God. Heart Checkup: What conflicts are there between the established facts of science and the proper interpretation of the Bible? If I am correct about there being no conflicts between the two, what might that say about the divine origins of the ancient Christian Scriptures?

Reading 7 Advanced Scientific Concepts in Bible Exodus 15:26 There is something that gets me even more excited than the fact that there are no contradictions between science and the Bible. It is the fact that the Bible contains numerous scientific concepts hundreds of years in advance of their discovery by the scientific method. In this way the Christian Scriptures are unparalleled in comparison to other ancient writings. About 1552 B.C. the Papyrus Ebers of Egypt were dispensing medical advice that prescribed lizard blood, swine teeth and animal excretions as cures to common maladies. This is about the same time in history that God revealed the Law to Moses. Dr. S.I. McMillan, in his book, None of These Diseases, gives medical scrutiny to the Law’s dietary, medical and sanitation laws (Exodus 29:4; Leviticus 11, Deuteronomy 14:21; 23:13). He sees tremendous medical wisdom being dispensed by modern standards. He sees the mind of a wise God behind it. He also demonstrates how the Law required Jews to circumcise their boys on the eighth day of their lives. Today’s doctors tend to circumcise on the first or second day. They often face the problem of hemorrhaging. To alleviate this they give infants an injection of a blood clotting agent. If they waited until the fifth to seventh day of life, hemorrhaging would not be a problem. During that time the body naturally releases a surge of Vitamin K which serves as a blood clotting agent. It is clear why God commanded circumcision to take place on the eighth day. There are several general statements in the Proverbs of the Bible that imply that those who obey God’s commands will experience good health (Proverbs 3:7-8; 4:20-22; 10:27; 14:30; 15:30 and 17:22). While there are plenty of practicing Christians who get seriously ill, the Christian lifestyle is good for one’s mental and physical health. Ptolemy (A.D. 83-161) mapped out 1056 stars in the sky. Johannes Kepler (A.D. 1571-1650) counted 1005. Jeremiah 33:22 says the stars are uncountable. Furthermore, is Job 26:7 implying that the earth hangs on nothing? Is Job 38:16 speaking of springs in the oceans? Is Ecclesiastes 1:6 speaking of wind circuits? Is Ecclesiastes 1:7 speaking of the water cycle? Is Isaiah 40:22 describing the earth as spherical? These are all scientifically advanced concepts for the day in which they were written. How do you explain this? I sense that a Divine Mind had to be behind the formation of the Bible. I see this as part of a cumulative case for the Bible being a word from God. I’ve heard Muslims make the same argument for the Koran but I see differences. First, Muslims often appeal to popular scientific speculations. For example, scientific speculations have all life beginning in the sea and the Koran agrees (Koran 21:30; 24:45; 25:54). This, however, is a leading speculation, not a known scientific fact. Second, I feel like Muslim arguments are being stretched. For example, is Koran 75:4 really talking about the fact that we all have unique finger tips? Third, some things the Koran says flatly contradicts science. For example, the Koran says that semen comes from between a man's backbone and ribs (86:6-7). It repeatedly teaches that the earth is flat like a carpet (20:5313:3; 15:19; 18:7; 19:6; 21:30; 35:40; 41:10; 43:10; 50:7; 51:48; 55:10; 78:6; 79:30; 88:20). It says that heavy mountains hold the earth in place (21:31). It tells us that above the earth there are seven heavens/firmaments, each above the other (2:29; 37:6-7; 67:3; 71:15). We are then told that the sun and the stars are inside the earth’s atmosphere (37:6-7; 67:5; 78:12-13). I am neither a student of science or the Koran, so I want to be careful in casting judgment. As a layman, however, it seems to me that the Bible attains a significantly higher level of scientific alignment than the Koran or any other piece of ancient literature of which I am aware. Heart Checkup: How do you think it happened that there are so many scientific concepts mentioned in the Bible years before their discovery by the scientific method?

Reading 8 Experiential Accuracy Proverbs 4:1-27 The longer I live and work with people as a pastor, the more I see the extraordinary wisdom behind the Bible’s teachings. The experiential accuracy of the Bible indicates that a Divine Mind was behind the formation of the Bible. Let me give examples I find compelling. First, the Bible provides its adherents with a high level of satisfaction to the major questions of life. How did evil become a force in the universe? What is the cause of so much suffering in the world? What is God like? What is my purpose for being on the earth? I am not saying the Bible answers every question for whose answer we long. No belief system does. Yet the Bible offers satisfactory perspectives that fit the realities of the world. Second, the Bible helps us overcome the universal fear of death. It provides so much hope about the afterlife that Christians can taunt, Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? (1 Corinthians 15:55). I am not saying that the Bible is the only way people can overcome their fear of death. Nor am I saying that every Christian has. Third, the Bible shows us a way to potentially overcome all of our fears. As the Psalmist said, God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea (Psalm 46:1-3). Many Christians have found extraordinary peace in extenuating circumstances. Fourth, the Bible shows us a way to potentially experience tremendous joy. The Apostle Peter said to Christians that even though you do not see Jesus Christ, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. Christians can have pure joy in trials, in poverty, and during persecution (James 1:3; 2 Corinthians 8:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:6). Fifth, the teachings of the Bible, when followed, bring relational harmony even though many of its principles are counter-intuitive. They go contrary to the way we are naturally wired to think. For example, when someone hurts us, it is natural for us to want to hurt them back. Our natural reaction, however, only escalates the problem. The counter-intuitive principles of love, forgiveness, and non-retaliation allows tensions to de-escalate (Luke 6:27-42; Romans 12:17-21). Where the teachings of the Bible are practiced, people get along well. Sixth, the Bible’s teachings about prayer work for believers. The Lord Jesus said, Ask and it will be given to you (Matthew 7:7). While that is not all that the Lord taught about prayer, Christians experience answers to their prayers. I have experienced a thousand answers. The famous George Mueller (1805-1895) ran an orphanage that depended on God to answer prayer. He kept a log in which he recorded the date he began asking and the date the prayer was answered. He experienced more than 50,000 answers. Seventh, the Bible’s teachings regarding giving and receiving work. The Scriptures promise that the Lord blesses those who give generously of their money to His work and people in need (Luke 6:38; Proverbs 3:9-10; 11:24-25; Malachi 3:8-10 and 2 Corinthians 9:6.) Mathematically, you would think that by generously giving you would have less money for yourself. Although counterintuitive, the opposite proves to be true. I could introduce you to hundreds of people who have experienced this and I have a hundred stories of my own. These are just a few examples of the experiential accuracy of the Bible. This accuracy is another indication that a Divine Mind was involved in the formation of the Bible. Heart Checkup: To what degree have you trusted and obeyed the teachings of the Scriptures? Have you noticed blessings in your life in proportion to your trust and obedience? To what extent have you tried to live according to the Scriptures’ teachings?

Reading 9 Historical Accuracy of the Bible Luke 1:1-4 Some people say that they only believe what they can see with their own eyes, Nobody really practices this approach to life. For example, everyone believes George Washington was the first president of the United States even though no one alive today saw his presidency. Everyone trusts that which can be proven true by the historical method. Growing out of the enlightenment there was a movement that was highly critical of the Bible’s historical accuracy in the nineteenth century. The movement assumed the Bible was historically inaccurate until outside sources could verify its truthfulness. While Western education treats the Bible as a fictional storybook, the Bible’s history corresponds with what we know to be factual by the historical method. With the dramatic rise in the science of archaeology in the twentieth century, the attitude toward Bible history began to slowly change. The sands of the Middle East are revealing secrets buried for millenniums. These secrets are yielding fresh insights into the historical accuracy of the Bible. Much of the history of the Christian Bible, so criticized in the last century, has been affirmed in this century. Please don’t misunderstand me: There is still plenty of biblical history that has not yet been verified by outside sources. At the same time, there are no known conflicts between Bible history and historical facts established by the historical method. I do not mean to imply that there are no difficulties; but archaeology has done Christians a great service. It has confirmed the substantial historicity of the Bible. The archaeological movement is still growing. Technologies are advancing at a rapid pace. Confidence is running high that a wealth of information is on the brink of discovery. Christians expect, when all has been said and dug, they will see a steady rise in respect for the historical reliability of the Bible. In spite of the many advances, many still consider the Bible to be unreliable history until it can be verified by sources outside of the Bible. Take King David for example. Until recently, there were no known mentions of David in material outside the Bible. For skeptics that meant that King David was a legendary character, not an actual person. Now, however, a stone inscription bearing his name has been found and historians recognize him as an actual person. The Bible also says that a high priest by the name of Caiphas presided over the trial of Jesus Christ. Skeptics considered him to be a fictitious character until his tomb was discovered in recent years. Sadly, skeptics consider the Bible to be guilty of fabrication until proven true. Two hundred biblical “myths” of the last century have been converted into historical facts in this century. Why can we unearth just a few mentions of a secular character like Alexander the Great and draw such factual conclusions regarding his life while being suspicious of everything recorded in the Bible? Why is the Bible held to a higher standard of scrutiny than the other books of antiquity? Why don’t more archaeologists and historians take more of a “wait and see” approach to the Bible? Whatever happened to Aristotle’s dictum, followed by literary critics down through the centuries, that the benefit of the doubt should always go to a document and not the biases of the critic? Why shouldn’t the Bible be considered good, primary source material? Why can’t the Bible be considered as a reliable witness until proven unreliable? Many have approached the Bible with an utterly unjustified skepticism. If they were as skeptical about other segments of history–for example Greek and Roman history–as they are the Bible, our school textbooks would all need to be rewritten. Heart Checkup: Are you skeptical about the Bible’s reliability? If so, to what degree and why?

Reading 10 Reliable, Primary Source Material Acts 1:1-5 As mentioned, nearly two hundred biblical “myths” of the last century have been converted into historical facts in this century. It is amazing how well the Bible has stood up under intense scrutiny. With the rise of the science of archaeology, biblical statement after biblical statement has been verified. The Bible speaks of two cities called Sodom and Gomorrah. Until recently, these cities were considered mythological. However, recent excavations have uncovered 15,000 tablets and a number of them mention Sodom and Gomorrah as actual cities. For years skeptics said that there were no such people as the Hittites as the Bible says (Genesis 23:10). Since the discovery of the Hittite library in Turkey in 1906, this is no longer the case. They not only existed but were a significant people in the region. Skeptics also doubted that there were peoples such as the Horites and Chaldeans. They doubted that there were such cities as Ur, Shechem, Ai, Haran and Hebron. They doubted the existence of King Sargon, King Belshazzar and Pontius Pilate. Now the existence of all these have been verified. For years skeptics did not Principles of the Historical Method believe that Caesar ˜Formulate a clear question to investigate. Augustus issued a ˜Gather all the available data decree to take a ˜Disregard unauthentic and irrelevant materials census of the ˜Examine data thoroughly and carefully Roman world and ˜Don’t read your frame of reference into the data there was no ˜Consider primary source materials more reliable than secondary sources evidence that a ˜Consider earlier material more reliable than later material Quirinius was ever ˜Synthesize and summarize your findings. governor of Syria. ˜Submit your findings to others for cross examination This is no longer the case. The discovery of the Nuzu tablets have helped us to understand the times of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. There is consistency between what the Bible and the tablets describe in terms of making treaties and agreements. The general culture of the times has been verified just as the Bible says. The Bible says that Joseph was sold into slavery for 20 shekels. Recent archaeological discoveries have verified that 20 shekels was the going price for a slave in that era. In 1968 archaeologists discovered the remains of a crucified man outside Jerusalem whose wounds were strikingly similar to the description of Christ’s crucifixion in the Bible. Previously it was thought that the Romans did not crucify people in this manner. There is some evidence to suggest that we may have discovered Noah’s ark. Why is there so much bias against the Bible? One reason is that there is an anti-supernatural bias in enlightenment strongholds and the Bible portrays God as supernaturally involved in human history. Anything that contains the miraculous is considered spurious by enlightenment thinkers. We will address that issue in our next reading. Heart Checkup: Do you consider the Christians Scriptures to be good primary source material? If not, why not?

Reading 11 Miracles and the Bible Isaiah 40:12-31 Have you heard of The Jefferson Bible? Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), third president of the United States, expressed his views about Christianity by revising the Bible’s accounts of Christ’s life in accordance with his anti-supernaturalistic principles. He took the four Gospels, arranged the events in chronological order, and deleted everything miraculous. Many people readily discard the Bible’s miracles as actual. There are six reasons, taken together, that I believe they are literal. First, it is easy for me to believe that the God who exists and who created the universe is fully capable of doing every miracle recorded in the Bible (Jeremiah 32:17). While God did organize the universe to operate according to “the laws of nature,” He is obviously capable of operating over and above those laws. He could have created a universe with a set of entirely different laws. If God chose to get involved in human affairs, one might expect He might choose to do so in some miraculous ways. Second, the Bible is based on eyewitness testimony and should be respected as good, primary source material. Many people think, “Miracles don’t happen; therefore, the Bible stories involving miracles did not happen.” But, if there is reliable eyewitness testimony to miracles happening, isn’t it possible? Third, there may be some archaeological evidence confirming that some biblical miracles did happen. Joshua 6 is a good example. As the story goes, God’s people were to take possession of the city of Jericho. God instructed them to march around the walls of the city and worship Him with songs and shouts. The people did this for six days in a row while the enemy scoffed at them. On the seventh day God instructed them to march around the city seven times singing praises to Him. When they completed their assignment and blew their horns, the walls of the city supernaturally fell outward. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries skeptics claimed the Bible’s account was inaccurate because the walls of ancient cities always fall inward. Recent excavations have uncovered Jericho and its walls fell outward just as recorded in the Bible. Fourth, naturalistic interpretations of biblical miracles distort the eyewitness accounts of the Christian Scriptures. Here is how enlightenment thinkers reason: “People once thought that the supernatural was behind things like lightning storms, earthquakes, diseases, and mental illness. Thanks to scientific discoveries, we now understand the natural causes of many things that were once considered supernatural. It is just a matter of time before we can explain everything ‘supernatural’ in terms of natural causes.” Some people question the miraculous events recorded in the Bible. They try to explain them in terms of natural causes. For example, the sea turning to blood in Moses’ time was a bacterial condition called the “red tide” in which water gets a reddish tint. The special light that appeared in the sky at the time of Christ’s birth was really an alignment of heavenly bodies that made it appear as a special star. Christ did not walk on water but walked on a sandbar. Demon possessed people really had epilepsy or a mental illness. While naturalistic interpretations of the Scriptures abound, these explanations distort the testimony of the eyewitnesses. Fifth, there is no historical evidence proving that any biblical miracle did not take place. In itself, this is not much of an argument. But, if there were such evidence, we could legitimately start questioning the credibility of the Christian Bible and faith. Heart Checkup: Do you have an anti-supernatural bias? If so, how big is your bias? Why couldn’t the God who created the universe get involved in our history in some pretty remarkable ways? Why do you think the Christian Bible stories that involve miracles could not be true?

Reading 12 Miracles Then and Now John 20:30-31 In addition to the five lines of argument used in the previous reading, I have one final argument. God is still doing miracles today. While some people overstate their experiences, I have heard enough stories from enough credible sources to feel certain that God is supernaturally involved in our day. I met a Christian man who was absolutely diagnosed by doctors with the incurable HIV virus that leads to AIDS. After prayer and fasting by concerned Christians, he was healed. I have experienced three bonafide miracles. One time I lost my voice to a severe case of laryngitis. I was frustrated in a worship service that I could not express my praise to the Lord. I decided to raise my hands since I couldn’t raise my voice. The moment I did, my voice returned. One time I was plagued with pain in my arm for several months. It was hindering my interaction with my children. Some people asked God to remove the pain. The next morning I woke up without pain and that pain never returned. One time my daughter was dehydrating and the doctor said we had to put her in the hospital immediately. We didn’t have the money to do so and we asked God if He might heal her. Certainly the miracles I’ve experienced to date are not of the magnitude of those found in the Bible; but for me they have provided some evidence that God still does miracles. When I was in Northeast India, I heard many testimonies of miracles. I talked to one man who everyone knew as an absolute cripple just six weeks before my visit. He stood before me as strong and stable as any other man. On that visit I heard of numerous other supernatural miracles as well. Many people experienced healing. What impressed me was how confidently the people could testify to the before and after condition of these individuals. I have also talked to Christian missionaries from all over the world. Missionaries to Hindus frequently mention the role of answered prayer in the conversion of Hindus to Christianity. As you know, most Hindu people pray to several gods. Through an invitation from Christians, many come to Christian prayer meetings and listen to the Christians pray. When they return home they offer their prayers to their idols and to the Christian God. In time, some become Christians. As one girl put it, “I pray to all my gods but the only one who answers me is Jesus Christ. Therefore, I have set all my other gods aside and now I worship only Him.” Missionaries to Muslims frequently mention the role that visions of Jesus Christ have played in the conversion of Muslims. The missionaries I’m referring to are not prone toward sensationalism. They are trustworthy. I’m convinced God does miracles today on a regular basis. It seems to me that most of these miracles take place outside of the West. I don’t know why. Do we limit the activity of God by our doubts that He exists, by our uncertainty about whether or not He is involved in human history, and by our anti-supernatural biases? I do not gullibly believe every miracle story I hear. Nor do I immediately dismiss them. I try to give them a fair hearing. For every miracle I believe, there are dozens of which I remain skeptical. Yet I have seen enough evidence to convince me that God still does miracles today. If He is willing to do miracles today, He could also have done them in the time periods of the Bible. These six points I’ve made in these two readings, taken together, convince me about the truthfulness of the miracles of the Bible. This compels me to believe that God cares for humanity and chose to get involved in our affairs, even in miraculous ways. Heart Checkup: So let’s reconsider these questions: Do you have an anti-supernatural bias? If so, how big is your bias? Why couldn’t the God who created the universe get involved in our history in some pretty remarkable ways? Why do you think the Christian Bible stories that involve miracles could not be true?

Reading 13 Legendary Stories 1 John 1:1-4 Daniel Boone (1734-1820) and Davy Crockett (1786-1836) were two great American heroes. As men wrote about their lives the tales became taller and taller to the point that they obtained legendary status. Some people think that this is how it is with Jesus Christ. He was a great charismatic, religious leader. As men talked and wrote about Him the tales became more and more amazing to the point that people thought He was God. Historians have had to work at distinguishing between fact and fiction regarding Daniel Boone and Davy Crockett. They can identify the exact authors who embellished their stories. Were their embellishments of this kind made about the life of Jesus Christ? It may surprise you to know that there are over 280 written accounts of the ministry of Christ. The better known ones include The Gospel of the Ebionites, The Gospel of Peter, The Gospel of the Nativity of Mary, The Gospel of the Twelve, and The Gospel of Thomas. Most of these accounts are full of fanciful tales regarding Christ. In one the child Jesus is in a squabble with a playmate and turns him into a frog. The four biblical accounts of Christ’s ministry--Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John--are less fanciful. The later things were written about Christ, the more embellished they became. Are the four biblical accounts of Christ’s ministry embellished or factual? According to the principles of the historical method, the closer things are recorded according to the actual events, the more likely they are to be true. The more time between an event and the recording of an event, the more likely it is that the event will be embellished. The biblical gospels were all written within the first century. Mark’s account of Christ’s life came only 30 years after Christ’s earthly life. Matthew and Luke came a few years later. In contrast, the non-biblical gospels were written between the second and thirteenth centuries. That is partially why they are filled with so much fiction. Besides being written close to the time of the events, the historical context in which the biblical accounts were written made it nearly impossible to embellish. First, had the writers embellished their accounts, there were other eyewitnesses around that could easily have corrected them. Second, the Christians of that time had enemies, like the Jews and Romans, who would have taken great pleasure in refuting exaggerated claims if they could. The historical context in which these accounts were written did not make it easy to embellish the Scriptures and produce legends. The four biblical gospels were trusted immediately by the early Christians who knew (or knew of) the eyewitnesses. Those accounts were deemed reliable. They were consistent with what people knew about Christ at the time. The non-biblical gospels were all rejected by the early Christians as spurious and erroneous. The Christians did not know the authors and what they wrote was not consistent with what they knew to be true about Jesus Christ and His apostles. Many of the non-biblical accounts came out of obscurity, made their debut, and were self-proclaimed as authentic by heretical offshoots of Christianity. Christians accepted the biblical accounts because they were based on eyewitness testimony, written close to the time of the events, and were not refuted by the enemies of Christianity. They have trusted that the biblical accounts were accurate historical records of what happened. They trusted with good reason, not simply out of blind faith. To this day people have continued to examine the evidence for believing and found it to be credible. Heart Checkup: Do you think that the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are reliable accounts of Christ’s ministry? Why or why not?

Reading 14 Outside Verification John 21:24-25 With a ministry as amazing as Christ’s, wouldn’t you think that there would be records of this amazing man outside of the Bible? While my faith does not require it, there are. Though scanty, non-Christian sources bear testimony to Christ’s existence, miracles, highly moral teachings, parables, death on the Cross, resurrection, and claims to deity. In reading nonChristian sources, two things become obvious. First, the non-Christians of the first century considered Christianity a small religious sect that would ultimately vanish like many before it. Therefore, it is not surprising that there is such little mention of it in the literature. Second, the non-Christian sources are full of prejudice against Christians yet unwittingly demonstrate the historical reliability of the biblical accounts of Christ’s ministry. A Roman named Tacitus (A.D. 54-119) said that the Founder of the Christian religion was executed by Pontius Pilate. He described Christianity as suppressed for a time before it broke forth again throughout Judea and even in Rome. Presumably it experienced a resurgence after Christ’s resurrection.(History, Book 5, Chapter 3, Paragraph 4). Pliny the Younger wrote a letter to Emperor Trajan (c. A.D. 61-115), in which he consults the Emperor on how to deal with the Christians living within his jurisdiction. He admires the highly moral lives of Christians and confesses that no crime could be proved against them. He admits that he admires their unshakable allegiance to Jesus Christ whom they worship as their God (Letters, Book 10, Chapter 97, Paragraph 98). In the second century Lucian sneered at Christ and the Christians in one of his many works. Yet he factually alludes to Christ's death on the cross, to His miracles, and to the mutual love prevailing among the Christians (The Doubter, 13:16). There are allusions to Christ’s parables and to the historicity of the earthquake that took place at the crucifixion in a work by Phlegon, a Greek historian. His work is cited in the work of a Christian named Origen (Against Celsus, Chapter 2, Paragraph 14). Throughout his massive work, Against Celsus, Origen repeatedly alludes to the writings of Celsus, a second century Greek philosopher. Celsus truly understood what Christians believed unlike many of Christianity’s critics at that time. Though an opponent of Christianity, Celsus’ writings clearly imply that he accepted the facts about Christ as recorded in the biblical gospels. Archaeologists have not yet uncovered Celsus’ works and when they do we will be better able to judge how accurately Origen reported on Celsus’ writings. In the meantime, it is fair to give Origen the benefit of the doubt since he obviously knew his works would be cross examined. The works of the Flavius Josephus (c. A.D. 37-100), a Jewish historian, have been held in the highest regard by scholars throughout history. In his Jewish Antiquities he has several allusions to Jesus Christ. His most famous one follows: “Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named for him, are not extinct at this day” (Book 18, Chapter 3, Paragraph 3). Christians have their reasons for believing the four Gospels are actual history and not just a collection of fanciful legends. Heart Checkup: Do you think the accounts of Christ’s life and ministry have been embellished? If so, why?

Reading 15 The Resurrection 1 Corinthians 15:12-19 The truthfulness of Christianity stands or falls with the historicity of Christ’s resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:12-19). From the very earliest days, Christians have ardently believed in the resurrection of Christ. His resurrection attests to the fact that He is no ordinary person. If He arose you should wonder, “Who is this man?” If you wonder, you will find that Jesus is God. If you find that He is God, then you listen intently to whatever He has to say. Almost everyone acknowledges that something extraordinary happened after the death of Christ. The debate is about whether it was an extraordinary misunderstanding, hoax, or miracle. If you do not believe in God’s existence, in His involvement in human history, in the possibility of miracles, or in the reliability of eyewitness testimony, you will most likely discredit the biblical account of the resurrection from its miraculous nature and look for an alternative explanation. Since I believe in God’s existence, in His involvement in human history, in the possibility of miracles, or in the reliability of eyewitness testimony, I am a believer. In this reading and the next, we will familiarize ourselves with that account. I offer a summary and harmonization of the events. You may prefer to read the primary source materials for yourself (Matthew 27:45-28:20; Mark 15:33-16:20; Luke 23:44-24:53; John 19:28-21:14; Acts 1:111; and 1 Corinthians 15:1-11). In the next reading we will evaluate the alternative explanations people have given to that extraordinary event. During His three years of ministry, the Lord Jesus appointed 12 men to be His apostles. While He was alive, they stayed alongside of Him through good and tough times. But when He was arrested, they went into hiding for fear of losing their own lives. The Apostle Peter tried to follow the Lord for a while but ended up denying that he knew Him. Jesus was nailed to a cross about nine in the morning. Many people–family, friends and enemies– were present when He died around three in the afternoon. A Roman soldier drove a spear into his side to assure that He was dead. Soon after His death, a wealthy man, Joseph of Arimathea, requested possession of His dead body. Pilate, the regional Roman ruler, was reluctant to grant permission until he verified that the Lord Jesus was really dead. The Roman soldier in charge of crucifixions that day assured Pilate that the Lord Jesus was dead. Legal permission was then granted to Joseph to take the body of the Lord Jesus off the cross and bury it. Joseph hurriedly prepared the body of the Lord Jesus before sunset when Judaism’s day of mandatory rest began. He wrapped the cadaver in strips of cloth and spices before laying it in a tomb he had intended for his own burial. It was a tomb cut out of the rock in a garden close to the place where the Lord Jesus was killed. The women who were at the cross at the time of His death observed all of this being done. While He was alive, the Lord Jesus made the claim that He would rise again. Those responsible for His death requested that Pilate place a Roman guard in front of the tomb so that the followers of the Lord Jesus could not steal His body and make the claim that He had risen from the dead. Permission was granted. The tomb had a Roman seal placed on it and a Roman guard was posted. Very early that Sunday morning, some of the women who were present at His burial came to the tomb to more fully prepare Jesus’ body. As they approached the tomb, they asked themselves, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" After all, the stones placed in front of such tombs in Jesus' day were a five feet high circular stone weighing about two tons. People wanted a good seal on their tombs to prevent thieves from disturbing graves in search of valuables. When the women arrived at Jesus’ tomb they found that the huge boulder had already been rolled back. When they went inside to look at the body they saw two angels who explained to them that the Lord had come back to life again just as He had said He would.

After discovering that the Lord Jesus was alive again, the women hurried to tell His hiding apostles. Two of them, Peter and John, ran to the tomb to observe things for themselves. Sure enough, the body was not there but the linen clothes in which Jesus was wrapped were neatly rolled up in the corner. At that point, Peter was still left wondering about what had happened but John was convinced a miracle had taken place. Mary of Magdala went with Peter and John. After they left, she lingered. She took another look in the tomb and saw two angels who informed her that the Lord Jesus had resurrected. When she turned around, she saw a man she thought was the caretaker. After seconds of conversation, she realized it was Jesus. He gave her a message to give to His apostles, which she did. That same day the Lord appeared to two of His followers who were walking to the village of Emmaus. He started walking and talking with them about His crucifixion. They also did not recognize Him until He sat down to eat with them. At that moment, He disappeared. They immediately went back to Jerusalem to tell the Apostles about their experience. Upon arrival, they were informed by the Apostles that Jesus had appeared to Peter. Then they told their story. While the Apostles were talking about the amazing events of that day, The Lord Jesus appeared to them. At first they thought they were seeing a ghost. After He invited them to examine His punctures, He ate in front of them to show that He was there in body and not as a spirit being. He then took the Old Testament Scriptures and began to interpret them in light of His death, burial and resurrection. For some reason the Apostle Thomas was absent. He joined it shortly after the Lord left. The other apostles told him everything but he refused to believe unless he could see and touch the Lord Jesus himself. One week later the Lord made His next appearance to the Apostles in that same room. This time Thomas was present and the Lord specifically invited him to observe and touch Him. Thomas, content with just observing, believed in the resurrection of His Lord. Some time later He appeared on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He saw His apostles coming in after a night of catching no fish. While still on the water, He yelled instructions out to them about casting their nets in again. The desperate fishermen did as they were told and caught a huge batch of fish. Now, realizing it was the Lord, they all headed into shore and ate together. The Lord Jesus later appeared to His apostles in Galilee. He commissioned them to go and make disciples among all the peoples of the world. Around this time He also appeared to more than 500 of His followers in one gathering. Most of those followers were still alive 17 years later when Christ’s apostle Paul wrote the letter of 1 Corinthians. Finally, the Lord Jesus appeared to His apostles on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. After speaking with them, He ascended up into the sky and out of their sight while they watched. This took place forty days after He rose from the grave (Acts 1:3). Convinced that the Lord Jesus was alive, the Apostles feared for their lives no more. They went public with their eyewitness testimony in spite of death threats. Within weeks the number of people who believed their testimony swelled into the thousands. Christianity didn’t experience explosive growth because people suddenly realized that Jesus Christ was a wonderful person, had a superior philosophy of life, or taught high moral principles. Christianity was catapulted into existence because of the overwhelming eyewitness evidence that Christ arose from the dead. Heart Checkup: Do you believe this story? Do you trust the eyewitness accounts? If not, why not?

Reading 16 Natural & Supernatural Explanations Matthew 28:1-15 Almost everyone agrees that something extraordinary happened after the death of Christ. The question is whether the resurrection is an extraordinary miracle, misunderstanding, or hoax. We have become familiar with the miraculous account of the Apostles. Now we will examine the antisupernatural explanations which, in my opinion, create more problems than they solve. The Swoon Explanation. This view says that Jesus was not really dead; He only appeared to be dead. In the coolness of the tomb He revived enough to roll the stone back and show Himself alive. There are several problems with this theory when the historical method and modern medicine are applied to it. First, Pilate requested verification that Jesus was dead before he granted permission to remove the body from the cross. Second, medical experts agree that one who suffered like Jesus would not have survived and would not be strong enough to move a two ton boulder. Third, if He did survive, He certainly would not have looked well enough to convince His disciples that He had immortally risen from the dead. Fourth, if He did not rise in an immortal body, where are the details surrounding His final death. Finally, it is inconceivable that He could have escaped the notice of the Roman guard posted there. The Wrong Tomb Explanation. Some think that the women went to the wrong tomb, an empty one, jumped to the conclusion that Jesus had risen, and so masses of people believed their story. There are several problems with this explanation. First, according to the biblical accounts, the women saw exactly where Joseph buried Jesus. Second, His disciples did not expect Him to resurrect even though He promised He would. If this explanation is so, it is amazing that thousands believed such a far-fetched story on the basis of the testimony of a few women. Third, after the women told the Apostles what they had seen, two of the apostles went running ahead of the women to the tomb to check out their report. In the biblical account they clearly knew exactly where they were going. Did they just happen to run to the same wrong tomb that the women went to? Third, even if the women didn't know where the tomb was, certainly somebody did. It would only take a short walk to show that the body was still there and extinguish the myth. Finally, ten thousand or more people became followers of Christ within weeks of the crucifixion. They did so because they were convinced the evidence for the resurrection was substantial. The Jewish and Romans leaders could have made fools out of Christ’s followers if they just presented the body of Jesus; but they couldn't. The Grand Hoax Explanation. Some think Jesus deceived His disciples into thinking that He had risen. He conspired with someone other than His disciples, perhaps Joseph of Arimathea, to pull off a sophisticated conspiracy. He faked His death, burial, resurrection, and appearances. There are problems with this viewpoint. First, the whole thing requires that Jesus be a master deceiver whereas He appears everywhere else to have been a teacher with the utmost integrity. Second, Jesus death was confirmed, His tomb was known to be occupied, the Roman guard did its duty, the tomb was later found to be empty, and Jesus appeared to hundreds. The Hallucination Explanation. Some say the Apostles only hallucinated that Jesus was alive. This explanation, however, also has its fatal flaws. First, while individual hallucinations are common, it generally takes certain kinds of people to have self-induced hallucinations–people with psychiatric problems, people who are extreme ascetics, or people who desperately hope for something. The disciples don’t seem to have had any of these characteristics. Everything indicates that when He died they thought He was dead for all time. Second, group hallucinations are extremely rare. It is hard enough to get two people to hallucinate the same self-induced thing let alone a dozen or five hundred people. Finally, the appearances of Christ were not confined to one occasion. They took place at different times by different groups in different places over a period of six weeks. This is not the nature of group hallucinations. The Stolen Body Explanation is the most ancient, naturalistic explanation. You read about

its origins in Matthew’s Gospel. Matthew tells about how an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled back the stone. The Roman guards were so afraid of him that they passed out. When the guards reported to Christ’s enemies what had happened, they created the story that Christ’s disciples stole the body while the Roman guard was sleeping. Writing 30 some years later, Matthew wrote, And this idea has been widely circulated among the Jews to this day (Matthew 28:15). Even to this day some propose that the disciples stole the body of Jesus, hid it, and proclaimed Him to be alive. There are several problems with this explanation when the historical method is applied to it. First, the Apostles did not believe that Jesus was going to rise from the dead. They had no such expectation and anticipation. They were completely despondent because their dreams of being a part of the Messiah’s kingdom died when Jesus died. Second, before His appearances, the Apostles were fearful for their lives. When Jesus was arrested they ran and hid. They were not the kind of men who were going to trespass against a Roman seal on the tomb and deal with Roman guards. Yet something happened to change their disposition. A few weeks later these men had the boldness they needed to die for Christ. How many people of this kind would be willing to die for what they knew to be a lie? Third, if they stole the body, they would have had to do it when the Roman Guards were all asleep. It is unlikely that they would all be asleep at the same time. Fourth, if the Roman guards were all asleep at the same time, it is unlikely that they could have rolled a two ton boulder without arousing a sleeping guard. Fifth, if they stayed solidly asleep during the rolling of the stone, how would they know that His disciples stole His body? Sixth, if the disciples did not steal the body, who did? Seventh, if someone else stole the body, what would their motive be for taking it? His enemies wouldn’t permanently take it and hide it. This would create more problems for them with the Christfollowing movement. Finally, nothing in this explanation explains the appearances of Christ unless they were also an outright conspiracy and hoax. In conclusion, as one who accepts the existence of a personal God, God’s creation of the universe, God’s involvement in human history, God’s miracle-working abilities, and in the historical reliability of the Bible, I find it easier to believe the supernatural account than the alternatives. Acting like defense attorneys, the proponents of such views try to plant doubts in the minds of those considering the evidence. I think it is plain to see that the alternatives reflect a desperate antisupernatural bias and create two problems for every one they solve. As someone once said, the simplest explanation is usually the best explanation among alternatives. As one who is attracted to the explanations that create the fewest problems, I am drawn to the supernaturalistic viewpoint. It satisfies my heart and mind the most. Heart Checkup: Honestly, do any of these naturalistic interpretations satisfy your heart and mind? Do you honestly think that any of them are easier to believe than the supernaturalistic interpretation found in the Christian Bible? Do you believe the miraculous account as recorded in the Bible. If not, why not?

Reading 17 Endorsed by Jesus Christ Matthew 22:23-46 If Jesus Christ died and rose again from among the dead never to die again, then He is someone unique in the history of mankind. He is who He claimed to be--fully God and fully man in one person. That makes His testimony of extraordinary value. In His teachings, Jesus Christ clearly endorsed the Old Testament as a word from the one and only true and living God. He made hundreds of statements in which He explicitly or implicitly respects the Scriptures as the authoritative Word of God. •

He consistently considers the historical narratives to be factual accounts of what happened in actual history (Matthew 6:29; 8:11; 10:15; 11:23-24; 12:3-4, 39-42; 19:4-5; 22:43; 24:3739; Mark 2:25-26; 10:6-8; 12:36; Luke 4:25-27; 6:3-4; 10:12; 11:29-32, 51; 12:27; 13:28; 17:26-32; 20:42; John 3:14; 6:31, 49, 58; 7:22; 8:56)

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He alluded to the Old Testament as authoritative time and time again (Matthew 7:23; 10:21, 35; 18:15-20; 21:33-41; 24; Mark 4:29; 8:18; 9:48; 13:12; Luke 19:44).

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While recognizing the individuality of the human authors, He sees what they ultimately produced as God’s written revelation to humanity (Matthew 13:14; 24:15; Mark 7:6, 10; 12:36).

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He consistently treats the very words of Scripture, even its jots and tittles, to be the inspired Word of God (Matthew 5:18).

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He uses the Scriptures as the supreme authority for settling arguments about beliefs or behaviors (Matthew 9:13; 12:3, 7; 19:4; 21:16; 22:29, 31-32, 37-40; Mark 2:25; 7:6-13; 12:10, 24, 26, 29-31; Luke 6:3; 20:37).

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He quoted the Scriptures as God’s Word when fending off the devil (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13).

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After the resurrection, Christ showed His apostles from the Old Testament how He was the central character of the Old Testament, how He had to die, and how He had to rise again from the dead (Luke 24:25-47).

Without a doubt, the risen Lord Jesus Christ saw the Old Testament as the true, authoritative, and inspired Word of the one and only true and living God (Matthew 7:12; Luke 16:29-31; John 10:35). Since Christians have reason to believe He died and rose again, they believe He is fully God and fully man as he claimed to be. This makes His endorsement of the Old Testament Scriptures of immense value in the minds of Christians. Heart Checkup: Would you agree that if Jesus Christ died and rose again from among the dead never to die again, He may be who He claimed to be--fully God and fully man in one person? Would you agree that this makes His testimony about the Old Testament of extraordinary value?

Reading 18 Progressive Revelation John 14:25-27 Jesus Christ endorsed the collection of writings that we call the Old Testament as the Word of God. Christians see the New Testament as an advancement in God’s progressive revelation. Why? The prophet Malachi was the final prophet of God in the Old Testament to bring to us revelation from God. He implied that the next prophet we should look for was Elijah (Malachi 4:5,6). Was He referring to the Elijah who had lived hundreds of years before (1 & 2 Kings), another future person named Elijah, or an Elijah-like person who would come just before the Promised One of the Old Testament? The Lord Jesus answered that question. He said that John the Baptizer was the Elijah-like person that Malachi said was to come (Matthew 11:14; 17:10-13). John broke four hundred years of silence in terms of God advancing His revelation to us. Jesus Christ then advanced God’s progressive revelation by what He taught. He said, I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say (John 12:49). On another occasion He said, The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work (John 14:10). After His resurrection, the Lord offered to His apostles a reinterpretation of the parts of the Old Testament that applied to Him and could now be understood in light of His death, burial, and resurrection. On one occasion He said to them, “Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself (Luke 24:25-27). Before His death and resurrection, the Lord promised His apostles that when He left the earth, God the Holy Spirit would come and remind them of everything He had said to them and teach them new truths not previously revealed by God (John 14:26). He said that when the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you (John 16:13-15). Taking premises based on Old Testament Scriptures, the teachings of Christ, and new revelation given to them by the Holy Spirit, the Apostles reasoned out the teachings that have become known as Christianity. The teachings of Christ and His apostles make up the contents of what we today know as the New Testament of the Christian Scriptures. Heart Checkup: Would you agree that the endorsement of Jesus Christ on the New Testament is of extraordinary value?

Reading 19 Review Psalm 19:7-14 Many Scriptures from around the world make the claim to be a word from beyond. In previous readings I have presented evidence that the Bible is the one that proves to be from God above all others. Let us review and summarize the evidence I have presented so far. •

The Bible is logically accurate. The Bible is an amazingly harmonious sacred writing written by forty some authors who lived on three different continents and wrote over a span of 1600 years. In spite of all this, the Bible does not contradict itself when properly understood. Most other sacred writings were written by on person which makes it easier to avoid selfcontradiction.

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The Bible is historically accurate. Unlike most other ancient and sacred writings, there are no known contradictions between historical facts and the Bible properly understood.

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The Bible is prophetically accurate. Unlike most sacred writings, the Christian Bible dares to make numerous and specific predictions about the future. Hundreds of these predictions have already and amazingly come to pass as specifically predicted.

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The Bible is scientifically accurate. Unlike the other sacred writings, there are no contradictions in the Christian Bible between the facts of science as established by the scientific method and the proper interpretation of the Bible as established by the rules of sound interpretation (yet to be discussed). In fact, there are many scientific concepts in the Bible that predate scientific discovery by the scientific method. This is not characteristic of ancient literature.

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The Bible is Experiential Accuracy. The teachings of the Bible provide satisfactory answers to the ultimate questions of life. They produce good results in the lives of those who follow their teachings. The God who created us with His super-genius manifests His wisdom about life and human nature in the Bible. By itself this is not evidence enough to say the Bible is the Word of God. We would, however, have the right to doubt that the Bible is a word from God if it didn’t produce satisfactory answers and good results.

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Finally, the resurrected Christ clearly recognized the Old Testament Scriptures as God’s Word and gave us reasons to believe we should expect more revelation beyond the Old Testament. The fact that He arose from among the dead never to die again adds extraordinary weight to the worth of His statements about the Scriptures and everything.

There are numerous and good reasons that Christians believe the Bible proves to be the Word of God. None of these evidences proves that the Christian Bible is the Word of God by itself. Considered together, however, they present a strong case. Heart Checkup: Do you find this evidence compelling when viewed cumulatively? Why or why not?

Reading 20 A Divine-Human Book 2 Peter 1:12-21 The words of the Bible were written by forty some humans. Hebrew and Greek scholars can clearly see that each author had his unique style of writing. Since the writings of the Bible are so obviously the writings of men, how can we dare to call them the Word of God? From cover to cover, the Bible claims to be more than the ancient, religious writings of men. There are over 3,000 statements in the writings of the prophets alone (Isaiah through Habakkuk) in which the prophets say things like This is what the Lord says . . ., Hear what the Lord has spoken. . ., and The Word of the Lord came to me saying. . . Just repeatedly making that claim, however, is not enough to make it so. As we have already seen, the Lord Jesus considered the Old Testament to be a revelation from God in spite of the fact that He knew human authors were involved. While on earth, He anticipated that the New Testament revelation of God would be produced by humans. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Christ’s apostle Paul said, All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. The writings of the Scriptures are the penmanship of men, yet they are more. They are said to be God-breathed. In other words, the Bible claims that what the Scriptures say, God says. While 2 Timothy 3:16 is primarily about the Old Testament, the New Testament writings were equally considered Scriptures by the early church. You can see this by examining the implications of 1 Timothy 5:17-18 and 2 Peter 3:16. 1 Timothy 5:17-18 says, The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages." These verses teach that church leaders should be compensated for the work they do to help the church. This principle is supported by two quotes from Scripture. The first is from Deuteronomy 25:4 in the Old Testament and the second from Luke 10:7 in the New. The implication is that both the Old and, at least, portions of the New Testament are considered to be Scripture by the earliest Christians. In 2 Peter 3:15-16, we see the same. There the Apostle Peter equates the Apostle Paul’s letters with the Old Testament Scriptures. God chose to form His revelation by a dual authorship involving a man of God being directed by God the Holy Spirit. That is what 2 Peter 1:21 says: Scripture never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that the human authors were simply passive recipients of the Holy Spirit’s words. While small portions of the Bible were dictated by God to the human authors, humans and God were both active in the process of forming the Scriptures. We can see this divine and human interaction in several verses of Scripture. Here are three examples. First, Mark 12:36 says, David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: "'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet."' Second, Acts 4:25 says, You (God) spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: "'Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?” Third, Acts 28:25 says, The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers when he said through Isaiah the prophet . . . God the Holy Spirit guided certain men of God to record the very words of God without depriving them of their personal involvement and writing styles. Heart Checkup: Do you have any problem with the Bible being both the writings of men and the Word of God? If so, what do you find to be problematic?

Reading 21 The Old Testament Collection 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 Having a definitive set of writings which speak for God puts limits on where we need to look to know what God is like, how He thinks, and what He expects. It alleviates our fear that there is an undiscovered paragraph somewhere that could effect our eternal destinies. Let us examine how Bible books were discerned to be from God and not. We will start with the Old Testament. Since we possess a plentiful supply of ancient, Jewish, religious writings, how can we tell which ones were God-breathed and which ones are just the religious writings of people? The tradition of having a set of writings that speak for God began with God dictating His Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. The first five writings of the Bible are called the Law. As devout historians, poets, and prophets prolifically wrote, the religious leaders of Israel wondered if God intended for any of these writings to be added to the collection of writings that spoke for Him. We do not know much about the process by which these decisions were made. We do know that by Christ’s time there were clearly two Old Testament collections in use. One was called the Palestinian Collection. It was written in Hebrew and was based in Jerusalem. It consisted of 39 writings. The other was called the Alexandrian Collection. It was a translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. It was known as the Septuagint. It was based in Alexandria, Egypt. It included seven additional writings–Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) and Baruch. (It also includes an additional chapter to the book of Daniel and 10 additional verses added to Esther 13.) The additional writings in the Alexandria Collection are called the Apocrypha. They word “apocrypha” means “accepted by some.” While Catholic and Orthodox Christians accept the Alexandrian collection, Protestant Christians accept only the Palestinian collection as God-breathed, They reject the Apocryphal books as merely the writings of men. This difference leads to a number of differences between Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christians. There are several reasons Protestant Christians do not accept the apocrypha as part of the collection of books that speak for God. First, Protestant scholars believe that Jesus Christ used the Palestinian collection and never quoted from the apocrypha. Second, it wasn’t until A.D. 400 that a Christian church council started considering the apocryphal writing to be part of the Old Testament. Third, it wasn’t until A.D. 1546 that the apocryphal writings were officially accepted as Scripture by the Roman Catholic Church and that was largely in reaction to the Protestant reformation. Fourth, the Apocrypha seems to contain several historical errors and doctrinal inconsistencies with the rest of Scripture. Finally, some of the writings of the Apocrypha are a more fanciful and legendary genre than the rest of the Scriptures. It is for reasons like these that most Protestant Christians accept the Palestinian Collection of Scriptures over the Alexandrian. This, however, does not mean the Apocryphal writings are without value. First, they are historically helpful in understanding the 430 years between the Old and New Testaments. The writings in the Palestinian Collection were all written before 430 B.C. The additional writings found in the Alexandrian Collection were written 160 to 220 years before the birth of Christ. The apocrypha does, therefore, shed some light on that period of history. Second, there is spiritual benefit in reading them just as there is in reading the works of other devout people. As the Jews were being pressured to assimilate into the pluralism and polytheism of the Greek empire, they heroically resisted the lure. They abhorred idolatry, revered the Scriptures, trusted God, and maintained their distinguished identity. It is inspiring to read these accounts in the same way it is inspiring to read so much literature that is not Scripture. Heart Checkup: Are you satisfied the Old Testament should consist of the 39 writings found in the Bible? If not, which books do you think should be added to or deleted from the Bible? Why?

Reading 22 The New Testament Collection Ephesians 2:19-3:6 The New Testament is a different story. As the Apostles and their closest coworkers wrote the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the letters, and the Revelation, their writings were circulated and copied by the various Christian churches. By the end of the first century almost every church had a complete collection of what we today know as the New Testament. In the second and third centuries, other accounts of Christ’s life began to appear. Some of these include The Gospel of Thomas and The Gospel of Peter. Also appearing were letters falsely claiming to be from Christ’s apostles. These included The Letter Attributed to Our Lord, The Lost Epistle to the Corinthians, The Letters of Paul to Seneca, and The Apocalypse of Peter. During the second and third centuries, there were between 250 and 350 books that made some claim to having authority from the Apostles of Christ or that some groups claimed were from the Apostles. The situation sparked much debate over which books really did come from the Apostles and which did not. In the course of dialog at church council meetings, leaders applied various tests to discern which writings were God-breathed and which were merely of men. The first test: Does the writing speak with authority as though it came to us from God? It was decided that all 27 writings of the New Testament had that ring of authority. It was determined that other books were simply trying to imitate these 27 books. The second test: Was the author of this writing closely involved with Christ or one of His apostles? The New Testament authors Matthew, John, and Peter were appointed by Jesus Christ Himself during His earthly ministry to be His specially chosen representatives when He departed. Paul became an apostle of Christ by a different means at a later time (Acts 9:1-31; Galatians 1:112:16). Twenty two of the 27 writings in the New Testament were written by these specially chosen representatives, the Apostles. The Gospel of Mark was written by Mark who was closely associated with the Apostles Peter and Paul. The Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles were written by Luke who traveled extensively with Christ’s apostle Paul. There has always been debate about the authorship of two books in the New Testament. For example, was the Letter of Jude written by the Apostle Judas son of James (Luke 6:16), the half brother of Jesus Christ by that name (Matthew 13:35), or the Judas who was closely associated with the Apostle Paul (Acts 15:22)? In the end the early church leaders decided it did not really matter since all were members of that tight circle of relationships tied to Christ and His apostles. There was also some debate about the Letter of James. Was James written by the Apostle James or James the half brother of Jesus Christ? Once again the early church leaders decided it did not really matter since all were members of that close circle of relationships tied to Christ and His apostles. The only New Testament writing for which we do not know the author is Hebrews. However, the treatise is so authoritative that the early church fathers concluded that the author must have been in that close circle and most speculated that it was of the Apostle Paul. The third test: Is the writing consistent with “the rule of faith?” Between A.D. 180 and 207, two early church leaders, Irenaeus in Against Heresies and Tertullian in The Prescription Against Heretics, spoke about the “rule of faith” (Latin, regula fidei) as a means of determining who was a Christian and who was a heretic. The rule of faith was apparently like a statement of beliefs that every Christian wanting to be baptized had to recite from memory. It was said to have capsulized the orally transmitted teachings of Christ and His apostles. While we do not have that statement, it apparently had statements revolving around God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in much the way the Apostle’s Creed does. It had continued unbroken from the time of the Apostles to the time of Irenaeus and Tertullian. It probably contained many of the beliefs in that confession

of faith. It was transmitted openly, publicly, and widely at the time. It preceded the formation of written Scriptures. In fact, no writing would be acceptable as Scripture unless it was consistent with the rule of faith. Hundreds of pieces of religious literature that were contending for inclusion in the New Testament collection were rejected by the churches because of their inconsistencies with the rule of faith. The fourth test: Was the writing officially accepted by the people of God as being from God? What was the reaction of the people of God when they first received it? Did they receive it as authoritative? Did they accept it as direction coming from Christ? This test may have been the second in importance. Twenty of the 27 writings of the New Testament were widely and immediately and wholeheartedly accepted as the Word of God. The seven disputed writings were Hebrews, James, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John, Jude and Revelation. What were the issues surrounding the seven disputed books? In the case of Hebrews, James and Jude it was the uncertainty about the specific author (as discussed above) that raised questions. 2 Peter, 2 John and 3 John were all widely accepted but had a few pockets of people who were just not one hundred percent certain that the stated author was indeed the real author. And questions were raised about the Book of Revelation because it was such a different kind of writing than the rest of the New Testament. It is important to understand that the vast majority of the churches accepted these seven disputed books as the Word of God. Some of the church fathers were ambiguous enough to hold off a final and official church decision until A.D. 363. After the debates had all settled down, we found ourselves with 27 writings in the New Testament. I wish there were actual transcripts of these discussions so that we could render a better judgment on their thinking process. We know that everything was discussed publicly. We must either trust or distrust their judgements. These people were closer to the events than we are. They were also more driven than us to discover which books had the tell-tale signs of God’s involvement. We have to be content with the writings of the church fathers, especially Athanasius' 39th Festal Letter from A.D. 367. His letter is generally viewed as the final statement on the matter of a New Testament consisting of 27 books. After stating which books should be included in the Old Testament, Athanasius enumerated the Scriptures that should be included in the New Testament. He said: “Continuing, I must without hesitation mention the scriptures of the New Testament; they are the following: the four Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, after them the Acts of the Apostles and the seven so-called catholic epistles of the Apostles -- namely, one of James, two of Peter, then three of John and after these one of Jude. In addition there are fourteen epistles of the Apostle Paul written in the following order: the first to the Romans, then two to the Corinthians and then after these the one to the Galatians, following it the one to the Ephesians, thereafter the one to the Philippians and the one to the Colossians and two to the Thessalonians and the epistle to the Hebrews and then immediately two to Timothy, one to Titus and lastly the one to Philemon. Yet further the Revelation of John. These are the springs of salvation, in order that he who is thirsty may fully refresh himself with the words contained in them. In them alone is the doctrine of piety proclaimed. Let no one add anything to them or take anything away from them. Heart Checkup: Are you satisfied the New Testament should consist of the 27 writings found in the Bible? If not, why not? Which books do you think should be deleted or added? Why?

Reading 23 A Final Word Revelation 22:18-21 Jews believe that God stopped revealing Himself in writing with the 39 books of the Old Testament. Christians believe He added the 27 books of the New Testament. Muslims believe He added the 114 Surahs of the Koran. Bahia believe He added the writings of Sayid Ali Muhammad and Bahaullah. Where are we to draw the line? Is there a line? Is the Christian Bible God’s final word? Nothing in the Bible explicitly says God would or would not give us further written revelation. We must base our answer on the Scriptures clear implications. First, the Bible teaches that it contains all the words from God that we need to be right with Him and do His will. For example, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. There is no necessary information hidden somewhere else. There is, therefore, no need for further revelation. Second, there is nothing in the New Testament that implies we should expect more revelation from God. The Old Testament Scriptures imply that we should expect more revelation from God (e.g., Malachi 4:5,6), but not the New Testament. In fact, the New Testament implies that Jesus Christ is the climax of God’s revelation. Hebrews 1:1-3 says, In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being. First, what more revelation could one expect than the exact representation of his being? Second, the last days of which the author speaks refers to the final chapters of history between the time of Christ’s first and second coming. Until Christ returns, we should not expect any more written revelation than the words of Christ and His apostles. Third, it is morally wrong to add one’s own words to the words of God in Scripture. That is the implication of the repeated warnings in the Bible against adding or deleting to Scripture (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Proverbs 30:5-6; Revelation 22:19-18). Christians fear that this is exactly what has taken place with Muhammad’s Koran, Bahaullah’s Al Kitab Al Aqdas, Ali’s Bayan, and Smith’s Book of Mormon. Hopefully, these men were deluded by mental illness, not fully responsible for their actions, and God will deal mercifully with them. These writings are inconsistent with what God has given us in the New Testament. They present very different understandings of God, life, people, morals, and problems. Therefore, they can’t all be speaking for God. If they are, God has really changed His mind about many matters. I’ve debated with adherents from other belief systems that believe they have an additional word from God. Many respect the Bible but discredit it when I insist that it is the errorless Word of God, the deciding authority in any matter of which it speaks, and the final word from God. They are forced to admit that they see the Bible as having errors. They diminish its authority and justify their radical shifts by saying that their Scriptures correct the errors in the Bible. A small number in the early church held the Didache, the Shepherd of Hermas, and 1 Clement to be Scripture. While valuable, these were not considered God-breathed in the final analysis. In fact, they themselves quote from the New Testament as if it is a higher authority. My spiritual life have benefitted from many books written after the formation of the New Testament, but none have made me seriously wonder if they were an additional word from God. There is no reason we should expect any further revelation from God after the New Testament. Heart Checkup: Which sacred writing makes you wonder if it is from God? What are the qualities about them that cause you to wonder? Do they take your mind in a radically different direction than that of the Bible? How do you justify the radical shift?

Reading 24 Has the New Testament Changed? Matthew 5:17-20 Since humans were involved in writing the Bible and humans are prone to err, it is natural to assume the Bible has errors in it. At the same time, what if God is able to prevent errors from creeping in just as the Bible says He did (Psalm 19:9; 119:89, 91, 152, 160; Isaiah 40:6-8; Matthew 5:17-18; 24:35; Luke 16:17; 21:33; 1 Peter 1:25)? It is common for people to say that the Bible is an untrustworthy reproduction of its original. They think it has been changed over the years. These people are merely parroting what they’ve heard others say. They have not done any research and have no basis for this belief. In the nineteenth century, many literary scholars believed the New Testament we hold today had little correspondence to what was originally written. Thanks to the science of textual criticism, there are no scholarly advocates for such thinking today. Textual critics take ancient manuscripts and reconstruct what was originally written by applying scientific principles. For example, a textual critic will take the five available manuscripts of Aristotle’s poetics (dated A.D. 1100) and reconstruct what was written 1400 years before. When finished, no serious historian doubts the accuracy of the critics work. The New Testament is the most accurately reconstructed writings of antiquity. There are three good reasons for this. First, there are more manuscripts available for the New Testament than other works of antiquity. The ancient writings of Aristotle (5 manuscripts), Plato (7), Herodutus (8), Thucydides (8), Caesar (10), Tacitus (20), and Homer (643) pale in comparison to the 14,000 manuscripts available for the New Testament. Having such a large number of manuscripts to work with is a textual critics dream. It has also created thousands of differences between manuscripts. These differences are the result of things like adding a word to make a sentence clearer, substituting one word with a synonym, accidently reversing the order of letters or words, misreading a word or letter, and accidently skipping a word or line. These kinds of errors are common in copying materials. There are few differences where critics cannot determine the exact causes of the difference and make the necessary corrections. Second, the New Testament manuscripts we have are dated closer to the time of the original writings than any other works of antiquity. The closer a manuscript is to the time of the original writing, the less time there is for changes to creep in during transmission. One of those New Testament fragments found is dated within ten to fifty years of the original writings! Fifty are dated between 60 and 100 years. Two complete New Testaments are dated between 235 and 260 years of the writings. When compared to other ancient writings, the New Testament is the most accurately reconstructed writing in antiquity. There are 950 to 1400 years between the writings of Plato, Herodutus, Caesar, Tacitus and Homer and the earliest manuscripts possessed. Third, critics could accurately recreate most of the New Testament without a single manuscript by simply taking the 36,000 quotations of the New Testament found in the writings of the early church fathers before A.D. 250. When all is said and done, textual scholars are confident that the Greek New Testament we possess today is 98.33% of what was originally penned. The 1.67% of the New Testament that is still in question does not trouble Christians since not one Christian teaching or practice depends on the resolution of any of these verses. We are highly confident that the New Testament we read today accurately represents what the apostolic circle penned. Heart Checkup: Do you honestly think the New Testament we possess today accurately represents what was originally written by the apostolic circle? If not, why not?

Reading 25 Has the Old Testament Changed? Psalm 119:89, 91, 152, 160 The Old Testament we possess today is just as reliable as the New Testament but for different reasons. Because the writing materials that were used to write the Old Testament were not as enduring and were written many years before the New Testament, there are not many Old Testament manuscripts that have survived. In fact, for many years the earliest Old Testament manuscript we had was A.D. 900! In spite of that, textual critics were less concerned about the reliability of the Old Testament than the New Testament. Why? Because textual critics know about the meticulous copying practices of the scribes who made copies of the Old Testament. The Jewish historian Josephus (A.D. 37-100) expressed it this way: “We, Jews, have demonstrated reverence for the Scriptures. For, even though long ages have now passed, no one dared to add or remove or alter a syllable. It is an instinct within every Jew from the day of his birth to regard them as the Word of God.” The Jewish scribes had a long history of being extremely careful in the copying of the Scriptures. For example, they counted every letter on a page, made a copy of that page and then counted every letter on their copy. If the number was not exactly the same they searched for their error until they found and corrected it. It is because of practices like this that textual critics have been less concerned about the reliability of the Old Testament than the New. In 1947 a rock-throwing, Bedouin boy accidently made a profound archaeological discovery. While his father was tending to a herd, the boy was hurling rocks up into a cave for fun. One of his many throws caused the unmistakable sound of breaking pottery. Sensing he may have stumbled upon a treasure, he climbed the steep cliff and cautiously entered the cave. With ease he found the tall clay jar he had broken and inside was one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all times. He discovered ancient manuscripts of the Old Testament dating back to 100 B.C. That discovery became known to the world as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Over the next nine years all the caves in the region were meticulously combed by archaeologists. Over 800 manuscripts were found in eleven different caves. Portions of every writing of the Old Testament were found except the book of Esther. A complete scroll of Isaiah was found. These manuscripts were dated 1000 years earlier than any other surviving manuscripts. They were wonderfully preserved in the arid climes of the Middle East. In an era of high drama, textual critics wondered how much correspondence there would be between these Old Testament manuscripts and the ones we possess today. It took years for the manuscripts to be professionally preserved and archived. When textual critics were finally allowed to view them, the assumption of the textual critics was confirmed–the Old Testament we possess today accurately represents what was originally written. Heart Checkup: Do you honestly think the Old Testament we possess today accurately represents the Palestinian collection that the Lord Jesus endorsed in His day?

Reading 26 Translating Scripture Matthew 26:6-13 Have you ever tried to read English from A.D. 1300? There is barely a word you can recognize. Such is the nature of languages. They are always changing, always evolving. While some languages change more rapidly than others, the vocabulary and grammar of languages change over time. In the English speaking world, many people use the King James Version of the Bible which was translated in A.D. 1611. With English changing as it does, about 600 words in the King James Bible do not mean what they meant in A.D. 1611 or are no longer in use. (Compare 2 Thessalonians 2:7, Philippians 3:20, and Ephesians 4:22 in the King James Version with a modern version.) This being the case, there remains an unending need for updated translations. The New King James Version of the Bible has updated all the obscure words and phrases found in the King James Version. There are some within the body of Christ who have problems with the New King James Version because of a debate over matters of textual criticism, not translation. In other words, there is debate over which manuscripts should be used and which should not. I’ll leave that matter of debate for minds that are greater than mine. What I don’t understand is why those who cherish the King James Version on the basis of manuscripts do not use their choice of manuscripts and create a translation that uses modern vocabulary and grammar. Maybe it is because translating the Bible is a daunting task and responsibility. Consider all the work that goes into the making of any translation of the Bible: ˜ Translators must be proficient in the original languages, especially Hebrew and Greek. ˜ Translators must be adequately proficient in textual criticism. ˜ Translators must be proficient in the language into which they are translating. ˜ Sometimes no exact word in a language directly corresponds with the original word. ˜ Some missionaries translate the Bible into languages that have never been written. ˜ Some cross-cultural translators must translate into languages in which certain words cannot be expressed. How do you translate Bible words like bread or snow to people who have no concepts in their understanding? ˜ Consistency of word use from cover to cover is a big challenge for translators in any language. ˜ It is nearly impossible for translators to not fall into interpreting some verses for clarity’s sake. ˜ Hard decisions must often be made about which sub-language in a language and culture to use. ˜ Producing a Bible translation takes many years and millions of dollars. We can thank God for the many brilliant men and women who are working to provide Bibles for every person in the world in their mother tongue. Thank God for the scholars who have provided us with the many excellent translations that enable us to understand what the original authors were writing to their original readers. Thank God that we can pick up a copy of the Bible and have assurance in our hearts that we are reading what God is trying to say to us and what He wants us to know. Heart Checkup: Do you have confidence in Bible translators and the translations they have produced? If not, why not?

Reading 27 Bible Versions Proverbs 30:5-6 Over the years I have heard many people imply that the versions of the Bible are very different from one another. This is not true. I trust any version of the Bible translated by a qualified and reputable translator such as the ones I described in the previous reading. The many different versions of the Bible simply say the same thing in different words for the most part. Knowing the kind of translation you are reading gives perspective on what to expect. In the front of every translation is a preface. It explains the translators approach. Translations basically fit into one of four categories: literal versions, paraphrases, hybrids, or “per-versions.” Literal versions are word-by-word translations. They strive to provide a word by word correspondence to the original Hebrew and Greek words. Popular examples of literal versions include the King James Version, New King James Version, New American Standard Bible, and Revised Standard Version. These are best for serious Bible study. Paraphrases are idea-by-idea translations. The translators of paraphrases are not concerned about original words as much as original ideas. Once the original idea is determined, the translator freely expresses the ideas in whatever words he thinks will communicate the idea in the language into which he is translating. Popular examples of paraphrases include The Living Bible, The Message, and Philips Translation. These are best used like commentaries when the reader is trying to understand the meaning of a passage. Hybrid versions attempt to create a smooth reading and easy-to-understand translation. The translators strive for a high degree of word-to-word correspondence but freely resort to idea-to-idea correspondence if it will help with the readability of the translation. Popular examples of hybrid versions include the New International Version, New English Bible, New Living Translation, The English Standard Version, and the Holman Christian Standard Bible. If you are looking for a Bible to just read, hybrids are your best option. “Per-versions” (short for perverse version) is my word for versions that do not accurately reflect the original languages because the translators have twisted the translation to fit their own belief system. For example, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have their own translation. It is mostly accurate but gets distorted in places that do not fit their preconceived teachings. It is their claim that their translators have done a better job of representing the original languages in those cases than most translators. It is a rather arrogant claim since they do not submit the names and credentials of their translators for scrutiny. Scholars outside the Society are convinced that the Watchtower translates many passages according to their theological biases rather than according to the original languages. Perverse versions of the Bible should be completely avoided. Again, literal versions are the best for Bible study because God chose to speak to us in words (2 Timothy 3:16), not just the ideas. It is amazing how much attention Christ and His apostles paid to the words of Scripture. Hebrews 12:26-27 is interested in the precise words found in Haggai 2:6. Luke 20:37 is interested in the exact tense of what Moses said in Exodus 3:6. And Galatians 3:16 is interested in the exact letters of Genesis 12:7. In almost all cases, we can be quite sure that whatever version we possess today is an accurate translation of what was written many years ago in the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic texts. We can be highly confident that it has been skillfully translated into our language. Heart Checkup: Do you own a copy of the Bible? Do you want to? Which translations of the Bible do you possess and into which category do they fit? Are you highly confident that the Word of God has been accurately translated into your language?

Reading 28 The Deciding Authority Matthew 15:1-20 Aside from some small offshoots, Christianity is divided into three main branches. They are Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism. Protestants attempt to base their teachings on the Scriptures alone. Catholics and Orthodox Christians base their teachings on the Scriptures and their respective organizations. They believe that Jesus Christ entrusted them with a body of oral teachings beyond what is revealed in the Bible and that they alone guard the true teaching of Christ through an unbroken connection to Christ’s apostles. They regard the Scriptures as one component of their traditions equal to other components such as the ecumenical church councils, the writings of the early church fathers from A.D. 95-400, and their canon law. Because all three branches have a high regard for the Scriptures, there are many core beliefs held in common. These are expressed in the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed. Because Protestant Christians only regard the Scriptures as the deciding authority for all Christian teachings, many differences also exist. Protestants are aware that there was a period in the history of the church, before the writings of the New Testament were written, when the church was sustained by oral tradition and the supernatural work of God the Spirit. And Protestants realize that when those writings did come along, the church was sustained by a combination of those writings and oral traditions (2 Thessalonians 2:15). Unlike Catholic and Orthodox Christians, Protestants do not see oral traditions and written traditions as being two separate bodies of teaching. There is no evidence that any oral tradition went beyond what was later passed on in writing. Protestants believe that all of the oral traditions of Christ and His apostles were embodied in the New Testament writings before the death of the Apostles. Certainly in the minds of two early church fathers, Irenaeus and Tertullian, the oral traditions and written traditions were one and the same. The idea of a different and separate body of oral traditions was not even conceived until the third century with church fathers like Cyprian and Augustine and isn’t born until many centuries later. The idea wasn’t formalized as an official doctrine in the Roman Catholic Church at the Council of Trent (A.D. 1545-1563) in reaction to the Protestant reformation. Protestant Christians do not deny that much insight into the Scriptures can be gleaned from the writings of the earliest church leaders like Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp, Clement of Rome, Justin Martyr, and Irenaeus. Some of these men were disciples of the Apostles. There is, therefore, much value in considering what they understood the Apostles to teach. Protestant Christians just object to equating their writings to the level of authority of the Scriptures. After their writings (A.D. 95-150), Protestants become increasingly suspicious of doctrinal corruption with each passing decade. Why? History demonstrates that it does not take long for beliefs to become distorted. The Pharisees in Jesus’ day had only been around for seventy five years when Christ accused them of having an adulterated mix of Scripture and man-made traditions (Matthew 5:17-48; 15:1-20; 23:1-39; Mark 7:1-23). The writings of the church fathers are full of treasures. Protestant Christians treat them like they would any other human writing–substandard to Scripture, potentially valuable, a mix of error and truth, and in need of a discerning read. Protestant Christians are persuaded that all of our Christian beliefs and practices must ultimately be based on the authority of Scripture. Lesser authorities–church councils, writings, creeds–should all be made subject to the authority of that which is God breathed. Heart Checkup: Are you comfortable with the idea that God has included all of the essential information you need to know in the Bible? Do you sense there might be some essential information found in a church that is not included in the Bible? If so, why do you think like this?

Reading 29 The Deciding Authority (Continued) Luke 16:19-31 The Scriptures provide us with all the information we need to have a relationship with God that will last forever and prepare us for His final judgment (John 20:30-31; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 1 John 1:4; 5:13). The Lord Jesus would have made it unmistakably clear if there was a body of teaching essential for salvation to be found in some organization. Protestants understand the Catholic arguments for giving authority to their organization (e.g., Matthew 16:18-19), but find them to be based upon an insufficiency of biblical data and interpreted by reading things into the Scriptures. I will briefly explain why Protestants feel strongly about basing all Christian teaching on the Scriptures. First, the appeal to Scripture as the ultimate authority can be seen in the example and teaching of Christ. In the Gospels, He made over 100 references to the Scriptures as a deciding authority. The Scriptures were the authority by which He tried to settle arguments over truth (e.g., Matthew 12:3, 5; 21:42; 22:29;Mark 12:24; Luke 10:26; 20:17; John 5:39). In one debate with the Sadducees He said, You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures (Matthew 22:29). Another time, He told the people that the Scriptures contained sufficient information to spare a person of eternal condemnation (Luke 16:19-31). On yet another occasion, He condemned the Pharisees for making man-made traditions equal in authority to the Word of God (Matthew 15:1-9; Mark 7:1-13). Here He implied that traditions are subject to the Scriptures and not vice versa. Second, the appeal to Scripture as the ultimate authority can be seen in the teachings of Christ’s apostles. They were always using the Scriptures to persuade people to believe the truth (e.g., Acts 17:2, 11-12; 18:28). In their letters, they referred to the Scriptures as the deciding authority for right belief. Paul makes 93 appeals to Scripture in his letters alone. The words it is written appear 62 times. Synonymous phrases appear just as many times. The Apostles were constantly appealing to the Scriptures as the deciding authority for true Christian teaching (e.g., Acts 13:32-35; Romans 9:10-33). Third, the appeal to Scripture as the deciding authority can be seen in the writings of the earliest church leaders. When they debated heretics, they appealed for the heretics to look to the Scriptures for truth. In their writings one can clearly see how they revered the New Testament writings as Scripture and considered them to be the deciding authority. You see no evidence that they believed there was an oral tradition out there beyond what was captured in the Scriptures. They believed that the teachings of Christ and His apostles were all included in these books. Irenaeus is representative of most when he called the Scriptures “the ground and pillar of our faith” (Against Heresies, Book 3, 1:1). Fourth, church history demonstrates the practical necessity of making the Scriptures the ultimate authority. Without this deciding authority, churches grow corrupt over time. This became most obvious in the sixteenth century when the Roman Catholic Church was full of corruption. At that time a courageous monk named Martin Luther was able to use his powers of persuasion and the power of the printing press to bring about much reformation. Out of his experiences, he crystalized and articulated the teaching that the Scriptures are the deciding authority for all Christian teachings in any matter they address. Protestants have embraced that truth to this day. Protestant Christians feel strongly about basing all Christian teaching on the Scriptures. I think it is easy to see why. Heart Checkup: Can you see why the Scriptures must be the supreme authority in any issue they address? If not, why not?

Reading 30 The Greatest Source of Knowledge Proverbs 8:1-30 The universe in which we live has visible and invisible components to it. In the Bible it says that by Jesus Christ all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him (Colossians 1:16). We learn about tangible realities through our five senses and about intangible realities through God’s Word. Christians are convinced that God is the grand unifying force who ties the whole universe together. All truth is God’s truth no matter how or where it is discovered. Christians, therefore, encourage the pursuit of knowledge by all means–the scientific method, the historical method, experience, reasoning, and God’s written revelation. While we fully support the quest to comprehensively understand the universe, we believe that we understand only a small percentage of it. I think we are closer to understanding 10% of all there is to know than 90%. I find this realization to be very humbling. We are in no position to criticize anything God has said in His Word. It seems so arrogant to do so. Are we wiser than the One who created this universe with immeasurable wisdom? Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! "Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?"For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen (Romans 11:33-36). Since the Bible comes to us from the Creator, we have to assume that He is writing from the vantage point of one who has a comprehensive grasp of all there is to know. If there is a conflict between something numerous humans teach and something God teaches, I’m going to believe what comes from God over what comes from humans. This is what Christ’s apostle Paul meant when he said, We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). Historically, Christians have held that the Bible is the deciding authority over all other sources of knowledge. True Christians still do. They still consider the Scriptures to be the most reliable source of knowledge available to humankind. If there is a conflict between the Scriptures and any other source of understanding, Christians believe that God’s Word should be considered most accurate. No other means of attaining truth should be considered equal or superior to God’s Word in its authority. Other sources of knowledge may cause Christians to take a more careful look at what the Bible really teaches in itself; but we are not going to dismiss, judge, criticize, or change what the Bible teaches in itself. A follower of Jesus Christ remains fully committed to trusting the Word of God, properly interpreted, over any other sources of truth. The Scriptures rank higher than the authority of the entire scientific community, than our finest historians, the views of the majority around us, and the brightest philosophers. We should not dismiss anything the Bible says as untrue or irrelevant because of our experiences, intuitions, cultures, and so forth. And what the Scriptures say in themselves exceeds the authority of any organization, denomination, church leader, council, historical figure, creed, article, statement of faith, resolution, and tradition. Heart Checkup: Do you accept what the Scriptures teach as being truer than what is taught by scientists, historians, church leaders, schools, professors, books, philosophers, and cultures? Do you trust what the Scriptures teach more than your experiences and intuitions? If not, why not? What sources of knowledge do you consider to be superior to a word from God?

Reading 31 Interpreting Scripture 2 Timothy 2:14-19 If one hundred people read the Bible, won’t they come up with one hundred different interpretations? The answer is yes and no. If everybody interpreted the Bible by the same rules by which we interpret any other piece of literature, there would be much more consensus about what the Bible teaches. The leading errors are spiritualizing words instead of taking them literally, taking figurative speech literally, making symbols out of things that are intended to be literal or figurative, and looking for hidden meanings in passages. As long as there are diverse approaches to interpreting the Bible, diverse interpretations will follow. Since God has chosen to give us His revelation in writing, we must apply the same rules of interpretation that we use to understand all literature. A few key rules include: 1. Define all the words according to what the words meant at the time they were written. 2. Pay close attention to the grammar of the sentence. We must identify the parts of speech, pay attention to the tense of verbs, determine the antecedents of pronouns, understand the relationship of clauses and phrases, determine the precise meaning of conjunctions, and so forth. 3. Accept every word with its normal meaning unless the immediate context suggests otherwise. 4. Pay attention to the context in which something is written. Pay special attention to the sentences immediately before and after the one you are considering. 5. Identify the flow of thought from one sentence or paragraph to the next. There is certainly more to interpreting the Bible than applying these principles. Different kinds of literature within the Bible – prophecy, parables, and poetry – call for special rules. But, if everyone consistently applied these rules, different understandings would be greatly reduced. The goal in understanding the Bible is the same as in all literature – we want to determine exactly what the original author intended to communicate to the original readers. That is the only correct interpretation of any sentence whether it was written today or 2000 years ago. Even with common rules, Bible students will have honest disagreements over the precise meaning of many sentences in the Bible. Some sentences in the Bible can legitimately have multiple and equally possible interpretations. In them a needful bit of information must be supplied by the interpreter with concepts found elsewhere in the Bible. People will sincerely supply different bits of biblical information. The end result is that the same sentence is given different interpretations. Furthermore, there are some sentences in Scripture that are obscure. No matter how hard we try to understand them, a needful bit of information is totally missing from the Bible making it impossible to determine the precise meaning (e.g., 1 Corinthians 15:29). For these reasons, there will always be multiple understandings of some portions of Scripture. I do not know why God allowed these ambiguities to exist in a revelation intended to communicate His mind and will. Certainly He is capable of expressing His thoughts so clearly they could not be misunderstood. Maybe He did this to keep us mystified, humble, and dependent on Him for guidance in understanding His Word. Even though there are sentences over which people will differ, most of the sentences of Scripture are clear to anyone who faithfully and honestly follows the standard rules by which we interpret all literature. Following the rules by which we interpret a novel or the newspaper will enable most people to agree on most of what the Bible says and means. Heart Checkup: Apart from the special kinds of literature in the Bible, should the Bible be interpreted by the same rules as all other pieces of literature? Do you think that there would be more agreement in understanding the Bible if we all followed the same rules for interpreting it?

Reading 32 Doing Theology Acts 17:10-12 Unless people have seriously studied theology at a collegiate level, they do not appreciate the centuries, study, discussions, and history that have gone into the articulation of Christian teachings. I am grateful for people who serve as theologians. God has blessed them with the intelligence and desire to immerse themselves in the study of biblical thought. Their conclusions gradually trickle down into the churches through pastors who study their works. While some Christians are exceptional theologians, all Christians are to be lay theologians. All Christians can be theologians in the way that the Bereans were. The Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true (Acts 17:11). Can you think of anyone who taught Christian theology more accurately than Christ’s apostle Paul? Yet the Bereans were commended for doing their own study of Scripture. Every Christian is to have an ever growing understanding of God’s Word and its teachings. You are to devote yourselves to the apostles' teaching (Acts 2:42) and do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). What follows is a step by step description of how Protestant theologians discover and articulate the teachings of the Scriptures: Step 1: Formulate a specific question. For example, do the Scriptures teach that Jesus Christ is God? Step 2: Identify and study all the sentences in Scripture that have any relevance to answering the question. We would have to study over 100 verses of Scripture to answer the question as to whether or not Jesus is God. Step 3: Assign a level of clarity to each sentence of Scripture that addresses our question. Rare sentences are completely obscure. Some sentences are equivocal in their clarity. Some sentences are clear, unequivocal, and relevant to our question. Those are the ones we are seeking to identify and to base our conclusions upon. You must have sufficient clear evidence to support your conclusions. Step 4: Synthesize, harmonize, and organize all of your findings and draw the best conclusions we can. We assume God is logically consistent with what He thinks. Step 5: We cross check your conclusions with all else the Scriptures say and with what other theologians say. We assume God is logically consistent with what He thinks. So, when we have properly understood His Word, our conclusions will be logically consistent with all else He has revealed. In other words, our conclusion won’t contradict what we know to be true about other biblical beliefs. Throughout this curriculum we attempt to remain focused on the clearly revealed teachings of the Scriptures. We avoid teachings that are based on insufficient amounts of clear data or too many equivocal proof texts. That is, we avoid drawing conclusions on topics that are highly speculative. When I see Bible commentators or theologians going all over the place in their views, I get the sense we are dealing with speculation more than beliefs that are substantiated by a sufficiency of proof texts. I tend to pull back at that point and get refocused on the clearly revealed truths and morals of Scripture. There is enough non-speculative teaching in Scripture to keep stretching my mind to its limits and challenge me to obey for a lifetime. Heart Checkup: Does this seem to you like a sound way of understanding the Scriptures’ teachings? If not, what approach would work better?

Reading 33 Establishing Coherent Beliefs Isaiah 55:6-13 Establishing coherency and consistency in our theology is easier said than done. The difficulty does not necessarily lie in the ability of the theologian to think. Part of the difficulty lies in the very nature of the Bible. The Bible is a mixture of clearly revealed truths, partial answers, mysteries, and paradoxes. We can ask a question and not receive a full and satisfying answer from the Bible. We can get enough of an answer to partially satisfy our longing. This is what I mean by “partial answers.” We must learn to be content with many partial answers to life’s questions. By “mysteries” we mean that there are some questions to which we long for answers and God has chosen not to reveal an answer. Deuteronomy 29:29 says, The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. God does not give us the answer to many of our questions. By “paradoxes” we mean that two truths seem to conflict with each other at first glance but there is a way to see how they can both be true without becoming irrational. It is important to understand that paradoxes are not the same thing as logical contradictions. There are many paradoxes in the Scriptures. Here are some examples: • God is one God eternally existing in three persons–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. • Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully human. • Christ could come at any moment and Christ will come after a series of signs. • We are saved because God chose us to be saved and we are saved because we chose God. • God is transcendant and God is immanent. • God is present everywhere and God resides in heaven. • God created everything in the universe and God did not create evil. • We are not saved by good works but a true trust in Christ will result in producing good works. The production of such works is necessary for salvation. • Hell is a place of eternal destruction. The paradoxical nature of these truths challenges the limits of our minds. Both truths are true based on Scripture and can peacefully coexist side by side. This mixture of clearly revealed truths, partially revealed truths, mysteries, and paradoxes creates much tension in the Bible student’s mind as he tries to hold them all in his mind at the same time. The brightest theologians are not able to eliminate all these tensions in their articulations. While allowing themselves to feel the full tension, theologians hold all Scripturally revealed truths. I’ve discovered that when we arrive at the truth of something there is always some tension involved. To properly articulate many Christian beliefs involves a delicate balancing act. The failure to keep things in balance is what leads to false teachings. Some people do not like to have to hold truths together in tension. To alleviate the tensions they must deny certain, clearly revealed Scriptural truths. This leads to heresies. This is the tendency, for example, of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Their message has appeal to people because it is so rational. They value what is rational over what is biblical. Many false teachings are created by people who have failed to do the hard work of making sure that everything they say is consistent with everything else in God’s Word. Most false teachings contain much truth and a little bit of error. Like rat poison, their beliefs are 98% nutritious food and 2% poison. Heresy is mostly truth with enough error to be eternally lethal. Heart Checkup: Can you live with the Bible’s mixture of clearly revealed truths, partial answers, mysteries, and paradoxes or do these things cause you to disregard what the Bible teaches?

Reading 34 Basic Christian Beliefs Ephesians 4:1-6 While Christians do not all agree with one another on many matters, there are a number of common conclusions drawn by all who interpret Scripture and do theology the way we just described. Identifying those beliefs will be the purpose of this reading. Each generation of Christians has had to pause and think about how to express their beliefs in the midst of the issues they face. The Apostle’s Creed is one such expression. We do not know if an Apostle of Christ had a hand in writing it or not. We do know that it was in widespread use around A.D. 200. We know that it reflected what the early church understood the Apostles to teach. It has been used consistently by Christians ever since. It reads like this: I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth: And in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hades; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy universal church, the fellowship of the saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. The Nicene Creed is another widely used creed in Christianity. It was written in A.D. 325 and reads as follows: I believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, And of all things visible and invisible: And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, Begotten of his Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of very God, Begotten, not made, Being of one substance with the Father, By whom all things were made; Who for us men, and for our salvation came down from heaven, And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, And was made man, And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, And ascended into heaven, And sits on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead: Whose kingdom shall have no end. And I believe in the Holy Ghost, The Lord and giver of life, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified,

Who spoke by the Prophets. And I believe one universal and apostolic church. I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins. And I look for the Resurrection of the dead, And the life of the world to come. Amen. In 1909, the historic Christian faith was clarified in Europe and the United States in a series of books called, The Fundamentals. These 12 volumes were written by 64 distinguished individuals from various denominational and non-denominational backgrounds. They sought to identify the historic teachings of the Bible and Christianity that were orthodox and essential for a person to believe in order to be right with God. Out of them grew several “statements of faith” such as the one of the World Evangelical Alliance. It reads as follows: We believe in . . . . . . the Holy Scriptures as originally given by God, divinely inspired, infallible, entirely trustworthy; and the supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct... . . . One God, eternally existent in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit... . . . Our Lord Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, His virgin birth, His sinless human life, His divine miracles, His vicarious and atoning death, His bodily resurrection, His ascension, His mediatorial work, and His Personal return in power and glory. . . . . . the Salvation of lost and sinful man through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ by faith apart from works, and regeneration by the Holy Spirit . . . . . . the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the believer is enabled to live a holy life, to witness and work for the Lord Jesus Christ . . . . . . the Unity of the Spirit of all true believers, the Church, the Body of Christ . . . . . . the Resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life, they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation. Heart Checkup: Do you honestly think the statements mentioned in this reading capture the essence of biblical Christianity? Which ones should be deleted? What beliefs should be added? Why do you think as you do?

Reading 35 Divided Over Teachings Galatians 1:6-9 I’m sad to say that not every group that uses the name “Christian” subscribes to all the essential doctrines of the historic Christian faith. Many churches and denominations stand under the banner of being “Christian” but do not embrace the core of beliefs that Christians have embraced for two millenniums. They fall under the same denominational labels as many evangelical Christians. They drifted away from the true Christian faith when the enlightenment passed through human history. They view the Bible as merely the words of religious men rather than the word of God. They believe Christ was simply a human instead of being God in human flesh. They do not believe that He rose from the grave bodily and immortally. They see multiple ways to heaven instead of only Jesus Christ. We could go on. Many other groups who stand under the banner of being “Christian” have deviated from essential, orthodox beliefs since their inception. We generally refer to these as pseudo-Christian cults. There are thousands of such “Christian” groups throughout the world. A few of the major ones include the Local Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Church of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons), International Church of Christ, Unification Church, Way International, International Community of Christ, Church of the Living Word, Christianisme Celeste, Christadelphianism, Unity School of Christianity, Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, and Christian Scientists. No one can deny that there are differences among real Christians who cherish the above statements of faith. Once we get beyond these essential issues, Christians have many differences among themselves. We have differences about the governance of the church, the right style of worship, the meaning and mode of baptism, the meaning of communion, the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, the place of signs and wonders, the prophetic future, the moral rightness of certain activities, the means to overcome sin, the relationship between the free will of people and the sovereignty of God, and much more. It is what we believe about these differences that subdivide us into various denominations. Sometimes Christians jest about their differences and sometimes we fight over them. It is because we believe the Bible to be the authoritative Word of God that we wrestle over its proper interpretation. It is because we want to please God that these things matter. Christians squabble over a number of issues. If, however, an attack is made on the deity of the Lord, the authority of His Word, the necessity of His blood, the reality of His resurrection, or the certainty of His second coming, we will unite for a defense of the historic Christian faith. I am quite certain that if a hundred people interpret the Bible and do theology in the ways we described in the previous readings, we will agree on a core of Christian beliefs, morals, practices, experiences, and purposes around which we are united. Reading and studying the Bible helps me feel connected to a longstanding heritage and movement of people who have been related to and followed Jesus Christ down through the centuries. Being a Christian is primarily about having a relationship with Jesus Christ. However, there is a certain body of truth that comes with being related to Christ. It emerges clearly out of the pages of Scripture. Heart Checkup: Do you tend to view every Christian group as being opposed to every other Christian group? Do you now see how Christian groups do have much in common in spite of their differences?

Reading 36 The Christian Lifestyle Colossians 3:1-4:1 Being a Christian is primarily about having a relationship with Jesus Christ. However, there is a standard of morality that comes from being related to Him and following His teachings. Under the Old Covenant code of conduct, there are 613 commandments that adherents had to practice. Everyone acknowledged that they were not all of equal importance. The scholars used to debate over which commandment was the most important commandment. The Lord was once asked to weigh in on the matter. Without hesitancy He quoted Deuteronomy 6:5 as the most important one. It says, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. He said that the second greatest commandment is almost equal with that: Love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18). He clarified that the reason these two commandments are the most important is because every other moral command in Scripture can fall under loving God, loving others, or both. (See Matthew 22:34-40 for the biblical account of this incident.) In Romans13:8 -10, we can see this same principle. There Christ’s apostle Paul said, Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. The whole moral law of God is summarized in these two commandments: (1) Love God with your whole being, and (2) love your neighbor as much as you already love yourself. If we practiced these two commands we would fulfill all others. All other moral commands and principles line up under these two. God is working in our lives to enable us to love Him and others. Attaining moral maturity in the life of its people is also the work of the church. In Colossians 1:28-29 the Apostle Paul said, We proclaim him (Christ), admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect (morally mature) in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me. My church once asked itself, “What kind of people are we trying to produce through our ministry?” We felt certain, if one hundred people interpreted the Scriptures and did theology the way it is described above, that Bible students would share the following moral values in common: Followers of Christ become increasingly familiar with the Word of God. -They aspire to attain a growing knowledge of God’s Word and will. -They know what they believe and why. -They believe every Word God has spoken is true. -They know how to discern between right and wrong. -They live according to God’s commands as best they know how. Followers of Christ know and love God with their whole being. -They are assured that God has made them right with Himself forever. -They are to seek God’s forgiveness when they fail to live according to His will. -They are to make decisions by consulting the Lord through Bible study and prayer. -They thank God throughout the day for His blessings earthly and eternal. -They are to talk to God in prayer throughout each day. -They accept difficulties as coming from God for good purposes in their lives. -They are to corporately worship God’s goodness and greatness. Followers of Christ know how to love each other and all others. -They are baptized as believers in the Lord.

-They fellowship with Christians in a local church. -They maintain harmonious relationships within their fellow Christians. -They love and serve the Lord and people with their time, spiritual gifts, and money. -They seek reconciliation with others whenever they experience broken relationships. Followers of Christ know how God wants them to lovingly relate to their family. -They are committed to a life-long, monogamous marriage with someone of the opposite sex. -They are resolved to only marry a fellow believer. -They limit their sexual activities to the one to whom they are married. -Christian men are to be gentle and considerate leaders of their homes. -Christian husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved His church. -Christian wives are to be respectful followers of their husband’s leadership. -Christian parents are to love and teach God’s Word to their children. -Christian children are to honor their parents by obeying them when they are young and caring for them when they are old. Followers of Christ are to know how to relate well to their employer. -As employees, Christians work hard and do their work as to the Lord Himself. -They use their income to meet their material needs and the material needs of others. -They serve others compassionately while executing their work. -They are honest in all their business dealings. Followers of Christ know how to lovingly relate to non-Christians. -They explain the gospel to non-Christians often, clearly, and confidently. -They are able to respond to the major objections non-Christians raise against Christianity. -They nurture new Christians in their newfound faith. -They do their part in helping to make disciples among all the people groups of the world. -They love, serve, and bless all, including those who hate them. Followers of Christ know how to relate properly to their civil authorities. -They show respect for those in authority. -They obey the civil laws unless they conflict with God’s laws. -They pray for their civil authorities. -They pay all the taxes they owe. -If living in a democratic society, they seek to influence their nation with Christian principles. Followers of Christ manage their money according to God’s principles. -They live for God, not money. -They have learned to be content with little. -They ask God to provide all their needs. -They work to earn an income. -They give generously to the Lord and people in need. -They live below their means in order to avoid debt. Heart Checkup: The Christian morals listed above are pretty basic. Everybody who studies the Bible will agree with the above statements. Do you agree that these are some of the morals the Bible teaches? Why or why not?

Reading 37 Tenacious Trust Proverbs 3:1-10 After the Christian has properly understood God’s Word, he must next take God at His Word. That is, he must believe that things are exactly as God has said they are. He must grow in faith to the point that he perceives the invisible realities God has revealed as being just as real as the visible realities he perceives with his senses. Because God is immeasurably knowledgeable, wise, right, loving, good, and faithful, the Christian trusts His Word. As it says in Proverbs 3:5,6: Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. That is tenacious trust. Tenacious trust is believing what God has said in His Word even when everyone and everything else around us is crying out contrary to it. It is believing God’s Word to be true and right even when we have no other evidence to support that what God has said is true. Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is being sure that things revealed by God are true even if you see no visible evidence of their truthfulness. Hebrews 11 reads like a catalog of people who trusted the truthfulness of what God said in spite of the fact that they had no other evidence that it was. God’s Word was all the evidence they needed! Noah is one example in that great chapter of the Bible on the subject of faith. God told Noah that He was going to flood the entire earth as a judgment for the sinfulness of people. God instructed him to build the ark at a time when there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. There was no visible evidence that what God said was going to happen. Noah did not need any further evidence. God said it and that was all the evidence he needed. He did as he was commanded. He built a large ship in front of a mocking crowd. He worked on the ark and endured ridicule for decades. When people asked what he was doing, he had the opportunity to proclaim the Word of God to them. The people thought he was crazy. They did not see any evidence that God was going to flood the earth and they did not accept God’s Word as evidence. They just went on living their sinful lives. They worked during the day and partied at night. Then one day an eery look came into the sky. Lightning began to flash and thunder began to crack. Fear gripped their souls as the waters began to rise. What Noah had been saying all along now made sense. How they wished they had admitted the Word of God was reliable evidence. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, We live by faith, not by sight. The Christ follower takes God’s Word as hard evidence of the invisible components in the universe. While believers long for the day when we will walk with God by sight, we must walk with Him by faith until He returns. We must learn to take God at His Word no matter what other voices are saying. You will make great spiritual advances when you start acting as if the spiritual things God has revealed are just as real as material things you perceive with your senses. Life will be radically different for you when you start to assimilate true spiritual realities into your daily life–the awesome God, the wonders of your position before God in Christ, the support of angels, the reality of evil, the dynamics of spiritual warfare, the benefits of possessing the Holy Spirit, the necessity of God’s gracious forgiveness, and the joy of possessing eternal life. Heart Checkup: Do you have tenacious trust in God’s Word? If not, why not? What will it take for you to develop tenacious trust?

Reading 38 Practice, Practice, Practice 1 Timothy 4:6-8 After the Christian has properly understood God’s Word, he must next trust God and His Word with His whole being. After trusting, he must apply it to his life. One of the most famous concert pianists in the world is Harvey VanCliburn. He was once asked how much time he spent practicing. He answered eight to nine hours a day with two of those hours devoted to finger exercises. To become an accomplished pianist requires a great deal of learning about music theory; it also requires a great deal of practice at the keyboard. And to become an accomplished Christian also requires a great deal of Bible learning and practice. There is much to understand in order to live the Christian life. There are hundreds of truths, principles, commands, and promises in the Word of God that must be conceptually mastered. The Lord Jesus has called us to a lifetime of learning His ways. Fortunately, humans are amazing creatures with the mental capacity to learn everything Christ wants us to know whether we are from among the most or least educated societies. There is much to understand but all of this knowledge is useless unless it is put into practice. The world not be richer by VanCliburn’s piano if he knew massive amounts of music theory which he did not practice. And the world is made no richer by Christians who know the contents of the Bible but never practice it. The Lord Jesus said, Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you (Matthew 28:19-20). As you can see, He did not command His disciples to simply know everything he commanded. He wanted them to obey everything. In all of His teachings, Jesus Christ placed an emphasis on obeying what we understand. He said, Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash (Matthew 7:24-27). His apostles followed the Lord in demanding obedience and not the mere understanding of concepts. James said, Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does (James 1:22-25). God’s blessings come into our lives when we obey His Word, not when we merely understand it. To get really good at anything, whether it is playing the piano, driving a car, playing a sport, plowing a field, weaving a basket, or cooking a meal, people must practice, practice, practice. Likewise, to be a good Christian also requires practice. We can only learn how to resist sin by practice, practice, practice. Walking in fellowship with God takes practice, practice, practice. We can only learn how to apply the Bible by practice, practice, practice. We can only learn to pray by practice, practice, practice. We can only learn how to love and serve other people by practice, practice, practice. And this is true for every aspect of the Christian life. Heart Checkup: How far along are you in mastering the hundreds of truths, principles, commands, and promises it takes to become like Christ? Are you continuing to learn? To what degree do you obey the Word of God? Are you practicing?

Reading 39 Knowing Christ John 20:19-29 Christianity is the one religion in the world in which the founder of that religion is still alive. Christians are not practicing the teachings of someone who died long ago and left us with a great body of teachings. They are following the teachings of someone who is alive right now, who left us a great body of teachings, and who is involved in our lives each day. While it is easy to get the impression that Christianity is a set of beliefs or a set of moral principles, it is first and foremost a relationship with Jesus Christ. Because He is a living person, it is possible to have an actual relationship with Him. It is a relationship in which we respect, worship, love, please, and serve Him as the most important person in our lives. All other relationships and interests are prioritized beneath the Christian’s relationship to Christ. On the other hand , relating to Jesus Christ is very real but it is also very different than relating to a spouse, child, friend, or master: 1. Others are visible; Jesus Christ is invisible. In relating to the Lord Jesus, Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy (1 Peter 1:8-9). 2. Our relationship with others has immediacy in it; but our relationship with Jesus Christ has delays in communication. When we speak to others face to face, we get an immediate response to what we have said and they respond immediately to us. Relating to Christ is more like having to write letters to someone in a foreign country that take weeks to get to them. He speaks to us and we speak to Him but the communication usually involves long intervals. 3. He is perfect and we’re flawed. When a misunderstanding develops in my relationship with my wife, sometimes the misunderstanding is my fault and sometimes hers. Not so in my relationship with Jesus Christ. He is never in the wrong (1 John 1:5-7). 4. He does not need us at all; we desperately need Him. The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven . . . is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else (Acts 17:24-25). In contrast, we were created to desperately need His love, care, and provision. He gives us love, meaning, and purpose in a universe that would otherwise be a very cold place. 5. He already knows all about us; there is so much about Him that we need to know. According to John 2:25, Jesus Christ did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man. He knows us thoroughly and we hardly know Him. 6. In our relationship with peers, we might be one among equals. In our relationship with Jesus Christ, He is vastly superior to us in a way that could not be duplicated in any earthly relationship. Yet He is not domineering in the sense that some people selfishly and sinfully dominate others. He benevolently and immeasurably loves and cares for us (John 3:16; Romans 5:8; 8:31-32; Ephesians 3:17-19; 1 John 4:7-21). As you can see, a relationship with Jesus Christ is very different than a relationship with others. It is an actual relationship nonetheless. One way in which it is similar to human relationships is that the cultivation of that relationship requires time and effort just as with the cultivation of a relationship with a spouse, a child, a friend, or anyone else. Christians cultivate their relationship with Jesus Christ by investing time in the essential spiritual disciplines. Christians do not see these spiritual disciplines as simply duties to be added to a good Christian’s daily work list. We see them in relational terms as being necessary to develop a closer walk with Jesus Christ. Heart Checkup: Do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ? Are you getting to know Christ better and better?

Reading 40 Beginning of a Movement John 1:29-51 There is a sense in which Christianity can be viewed as a relationship with Jesus Christ, a set of beliefs, and a moral lifestyle. There is another sense in which it can be viewed as a movement. Christianity is a movement of people who are convinced of Christ’s deity, have been reconciled to God through Him, and follow Him as Lord. John the Baptizer served as the forerunner to Jesus the Christ. Thousands of people responded to his message and were baptized. Among them were Andrew and John. One day John looked up and saw Jesus Christ. He informed Peter and John that Jesus was the Christ prophesied in the Old Testament. Andrew and John immediately transferred their allegiance to Jesus Christ. They spent the better part of that day with Jesus. (See John 1:29-51.) The next thing Andrew did was find his brother, Peter, and introduce him to Jesus. Presumably, John did the same with his brother James. On the second day of His public ministry, the Lord Jesus introduced Himself to a man named Philip. Presumably, Philip then found his friend, Nathanael, and told him. By the end of His second day of public ministry, the Lord had six followers. On the third day the Lord Jesus invited His six disciples to travel 30 miles with Him to the wedding feast of a relative. They accepted His invitation. They spent the next four months traveling and serving together. Hundreds of people became believers and were baptized (John 3:22; 4:1-2). After this four month tour, the Lord Jesus and His disciples separated. The disciples returned to their homes and jobs while Jesus Christ continued His itinerant ministry. After a period of separation, the Lord invited them to follow Him again. They responded immediately and did a ten-month stint together. They traveled throughout the entire region of Galilee where they evangelized in synagogue after synagogue (Mark 1:35-39). They saw many more people believe and be baptized. Then the Lord and His disciples separated. After a few months, the Christ invited them to travel with Him on a third tour. This time they spent twenty months together. During this time the Lord Jesus selected twelve people from among His many followers to be His apostles. They were the ones who would lead the Christ-following movement after He left the earth (Luke 6:12-16). As part of their preparation for this leadership role, He sent His apostles out on a mission to evangelize without Him (Matthew 10). At a later time He selected seventy disciples from among His thousands of followers to go out and evangelize (Luke 10:1-16). The time spent together came to an end when the Lord Jesus was arrested, tried, crucified, and buried. After His resurrection, He intermittently spent time with His apostles (Acts 1:3-5). Before ascending, He ordered His disciples to make disciples among all the people groups of the world (Matthew 28:19-20).After receiving the Holy Spirit (Acts 2), they went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them (Mark 16:20). They were extraordinarily effective. On the day the Holy Spirit came, the Apostle Peter preached and 3000 people became Christ-followers (Acts 2:41). The Bible says the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:47). When you read the rest of the book of Acts you will be amazed at the phenomenal growth of the Christian church. In just ten years, Christ’s apostle Paul evangelized and established congregations throughout four provinces of the Roman Empire in provinces where there were few Christians and no churches before A.D. 47.

Reading 41 Development of a Movement Acts 2:40-47 The phenomenal growth of the Christian movement continued even after the death of the last apostle. At that time the Roman Empire believed in many gods, Caesar was the supreme authority, wives were the property of their husbands, parents had the right to kill their children, men had many sexual options, people aborted unwanted pregnancies, slaves were mistreated, gluttony and drunkenness ran rampant, the theaters offered lewd programming, circuses featured violence, gladiators fought to the death for the entertainment of the masses, and Christians were hated and martyred. Born in this environment, the Christian movement came along with a clearly distinct world view and ethic. For Christians there was only one true and living God who was the supreme authority. Husbands were taught to love their wives as Christ loved His church. They were to be morally faithful to their wives. Homosexuality was deemed unnatural and immoral. Abortion was considered murder. Parents treasured and trained their children to be Christ-followers. Slaves were treated as family. Christians avoided the violence and sensuality of the theater, circuses, and coliseum events. As every Christian told non-Christians about the resurrected God-man, the movement grew one heart and one family at a time. As more and more people heard Christians give a reason for the hope that was within them, people became a part of the movement. As people observed the hope of eternal life that Christians enjoyed, the willingness of Christians to die for Christ, and the gracious way they suffered for Him, they were attracted to Christ. As people witnessed the unusual love of Christians for one another, for suffering strangers, and for their enemies, they were drawn to Christ. As people saw the wholesomeness of Christian marriages and families, the Holy Spirit was actively regenerating people by the hundreds. About A.D. 150, Justin Martyr, a disciple of the Apostle John, said, “There is no people, Greek or barbarian, ignorant or cultured, nomadic or established, among whom prayers and praises are not offered in the name of the crucified Christ to the Father and Creator of all things.” And fifty years later, Tertullian said to Roman leaders, “Christianity just began yesterday yet already we fill your cities, islands, camps, palaces, senate, and forums.” In his voluminous History of the Christian Church, the respectable Philip Schaff said, by A.D. 200, the name of Christ was known, revered, and persecuted in every province and every city of the Roman Empire. He estimates that by A.D.300 the number of Christians amounted to one tenth or one twelfth of all Romans, or about ten million people. As Christianity grew in the Roman Empire, the evils of Rome began to diminish. In time, the Roman Empire became the Holy Roman Empire. Christianity became its official religion and had a huge influence upon its laws. These laws became the basis of Western civilization and law. It is hard to overstate the influence Christianity has had upon Western civilization. For centuries Christianity was primarily a Western man’s religion even though Christ clearly taught that His message was for the entire world. As the centuries went by, the Gospel took hold in many areas of the world, but especially in the Caucasian West. In the eighteenth century there was an Englishman, William Carey, who was distraught about the thought of Christianity being “the white man’s religion.” As he studied his Bible, he saw that Jesus Christ wanted followers among every tribe, nation, and tongue in the world. His conviction became expressed in a famous booklet called The Obligation of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathen. He formed a mission society and went to India himself. There he started several congregations of new converts to Christ. Today William Carey is considered the father of modern missions. He started a movement that took some time to get rolling but is rolling at full steam at the present.

Reading 42 The Movement Today Matthew 24:4-14 When I was born in 1954, two thirds of the Christians of the world were Caucasian and one third were people of color. Today the Christ-following movement is much larger and two thirds of the Christians of the world are people of color. There are about 43,000 distinct culture-language-people groups in the world. About 10,000 are classified as “unreached people groups.” That means, about 1.3 billion people have no access to Christ’s message–they have no Christians, churches, evangelists, missionaries, or ministries among them. Fifty some generations after the Lords assignment, the job is still not finished. A final push is underway. The results are remarkable. An estimated 178,000 people become followers of Christ every day. Each year 44,000 new local churches are started. God is doing a great thing today as He forms a body of people who will praise Him from every tribe and language and people and nation (Revelation 5:9). Every Christian and Christian church is part of a great movement that has its marching orders. The Lord Jesus said, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you (Matthew 28:18-20). What does it mean to make disciples? The early followers knew exactly what the Lord meant because they had seen Him do it. We are in a position to answer that question by looking at what His apostles did in response to His command. We can summarize disciple making this way: 1. Disciple making involves evangelizing. Christ-followers make extensive contact with nonChristians and confidently present Christ’s message to all who will listen (Matthew 9:35; Luke 13:22; Acts 8:1-5; 19:8-10; Romans 15:20). 2. Disciple making involves baptizing. Christ-followers ceremonially immersed those who have believed Christ’s claims (John 4:1,2; Acts 2:41; 8:15-16, 36-38; 9:18; 10:46-48; 16:15, 31-34; I Corinthians 1:13-17). 3. Disciple making involves congregationalizing. Baptized believers are gathered into local churches (Acts 2:42). 4. Disciple making involves stabilizing. Congregationalized believers are established by instruction into their newfound faith (Acts 13:42-43; 14:21; 15:36,41; 18:23; 20:1-3, 20, 28-32). 5. Disciple making involves teaching. Stabilized believers are given further training so they are equipped to live the Christian lifestyle and serve the Lord (Colossians 1:28-29). 6. Disciple making involves mobilizing. That means, growing believers serve the Lord in accordance the unique spiritual gifts and calling for their lives that they have received from God. (1 Corinthians 12-14; Ephesians 4:11-16; I Peter 4:10-11). The Lord wants all believers involved in some aspect of the disciple-making process and He wants all churches to be involved in every phase. In this way, the Christ-following-movement advances and continues to grow. Heart Checkup: Personally, where are you at in the disciple-making process? Are you involved in a disciple-making church? How comprehensive is your church in the task of making disciples?

Reading 43 A Persecuted Movement John 15:18-16:4 It is costly to be in the Christ-following movement. The Lord Jesus said, If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also (John 15:20). He was persecuted right from the start of His ministry (Mark 3:6); we should expect to be persecuted. 2 Timothy 3:12 says, Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. The Lord said it is a privilege to be persecuted because of our association with Him. He said, fortunate are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matthew 5:10-12). Part of being a Christian, a disciple of Christ, is to be willing to lay your life down for Christ. As the Lord put it, Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:27). What He was saying is, “I am going to the cross. Unless you are willing to come there with me you cannot consider yourself to be one of my disciples.” The Lord wants us to consider the cost before we follow Him. The Lord once challenged people with these words: Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:28-33). Christ’s apostle Peter said, Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name (1 Peter 4:12-16). You can’t help but read the Book of Acts, the Letters, and the Book of Revelation and see that Christ’s apostles and all believers were persecuted. There were times when the persecution was low keyed and other times when it was furious. There are four furious periods of persecution recorded in New Testament times: 1. Saul of Tarsus (who later converted and became the Apostle Paul) conducted a great persecution of Christians in Jerusalem in A.D. 35 (Acts 8:1-4; 9:1-2). 2. The Roman Emperor Claudius exiled Jews and Christians from Rome in A.D. 49. 3. Emperor Nero arrested and tortured believers in Rome in A.D. 64. 4. Around A.D. 95 Emperor Domitian persecuted Christians in Rome and Asia Minor (Revelation 1:9-11). While some Christians are called to suffer more than others, all Christians are called to suffer for Christ. The Apostle Paul told the Philippian Christians, It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him (Philippians 1:29). Heart Checkup: Have you entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ yet? Have you committed yourself to being loyal to Him no matter what the cost? Are you spiritually and psychologically prepared to be persecuted for Christ?

Reading 44 The Cost of Discipleship 1 Peter 3:8-12 Christians have suffered persecution in every decade since the close of the New Testament. A church father named Tertullian (A.D.260) said to a Roman leader, “You tie us to trees and treat us like logs to be set on fire; yet, let me tell you, when we are lit and dressed in fire, we are then in our most illustrious apparel.” And another church father, Basil (A.D. 372), wrote: “Threaten us with something else, if you can. None of these things can affect us. Confiscation cannot injure him who has but a few books and a cloak to lose. Nor can I be banished, who am bound to no place. The whole earth, in which I am but a pilgrim and a stranger, is God’s. Death, which can be accomplished with a single stroke, I fear not. It will be a kindness to me. It will sooner bring me to my God for whose sake I live and toward whom I have long been hastening. Reproach, threaten, and exert your power to the utmost, yet, let the emperor know, that you will never be able to make us agree to your wicked doctrine, not even if you threaten us ten thousand times more than this.” The persecution of Christians takes place in every country of the world to one degree or another. In some countries it is subdued. In other countries, Christians live out their faith under the threat of death. About 156,000 believers are killed each year for being followers of Jesus Christ. And there is no way to measure the number of Christians who are harassed, beaten, raped, tortured, enslaved, penalized, imprisoned, and discriminated against. Many have their property confiscated or destroyed. Church meeting places are closed, bombed, or destroyed. Groups that monitor civil rights estimate that 200 million Christians suffer mistreatment every year. In India I met a man named Schwam who had become the first Christian in his village. One night he came home to discover every important person in his life gathered in his home. Together they pleaded with him to forsake his newfound faith and return to the religion of his ancestors. He let all know that he loved them deeply but he could not forsake the Lord Jesus. A few weeks later he was ambushed and beaten by a group of anonymous men. He still refused to turn from Jesus. Then a few weeks later his mother was walking to get water from the only well in their village. She was told that the village leaders had voted to deny her family access to the well until their son returned to his ancestral religion. This action hurt Schwam deeply. He did not mind suffering for himself but to make his family suffer because of his faith was hard on him. Some Christians in neighboring villages heard the story and carried buckets of water from wells seven miles away to Schwam’s family. As the non-Christians watched the gracious way that Schwam suffered and the love of Christians for one another, the tide began to change. Today over fifty percent of Schwam’s village are Christians. As can be seen in Scripture, God has a way of using the persecution of believers to advance His work. As Tertullian put it, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” Most of the time God uses persecution to grow His church. That does not justify the injustice and cruelty of persecution. Persecutors will be held responsible for their evil actions. At the same time, God has a way of bringing good out of even evil. While the prospects of having to suffer for Christ can be frightening, the believer will find that God is able and willing to strengthen him for the ordeal. Believers through the centuries have found the truthfulness of God’s words, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). If we are faithful to the Lord in our daily struggles with persecution, He will show Himself amazingly faithful in the hours of greater persecution. With God’s grace and the support of others, Christians can withstand the fiercest persecution. Heart Checkup: Do you believe God will give you help in the hour of great trial if you are faithful to Him from day to day?

Reading 45 An Apologetic Movement 1 Peter 3:13-22 As participants in the Christ-following movement, Christians have a responsibility to share the Good News about salvation through Jesus Christ. We are to share that news with every person in the world. We have a special responsibility to share it with those who live around us. In the process of sharing the good news, non-Christians will raise many questions, objections, and issues related to the Christian faith. The motives of people will always be mixed. Sometimes the questions come from a sincere and seeking heart. Sometimes they are rooted in animosity. We cannot expect the non-Christian to come to Christ until his questions have been somewhat satisfied. Ultimately, this is something that only God can do in a person’s heart. Christians, however, have a responsibility to respond to the issues non-Christians raise. Apologetics is the process of responding to those questions and objections. When I sense that a non-Christian really understands the Good News, I try to bring them to a point of decision by asking, “Is there any reason you cannot place your faith in Christ right now and become one of His many followers?” This question helps me identify and deal with the obstacles they are yet facing. I have discovered that there are hundreds of different obstacles standing between a person and Christ. Sometimes I sense those obstacles are just excuses to help them maintain their independence from God. Often the non-Christian is not really seeking an answer to the questions, objectives, and issues they raise. They are simply clouding the issue. At other times, I sense they are sincere issues that need to be addressed. When I sense a person is just clouding the issue, I heed the words of the Lord Jesus: Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces (Matthew 7:6). The Lord was saying that there is no value in overspending your time and energy trying to persuade someone who has resolved to resist you and your Christ. When I sense a sincere question, however, I will give a person the best answer I know. While the Christ-follower needs to follow the lead of the Spirit in every conversation, we should focus our attention on people who are interested in learning more about Christ rather than overspending our time on the resistant (Matthew 10:11-16). I do not pretend to know what I don’t. Instead, I let the person know that they have asked a legitimate question, I don’t know the answer, I want to know the answer, and I am going to do some research. To research I might talk to a fellow Christian or a pastor. I might read a book, search the Internet, or listen to a recording. I investigate until I arrive at a reasonable response that satisfies my own heart and mind. Then I get back to them with my reply. So much of my growth in understanding the Christian faith has come as a result of doing research to answer the questions of others. With such an approach I am constantly forging a real world faith. It is the responsibility of a Christian to be prepared to respond to the questions non-Christians raise. In 1 Peter 3:15-16 we are commanded, Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. Christians are to be prepared to answer the questions nonChristians need to resolve on their way to embracing Christ. These verses are clear that what we say and how we say it are of equal importance. Heart Checkup: What resources do you have around that can help you find answers to some of these issues?

Reading 46 Defenders of the Faith 1 John 4:1-6 Jude wrote, Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints (Verse 3). Christians are to do battle for the body of beliefs God left with them. Whether the Christian is dealing with a philosopher or peasant, the questions are generally the same. We should identify what those issues are and be mentally prepared to respond to them. In Western civilization there are a hundred questions people can ask but 80% of the time it is one of the questions that follow: • Isn’t the Bible full of errors? • Are we to really believe that the miraculous stories in the Bible really happened? • Isn’t it arrogant to say that Christianity is the only true religion? • How can a loving God condemn even His worst enemy to an eternal hell? • How can a loving God eternally condemn people who have never heard the Gospel? • If God is so loving and so powerful, why do so many innocent people suffer so much? • Isn’t faith believing that something is true for which you have no evidence? • Doesn’t evolution adequately explain the origin of the universe and life? • How can you say there is such a thing as absolute truth and absolute morals? If you are prepared to reply to these issues, you will be ready for most of the objections that come your way. And you will notice, we have dealt with many of these issues in this course. While philosophers and peasants ask the same questions, they ask with differing degrees of sophistication and must be answered accordingly. Who are the people with whom you interact on a regular basis? At what degree of sophistication do you need to prepare your replies? All Christians are called upon to respond to the questions the non-Christians around them are asking (1 Peter 3:15-16). Some people have devoted their whole lives to the study of apologetics. Their ministry is to defend the faith. They can be a great source of help to serious seekers and Christians who are trying to help serious seekers. Some outstanding apologists in the West include the following: John Ankerburg, Kenneth Boa, Paul Copan, William Lane Craig, Norman L. Geisler, C.S. Lewis, Paul Little, Josh McDowell, Francis Schaeffer, James Sire, Lee Strobel, and Ravi Zacharias. Some of these people write for the world of higher education and some write best for the man in the street. They can help us know what to say to address the questions and issues serious seekers around us raise. If people do not accept our arguments, it does not mean we did not do a good job. We must not forget that there is much more going on in people’s minds than just consideration of the evidence. There is so much in the mind that tampers with the evidence the mind is receiving. There are many people more brilliant than you and me. They can out think and debate us. This does not mean that they are right and we are wrong. If people start with wrong premises they are going to draw wrong conclusions no matter how bright and persuasive they are. If brilliance could determine rightness, all the brilliant people of the world would think alike. The truth is all about premises, consistent usage of the laws of logic, and drawing right conclusions. As Christians we know that we do not have the persuasive powers to transform another person’s heart. Only God can do that. Nevertheless, we have a responsibility to use reason in presenting sound evidence which God may use to bring a person to Christ as Lord and Savior. Heart Checkup: What resources do you have around that can help you find answers to some of these issues? For which of the leading issues do you have thoughtful responses? For which ones do you not?

Reading 47 The Contender’s Attitudes Colossians 4:2-6 How we say what we say is just as important as what we say. 1 Peter 3:15-16 tells us how to say what we say. First, it tells us that Christians are always to be gentle and gracious in their replies. Christians never want to be harsh and arrogant. Colossians 4:6 instructs Christians to let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. 1 Peter 3:15-16 tells us that Christians should speak respectfully toward others when they address them. We should not insult or demean anyone. After all, every person is created by God in His image and likeness (Genesis 1:26). Humans are special creatures. We are the creature God created that is capable of enjoying a relationship with God. In His infinite wisdom, God has chosen to give people an enormous amount of free will to think and act as they wish. He allows us to believe anything we want and live any way we want. (Not without consequences, of course.) If God allows a tremendous amount of freedom of choice to people, shouldn’t we? We should never try to coerce people to believe as we do. We should never demean or humiliate others for thinking differently than we do. As God tolerates erroneous believing and living, so must we. God tolerates it with deep concern for the quality of life and their eternal destiny. We too should tolerate erroneous believing and living with concern for the quality of life and eternal destiny of others. Out of love and concern, we can do our best to persuade others to believe and live as we do. We must always give people the freedom to think and do as they will. All the Christian can do is lay out the evidence in a reasonable way so the Holy Spirit can convince people of their sin and need of Christ. Our inability to persuade is not necessarily a reflection on our capabilities to persuade. It may say more about the heart of the person we are trying to persuade. Sometimes all we can do for others is pray that they will see the truth about Jesus Christ being the central personality of this universe to whom everyone owes absolute allegiance. By taking this approach to people, we show proper respect for them. Third, the verses tell us that Christians are also to be righteous in their replies to the issues that non-Christians raise. That is what 1 Peter 3:16 means by keeping a clear conscience. We always use righteous speech and actions as we address people’s concerns. Unrighteous uses of speech such as yelling in anger, lying, bearing false witness, exaggerating, flattering, insulting, nagging, complaining, demeaning, threatening, manipulating, and the like (Exodus 20:16; Proverbs 15:23, 28; 29:20; Proverbs 15:1; Colossians 4:6; Ephesians 4:29) are prohibited. Unrighteous deeds such as throwing or breaking things, and pushing or hitting someone are also strictly prohibited. According to 1 Peter 3:16, if we properly respond to non-Christians, they may be able to accuse us of believing outrageous thoughts but they will not be able to accuse us of having wrong attitudes, speech, and deeds. Heart Checkup: If you are a Christ-follower, how gentle, respectful, and righteous are you in the way you respond to the issues others raise against Christianity?

Reading 48 Teaching God’s Word 2 Timothy 2:1-2; 4:1-5 How many things are more important to learn than God’s Word? The Lord Jesus said that ingesting every word of God was just as essential as ingesting food into the body. He said, Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. Most of the people in Jesus’ day could not read. For this reason they went to the synagogue to hear the Scriptures read and explained by those who were able to read and instruct (see Luke 4:1430 and Acts 15:21). As Christian churches began to form, they were patterned after the synagogues in many ways. Christians gathered to have the Scriptures read and explained to them. In 1 Timothy 4:13 the Apostle Paul writes the following to Timothy, an interim pastor in Ephesus: Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. You can see that the Scriptures are to be read and explained in the Christian gatherings. God has assigned teaching to church leaders (1 Timothy 3:1-7; 4:11-13; 5:17-18; 2 Timothy 2:1-2; 4:1-5; Titus 1:5-9; 2:1, 15; Hebrews 13:7) and to people in whom He has placed special abilities to teach others (Romans 12:38; 1 Corinthians 12:27-30; Ephesians 4:7-16). To prevent people from being flippant about being Bible teachers, James wrote, Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly (James 3:1). Teaching God’s Word is a serious responsibility. Before teaching a lesson, the first responsibility of a Bible teacher is to carefully study the Bible story, passage or verse to make sure that he is understanding it correctly. We have properly understood the God’s Word when we understand what the original author intended to communicate to the original readers. Anything else is a distortion. None of us like it when others distort and misuse our words. Neither does God. In 2 Timothy 2:15 the Apostle Paul told a Bible teacher, Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. The next responsibility of a Bible teacher is to carefully apply the Word of God to his life. If we do not practice what we teach, people will not trust the teacher and listen to what he has to say. An influential Bible teacher must be able to say, Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice (Philippians 4:9). The third responsibility of a teacher is to develop clear aims for the lesson. He must decide: “What exactly do I want my students to know by the time this lesson is over?” There is usually one main point a teacher wants the students to know in a well prepared lesson. There may be several subpoints that need to be made to support that point; but there is usually one main point. That point arises out of the Scripture story, passage, or verse that is being taught. If our lessons are not driven by God’s intentions for a Bible story, passage, or verse, we will distort the Scriptures to promote our own agendas. We will use the Scriptures like blocks and lumber to build a case for what we want to say instead of what God wants to say through a Bible story, passage, or verse. In developing clear lesson aims, a teacher must also decide: “What exactly do I want my students to do as a result of understanding my main point?” While there is only one correct understanding of every passage, there are many practical applications to every biblical truth. An effective teacher will help the students see how the Scriptures can be applied to their lives. After all, application to life is one of the chief purposes of the Scriptures (Matthew 7:24-27; 28:19-20; James 1:22-25). Heart Checkup: Name the three responsibilities of Bible teachers that are highlighted in this reading. Has God given you the special ability to communicate His Word to others? Do you have a teaching role? If so, how faithful are you with each of the three teacher’s responsibilities?

Reading 49 Summary Matthew 11:25-30 The yearning for a word from God is great in the human soul. Without such a word we will never know the answer to many important questions. Maybe we just need to accept the fact that such answers are unknowable. At the same time, there are several writings on the face of the earth that claim to be that word for which we are looking. We at least owe it to ourselves to investigate such writings and determine if one or none of them prove to be a word from beyond. It has been my argument that there is one set of writings that claims to speak for God and proves to be a Word of God. It is the Christian Bible. I portrayed these writings as logically, historically, scientifically, experientially, and prophetically accurate in a way that no other sacred writings can compare. I portrayed these as being indicative of a supernatural mind being necessary for the formation of the Christian Scriptures. We finished our argument by arguing that the Bible is endorsed as God’s Word by the resurrected Christ Himself. There are numerous and good reasons that Christians believe the Bible proves to be the Word of God. None of these evidences proves that the Christian Bible is the Word of God by itself. Considered together, however, they present a strong case for strong conviction. One might wonder how the Bible could be the Word of God since it was written by human beings. We decided that God chose to form His revelation by a dual authorship involving a man of God being directed by God the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that the human authors were simply passive recipients of the Holy Spirit’s words. While small portions of the Bible were dictated by God to the human authors, humans and God were both active in the process of forming the Scriptures. God the Holy Spirit guided certain men of God to record the very words of God without depriving them of their personal involvement and writing styles. There are many ancient religious writings. Which ones involved a man of God being directed by God the Holy Spirit to be included in the collection of writings that speak for God? We presented our arguments for concluding that God’s Word consists of 66 writings–39 Old Testament writings and 27 New Testament writings. We also decided, while nothing in the Bible explicitly says God would or would not give us further written revelation, the clear implications of Scripture are that the New Testament writings are the last writings God intends to give people. With humans involved in writing the Bible, it is natural to assume the Bible has errors in it. We presented the idea that God is able to prevent errors from creeping in just as the Bible says He did. We concluded that the Bible is without error in any matter on which it speaks. While many think the Bible is an untrustworthy reproduction of its original, we showed how textual scholars are confident that the Bible we possess today accurately represents what the apostolic circle penned. And thanks to the many brilliant men and women who do the challenging work of translating the Bible, we can be sure that we are reading an accurate depiction of the original writings when we are reading a good, modern translation of the Bible. All of these things together make the Bible the deciding authority whenever there is a conflict between the Bible and some other source of knowledge. Other sources of knowledge may cause Christians to take a more careful look at what the Bible really teaches in itself; but we are not going to dismiss, judge, criticize, or change what the Bible teaches in itself. A follower of Jesus Christ remains fully committed to trusting the Word of God, properly interpreted, over any other source of truth. The Scriptures rank higher than the authority of the entire scientific community, than our finest historians, the views of the majority around us, and the brightest philosophers. We should not dismiss anything the Bible says as untrue or irrelevant because of our experiences, intuitions, cultures, and so forth. And what the Scriptures say in themselves exceeds the authority of any organization, denomination, church leader, council, historical figure, creed, article, statement of faith, resolution, or tradition.

Like we said, it is what the Bible says in itself that is important. The goal in understanding the Bible is the same as in all literature--we want to determine exactly what the original author intended to communicate to the original readers. Understanding what the Bible says in itself is a great challenge. For some reason, people do a lot of funny things when it comes to interpreting the Scriptures. But, if everybody interpreted the Bible by the same rules by which we interpret any other piece of literature, there would be much consensus about what the Bible teaches. While admitting we would never eradicate differences among Christians, we demonstrated that there is a core of Christian teaching that cannot be missed by anyone who applies the rules by which we interpret all literature. After the Christian has properly understood God’s Word, he must next take God at His Word. That is, he must believe that things are exactly as God has said they are. He must grow in faith to the point that he perceives the invisible realities God has revealed as being just as real as the visible realities he perceives with his senses. And, after the Christian has properly understood and tenaciously trusted God’s Word, he must next apply it to his life. We can only learn how to apply the Bible by practice, practice, practice. While it is easy to get the impression that Christianity is a set of beliefs or a set of moral principles, it is first and foremost a relationship with Jesus Christ. Because He is a living person, it is possible to have an actual relationship with Him. While relating to Jesus Christ is very real, we demonstrated that it is also very different than relating to a spouse, child, friend, or master. Christians are a movement of people who have come into relationship with Jesus Christ. They are learning from Him a view of the world that makes sense out of life as we experience it. They are learning to live according to His will and ways as He has revealed in the Bible. The Christian life is not an easy life. Christians have suffered persecution in every decade since the close of the New Testament. While the prospects of having to suffer for Christ can be frightening, Christians find that Christ is able and willing to strengthen them for the ordeal of suffering for Him. When Christians learn to be faithful to Christ in their daily struggles with persecution, He shows Himself amazingly strengthening in times of severe persecution. With His grace and the support of the Christians brotherhood, Christians can withstand the fiercest persecution. As participants in the Christ-following movement, Christians have a responsibility to share the Good News about salvation through Jesus Christ. We are to share that news with every person in the world. We have a special responsibility to share it with those who live around us. In the process of sharing the good news, non-Christians will raise many questions, objections, and issues related to the Christian faith. Christians should know what they believe and why. They should defend the faith always showing love, humility, grace, understanding, and respect toward others. As people come to embrace Christ as Lord and Savior, they need to be taught every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). To that end God created churches where, among other things, the Scriptures are read and explained. God has assigned Bible teaching to church leaders and to people in whom He has placed special abilities to teach others. Teachers must carefully study the Bible to make sure they understand it correctly. They must also apply it to their lives. And, in preparing their lessons, they must develop clear aims for the lesson that are based on God’s aims, not their own. Congratulations to you for completing this course! Discipleship is a lifelong process of learning from the Lord Jesus. I encourage you to begin another course right away. Unless one has already been selected for you, I suggest that your next course be Around the Word in Eighty Days. In it you will obtain an overview of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Having this overview in mind will enable you to double your understanding of any particular Bible passage. Heart Checkup: Will you press on in these studies? What will you study next?

Appendix 1 Cross References This appendix has yet to be developed.

Appendix 2 Additional Resources Reading 3 The Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties by Gleason Archer Faith Has Its Reasons by Kenneth Boa and Robert Bowman Introductory Logic by Douglas Wilson and James Nance The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell (Several chapters) That’s Just Your Interpretation by Paul Copan (Several chapters) Readings 4 & 5 The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel (Chapter 10) Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell (Chapter 11) More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell (Chapter 9) That’s Just Your Interpretation by Paul Copan (Chapter 21) Readings 6 & 7 I'd Like to Believe, But . . . by Michael Green and Nick Spencer The Physics of Christianity by Frank J. Tipler None of These Diseases by S.I. McMillan and David Stern Many Infallible Proofs: Chapters on the Evidences of Christianity (1886) by A.T. Pierson The Reasons for Our Hope by Vernon Grounds Science and Religion by Alister E. McGrath Reading 8 Believing God by Beth Moore Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell (Chapter 12) George Muller of Bristol: His Life of Prayer and Faith by A. T. Pierson Know Why You Believe by Paul Little (Chapter 12) More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell (Chapter 11) Readings 9 & 10 Archaeology and the New Testament by Merrill F. Unger Archaeology and the Old Testament by Merrill F. Unger The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel (Chapter 5) History and Christianity by John Warwick Montgomery In Search of Noah’s Ark by David Balsiger and Charles E. Sellier Know Why You Believe by Paul Little (Chapter 7) The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell (Chapters 3, 4, 40) On the Reliability of the Old Testament by K.A. Kitchen Readings 11 & 12 The God of Miracles by C. John Collins Know Why You Believe by Paul Little (Chapter 8) Miracles by C.S. Lewis The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell (Chapter 39) Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth & Apologetics by William Craig Readings 13 & 14 The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel (Part 1) History and Christianity by John Warwick Montgomery (Chapter 2) The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell On the Reliability of the Old Testament by K.A. Kitchen True for You, But Not for Me by Paul Copan (Part 4)

Reading 15 Matthew 27:45-28:20 Mark 15:33-16:20 Luke 23:44-24:53 John 19:28-21:14 Acts 1:1-11 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Reading 16 History and Christianity by John Warwick Montgomery The Battle for the Resurrection by Norman L. Geisler The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel (Part 3) Know Why You Believe by Paul Little (Chapter 4) The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell (Chapter 9) Who Moved the Stone by Frank Morison Reading 17 History and Christianity by John Warwick Montgomery Jesus and the Old Testament by R.T. France Why Believe the Bible by John MacArthur (Chapter 4) Reading 18 - revelation given to apostles Reading 20 A General Introduction to the Bible by Norman Geisler and William Nix The Origin of the Bible edited by F.F. Bruce Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem Why Believe the Bible by John MacArthur Readings 21 & 22 The Canon of Scripture by F.F. Bruce A General Introduction to the Bible by Norman Geisler and William Nix (Part 2) In Understanding Be Men by T.C. Hammond (Part 1) The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell (Chapter 2) Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem (Chapter 3) Reading 23 Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem (Chapter 8) Readings 24 & 25 A General Introduction to the Bible by Norman Geisler and William Nix (Parts 1 & 3) Inerrancy by Norman Geisler Know Why You Believe by Paul Little (Chapter 6) Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem (Chapter 5) Readings 26 & 27 A General Introduction to the Bible by Norman Geisler and William Nix (Chapters 28-30) Old Testament Exegesis: A Handbook for Students and Pastors by Douglas K. Stuart The Theory and Practice of Translation by Eugene Albert Nida Readings 28, 29, & 30 The Shape of Sola Scriptura by Keith A. Mathison In Understanding Be Men by T.C. Hammond (Part 1) Inspiration and Authority of the Bible by Benjamin Warfield Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem (Chapter 8) Why Believe the Bible by John MacArthur

Reading 31 How to Study the Bible for Yourself by Tim LaHaye How to Study Your Bible by Kay Arthur How to Get More from Your Bible by Lloyd Perry and Walden Howard Independent Bible Study by Irving Jensen Readings 32 & 33 In Understanding Be Men by T.C. Hammond New Testament Theology by Donald Guthrie (Introduction) Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem (Chapter 1) Readings 34 &35 Basic Christianity by John Stott Correcting the Cults: Expert Responses to Their Scripture Twisting by Norman Geisler Doctrine Twisting: How the Cults Distort Major Christian Beliefs by H. Wayne House The Kingdom of the Cults by Walter Martin Know What You Believe by Paul Little In Understanding Be Men by T.C. Hammond Scripture Twisting: 20 Ways the Cults Misread the Bible by James Sire Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem Reading 36 Christian Ethics: Options and Issues by Norman L. Geisler Down-to-Earth Spirituality by R. Paul Stevens Introduction to Biblical Ethics by Robertson McQuilkin The Marketplace Annotated Bibliography by Pete Hammond, R. Paul Stevens, & Todd Svanoe Reading 37 Believing God by Beth Moore George Muller of Bristol: His Life of Prayer and Faith by A. T. Pierson Reading 38 The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges Reading 39 Enjoying Intimacy with God by J. Oswald Sanders More Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell (Chapter 11) Readings 40, 41, & 42 From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya by Ruth A. Tucker History of the Christian Church by Philip Schaff Jesus Christ, Disciplemaker by Bill Hull The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman Readings 43 & 44 By Their Blood by James Hefley and Marti Hefley The Costly Call by Emir Fethi Caner and H. Edward Pruitt Foxes Book of Martyrs by John Foxe A Passion that Shapes Nations by Charlie Cleverly Readings 45, 46, & 47 A Little Primer on Humble Apologetics by James W. Sire Baker’s Encyclopedia of Apologetics by Norman L. Geisler Defending Your Faith by R.C. Sproul Know Why You Believe by Paul Little New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics by McGrath, Campbell-Jack, and Evans Reading 48 Biblical Preaching by Haddon W. Robinson Effective Bible Teaching by James Wilhoit and Leland Ryken

Appendix 3 Recommended Web Sites www.christiananswers.net www.gospel-com.net/rbc/questions www.lifeway.com/24hr www.hisdefense.org www.str.org www.defendingthefaith.com www.karma2grace.org www.reasonstobelieve.org www.BiblicalArchaeology.net www.arcapologetics.org