I. What People Quickly Forget:

What would we know without the Bible? I guess people just assume that other religious writings contain the same information found in the Bible. But this isn't true. The importance of any book is realized when we contemplate, how much information would we lose, if this work had never existed? Concerning God's revelation, Paul noted, 'Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man' (1 Corinthians 2:9). There are many truths that are completely unique to this book. Truths which other religions have borrowed (Islam, Mormonism, etc..), but without this book, those truths could have never been known or borrowed. Consider the following: 1. The Bible presents the concept of one true God, who is distinct from the Creation. 2. Mankind loses their dignity without the Bible. It is the book that mentions men and women are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). On that note we could say that without the Bible the United States Of America as a land of freedom would have never existed. 3. Apart from this book, what would we really know about morality? What would we know about marriage? 4. It is the Bible that introduced the concept of 'sin' and the need for salvation. 5. What could be known about death, and eternity without the Bible? Remove the Bible from human history and you are left with a world dominated by the following concepts: Evil and suffering are illusions, reincarnation, gods and goddesses control various aspects of this world, the creation is inseparable from god or the gods, the creation is an accident, absolute truth doesn't exist, human life is no more valuable than animal life and might makes right. Critics of the Bible quickly forget the freedom that enables them to attack the Bible, is a freedom that wouldn't exist without the Bible!

II. Jesus And The Bible:

Jesus is a very inconvenient person for the individual who wants 'spirituality' without having to accept that the Bible is the Word of God. Critics, skeptics and those who want to have the Bible de-clawed, find Jesus to be a very frustrating individual. Because He is continually referring to the Bible as the Word of God. Points to Note: 1. To Jesus there wasn't any difference between the Bible saying something and God saying something. What the Bible said, God said, what God said, the Bible said. Matthew 22:31 '..have you not read that which was spoken to you by God.' Then He quotes from Exodus 3:6. This same truth is found in other passages:

God Said: Scripture Said:

Genesis 12:3 Galatians 3:8

Exodus 9:6 Romans 9:17

Bible Had Said: God Had Said:

Psalm 95:7 Hebrews 3:7

Psalm 2:1 Acts 4:24

Isaiah 55:3 Acts 13:34

Psalm 16:10 Acts 13:35

Jesus also gave the following endorsements concerning the Old Testament: 2. Its central divisions (Luke 16:16; 24:44). 3. Inspiration of its writers (Matthew 22:43 'David in the Spirit..'; 24:15 'Daniel the prophet'. 4. Historical accuracy of the events described in the Old Testament. One writer noted: 'Jesus had the annoying habit of affirming the very passages that higher criticism calls errors. He affirmed things like Creation (Luke 11:51) (He placed Adam and Eve near the beginning of Creation-Mark 10:6); Adam and Eve (Matthew 19:4-5), Noah and the Flood (24:37-39), Sodom and Gomorrah (Luke 10:12), and Jonah and the great fish (Matt. 12:39-41). He even went so far as to say that Moses wrote the Law (rather than Ezra or a collection of scribes; see Mark 7:10; John 7:19) and that Isaiah wrote all of Isaiah (critical scholars say the last half was written centuries later; see John 12:38-41 where both halves are quoted together and each is attributed to Isaiah.' (When Skeptics Ask. Geisler/Brooks p. 149) 5. Jesus also believed that the Bible was completely sufficient to guide one to eternal life (Luke 16:31). 6. The Word of God down to the smallest letter or mark of punctuation in the text (Matthew 5:17-18). 7. A book that didn't contradict itself, but rather expressed the same truth on a subject throughout its divisions (Luke 24:27 '..beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures'; 44-46). 8. True in every respect (John 17:17). 9. A book that contains the last word. Scripture is the final court of appeals, the final authority (Matthew 4:4,7,10). 10. Nothing can nullify or invalidate what the Bible states as reality (John 10:35 'and the Scripture cannot be broken').

III. Was Jesus Truthful?

The claim is being made that the Bible is only infallible concerning spiritual things. That is, the Bible is merely an infallible guide in matters of faith and practice, but there may be errors in reference to science, geography and history within its pages. In addition, Jesus and the biblical writers simply accommodated themselves to various popular errors and myths of the times so they could get their point across.

Points to Note: 1. But Jesus didn't accommodate Himself to the misconceptions of His time. This is one reason why He found Himself involved in so many controversies with the Pharisees and Sadducees. He confronted their false beliefs! (Matt. 22:29; Chapter 23; 15:1-9; John 2:13-16). 2. The Bible is emphatic concerning Jesus' truthfulness: 1 Peter 2:22 '..nor was any deceit found in His mouth.' 3. Jesus claimed that He told the truth about 'earthly things' (John 3:12). 'Jesus expected His accuracy in factually testable matters to be proof that He was telling the truth about spiritual matters that cannot be tested.' (Geisler p. 148) 4. In addition, why would Jesus have to accommodate Himself to any error? Lest someone speak without thinking and say, 'Well, what does Jesus know about science?' 'What does Jesus know about biology, botany, geography, human psychology, genetics, when one becomes a human being, or the origin of the universe…..those things are better left in the hands of the experts!' Have we forgotten something? Have we forgotten, the true expert concerning all these things is Jesus, because He is the Creator! John 1:3 'All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.' Why would Jesus have to depend upon or use the findings of fallible men for any of His illustrations or sermons? Brethren, friends! If the Bible isn't accurate about the Creation of this world, then do fallible men know more about the origin of this universe and mankind, than the Creator Himself? Whose findings would you trust? The being Who brought it into existence, including all the laws that govern it, was there as an eyewitness and continues to sustain it (Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:2). Or a fallible and infinite scientist who has only been alive for the last 50 years, who has never left this planet, and who has only been an 'expert' in his field for the last 10 or 20 years?

Write this down: If God is the author, as the Bible claims (2 Timothy 3:16-17), and as Jesus plainly asserted for both the Old and New Testament (John 16:13; 12:48; Matthew 24:35), then how could the Bible state an inaccuracy about any subject? When it comes to certain subjects, is God out of His league?

IV. The Limits Of Human Language?

Here is the argument that is being made in some circles: 'Human language isn't able to fully communicate truths about God. Hence error about spiritual truths is unavoidable as long as we are stuck with human language.'

Points to Note: 1. So why then did God deliberately choose human language as the means of communicating with us? Other options were open to Him (direct communication to each and every individual, an inherent knowledge of the truth built into the human race, and so on). God doesn't seem to have a problem with human language. 2. This argument forgets that man was created with a capacity to understand spiritual truth, to comprehend things about God (Genesis 1:26). Therefore human language can perfectly express spiritual truths. Nothing is lost when truths are written down (Ephesians 3:3-5). 3. The written Word is praised for its perfection and truthfulness: Psalm 119:7-8 'The law of the Lord is perfect..sure, making wise the simple…right..pure, enlightening the eyes..'; 119:128 'I esteem right all Thy precepts concerning everything'; 140 'Thy word is very pure'; 151 'all Thy commandments are truth'; 160 'The sum of Thy word is truth'. In fact, Paul makes it clear that human language can express spiritual truth (1 Corinthians 2:13 '…combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.') 4. 'it is self-defeating to say that language cannot express anything about God, because it just did-it expressed the idea that nothing could be expressed.' (Geisler p. 150) 5. Then there is the question of honesty. If human language can't adequately express the truth about spiritual things, then why isn't the same argument accepted when we come to understanding the universe that God made? People insist that human language can adequately express the truth about the origin of the universe, the nature of man, and a host of deep and complicated subjects.

V. The Biblical Writers:

Clearly God is the true author behind every book in the Bible. 'Inspiration does not mean simply that the writer felt enthusiastic, like Handel composing the Messiah. Nor does it mean that the writings are necessarily inspiring, like an uplifting poem.' (Geisler p. 145) Points to Note: 1. The revelation to write came from God (1 Peter 1:10; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 Corinthians 2:10-13). 2. The content, right down to tenses and whether a word was singular or plural also came from God (Matthew 22:31-32; Galatians 3:16 'He does not say, "And to seeds", as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed", that is, Christ.') 3. And yet, it is also clear that God allowed or used the human personalities and experiences of the various writers. This accounts for the different literary and grammatical styles that exist between Biblical books. The various personal elements in the books (2 Timothy 4:13; 1 Corinthians 1:16). Some people insist that error must have crept into the Biblical text because God used human writers. But Geisler notes, 'there is an analogy between the written Word of God and the Living Word (Jesus). While neo-evangelicals say that error is due to the introduction of human thought and human language, they must somehow account for the fact that Jesus Christ was both fully human and fully divine (John 1:14), yet without sin. In both cases (the incarnation and revelation), the human and divine are wedded, yet the human aspects have no imperfections. This suggests that sin and error are not necessary consequences of humanity…… God can produce both a Person and a Book that are without error.' (p. 152) Accepting the premise that human language cannot adequately reveal spiritual truth, demands the concession that Jesus Christ taught some error. Because, He used the language of mankind to express everything He said (John 1:18; 14:9; 3:12; 6:68; 12:48).