A Starting Point

We all have to start somewhere and when we do, we start on the basis of some presuppositions. This blog is no different. It starts from the presupposition that the Bible is the Word of God and, as such, is true and contains everything we need for life, faith and practice.

1. Why start here?

The Bible claims to be ‘pure’ (Psalm 12v6; Proverbs 30v5), ‘perfect’ (Psalm 19v7), true (John 17v17), and ‘God-breathed’ (2 Timothy 3v16). If those claims are to be true, then the Bible must be a reliable document; if it is not reliable, then those claims are not true and if they are not true, then it is unreliable – a catch 22 situation. But what of those who think the Bible is partly reliable and partly not; that it contains errors, falsehoods and inaccuracies? If it is not reliable in its entirety, then that reflects on the Author Himself. A person who habitually writes documents that are full of errors soon won’t be believed no matter what he writes, even when what he writes is actually true. If the Bible is full of errors as some would claim (even among those who say they are Christians) then God cannot be trusted. Which bits of the Bible are error and which are true? Who should decide? No, the whole Bible either stands or falls as a whole. It is not a hotchpotch of bits and pieces, some reliable, some not, from which individuals can pick and choose what to believe and what to reject. If any part of it is unreliable, then the whole is going to be considered unreliable and we have no way of knowing what is true and what isn't. If the Bible contains errors, then God is not true (because He says the Bible is true – an error is not true); if God is not true, then He ceases to be God and ceases to be good.

The Bible is our only guide for faith and practice. If it is not true, then our whole foundation crumbles. We need to be able to trust God; He asks that of us. If He is untrue, then how can we trust Him? If we doubt His word, then we doubt Him; our faith is not on a secure foundation. If we cannot trust Him when He says His word is pure, then we cannot trust anything He says. So if we are going to consider the subject of Radical Discipleship, we need to be sure we are standing on a firm foundation.

2. Is there any evidence for the truth of the Bible?

I am not going to go into depth in answering this question. There is plenty of information available for those who wish to look into it further. My intention is simply to mention the types of evidence available and give some examples and a few links for further study.

a.       Manuscript evidence – there are more than 5000 documents relating to the Bible. Not all the documents contain the whole Bible, but there are several copies of each part – and the miracle is, they all in the main agree with one another. Where there are discrepancies, they are of minor or grammatical points. There is more consistency between the various texts of the Bible than there is between the various texts of Plato, or Socrates, or Aristotle, for example. You can read more of this in the book, ‘New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? By F. F. Bruce.

For further information see: http://carm.org/manuscript-evidencehttp://carm.org/manuscript-evidence

b.      Archaeological evidence

A few examples:

Genesis 10v10-12 lists several cities, the first cities mentioned in the Bible. Archaeologists discovered these cities over a century ago and have positively identified them, thus providing evidence for an historical basis of the accounts of Abraham’s journeys.

Many of the Israelite kings have been attested to in inscriptions and carvings, such as Omri, Jehu, David, and Jeroboam, to mention a few.

A stone discovered in 1868, known as the ‘Moabite Stone’ describes a battle between Mesha King of Moab and Ahab, son of Omri. The latter two were kings of Israel; you can read about them and the battle in 2 Kings 3v4-5.

Dr. Nelson Glueck, probably the greatest modern authority on Israeli archaeology, has said:

"No archaeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible. And, by the same token, proper evaluation of Biblical descriptions has often led to amazing discoveries."

You can read more about how archaeological discoveries support the Bible here and here.

c.       Eye witness accounts

The New Testament was written by people who either witnessed first hand the events of which they wrote, or were companions of those who had witnessed the events. Many of them were put to death for their beliefs. Had those beliefs been a lie, then surely they would have changed their stories to save themselves from being used as sport in the arena, eaten alive by wild animals, or burned alive? It beggars belief that anyone would cling to a falsehood, knowing it was false, in the face of such opposition. While there could have been some deluded souls who might do so, there are far too many accounts of Christians being martyred for their faith to make it credible that they would have died for a lie.

http://www.tektonics.org/guest/truthfulness.htmhttp://www.tektonics.org/guest/truthfulness.htm

d.      Fulfilled prophecy

There are more than 300 prophecies in the Old Testament pertaining to the birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ. The Bible was written by around 40 authors (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit), over some 1600 years, yet many of the books have prophecies about One who was to come – and these prophecies were fulfilled in Christ.

One of the most remarkable is Psalm 22, which clearly describes the crucifixion, but written hundreds of years before the Romans invented crucifixion as a method of execution.

To read other fulfilled prophecies, please look here: 

e.      Scientific evidence

People will tell you that science has ‘disproved the Bible’ long ago and only brainwashed, unintelligent people could possibly believe it. We are considered deluded, gullible, and are the subject of ridicule and derision. They tell us that evolution is a fact and therefore the creation story is a myth, or a fairytale. However, science looks at the facts and then interprets those facts. An apple falling to the ground is a fact; gravity is a theory. Geological layers and fossils are facts; evolution is a theory. The self same facts are available to Christians too, but they interpret them differently. Starting from the basis that the word of God is true, Christians look at the facts as presented and formulate a theory or a hypothesis that fits both the facts and the Biblical account. The interpretation is not the facts, it is a conclusion drawn from those facts. Some scientists have concluded that God cannot exist; others have used the same facts to indicate that God is powerful and creation is wonderful (full of wonder).

Please see: 

http://www.inplainsite.org/html/scientific_facts_in_the_bible.html 

and http://www.pb.org/pbdocs/bibleac.html

This list is not exhaustive, nor is it meant to be. It simply gives a brief taster of the reasons for why the Bible is reliable. Does it matter whether the Bible is true or not? For the reasons given above, yes, I believe it does matter. If the Bible is not reliable, or contains errors, then God cannot be trusted. If God cannot be trusted, then why believe anything He says?  Which parts of the Bible can we simply throw away as unreliable? Why live our lives as Christians at all? What becomes of the hope of heaven that Christians speak of? But if God is true as He claims, and His word is true as He claims, then we can trust Him and trust His word. As more evidence comes to light, scientific, newly discovered manuscripts, or archaeological discoveries, there is nothing that contradicts the Bible, but these discoveries actually support the Biblical account.

Radical Disciples

The Apostle Paul and his companions were travelling through Amphipolis, when they arrived at Thessalonica. As they usually did, they attended the synagogue, speaking to the Jews about Christ, explaining the events of His life and death from the Old Testament Scriptures. Several of the Jewish men and women believed and joined with Paul in following Christ.

But there were some Jews who did not accept this message. They became jealous that some of their number had left the synagogue to follow this new teaching. So they hired some unsavoury characters in the local market place, gathered a mob together, and stormed the house of Jason, where Paul had last been known to be. A riot ensued, such that 'the whole city was in an uproar'. Paul and his friends were not there, so the mob dragged Jason from his house, and some other believers they found there, and took them before the rulers of the city. Their charge against them: "These who have turned the world upside down have come here too...saying there is another king - Jesus" (Acts 17v6,7).

During the Reformation in Europe, a new group arose, that was neither Catholic nor Protestant. They were known as 'Anabaptists' because they baptised believers. As everyone had already been baptised as infants into the state church, then those practising 'believers' baptism' were, in effect, re-baptising those who believed, upon confession of their faith. The word 'Anabaptist' means 're-baptiser'.

Because of their firm stand against baptising infants, they were persecuted by the authorities. At their trials, witnesses were brought in to confirm that these men and women were indeed part of the group known as Anabaptists. These witnesses spoke of how the Anabaptists were completely honest, never beat their children, were fair in their business dealings, worked hard, helped not only each other but anyone in need, and many more such things. For these 'crimes' (including re-baptising), they were deprived of their jobs, their homes, their possessions and their liberty. They were often tortured, then finally put to death, often by being burned at the stake. But the more determined the persecution, the more the movement grew and the stronger the believers became. Once again, believers were turning the world upside down.

Down the centuries, we come now to the present day. The church today is largely complacent and weak. It is often a place of entertainment, with no real grasp of what the Bible actually teaches, or even says. It accepts everyone and everything, while offending no-one, in an attempt to 'keep the youngsters in the church' but at the expense of true faith and doctrine. The Gospel preached emphasises what God can do for 'me'; 'I', 'me' and 'mine' are words often to be found on the lips of those who call themselves Christians today. They post pithy little sayings and introspective, self serving Bible verses on social media sites, yet the Gospel has little effect on lives. No-one is being changed. The Gospel has no power - come to Jesus and see what He can do for you, is the message, rather than explaining to the lost that they have offended a holy God and deserve His condemnation. Instead, they think God will overlook their sin, because, after all, they are 'only human'. Sin has been redefined so make it acceptable to do certain things that once were seen as abhorrent. Holiness is ignored. God's Word is watered down and made to mean whatever they want it to mean. It would seem we live in a culture of 'anything goes'.

Thankfully, not all Christians are like that. God still has His remnant. These are those who understand the holiness of God, they recognise their own sinfulness and have sought God for forgiveness through Christ. Obedience to His commands is a priority in their lives, in thankfulness for all God has done for them. Yet for this, they are shunned by their fellow church members, they are labelled 'legalistic' (and other, harsher, terms). They are told that God doesn't really want their absolute obedience; just as long as they follow the few basic principles of New Testament teaching, they will be all right in the end. Some are even bullied and ridiculed by their fellow Christians for the stand they have taken. But this does not put these men and women off doing what they know to be right. They want to follow God with all their heart; they read their Bibles, take its teachings at face value, and endeavour to put into practice what it says.These are the Radical Disciples of today, who would like nothing better than, once again, to be turning the world upside down.

[Note: this post is deliberately provocative].