Christ on Scripture - By Richard L. Routh, Ph.d.
-
Upload
gilbert-hanz -
Category
Documents
-
view
220 -
download
0
Transcript of Christ on Scripture - By Richard L. Routh, Ph.d.
CHRIST ON SCRIPTURE
by Richard L. Routh, Ph.D.
This is a treatise on the inerrancy of the Bible.
It examines how Jesus would have answered the question:
"Is the Bible really God's word?"
It does this by critically examining what the New Testament
writers record that Jesus said about the Scriptures.
© Copyright 1994, 1996 Richard L. Routh
All rights reserved but the author gives permission to
print and distribute the entire text of this treatise
provided it is distributed in its entirety.
This treatise is dedicated to my wife's mother,
Dr. Caroline Jane Williams Nichols
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter 1:
The Context of His Person
Chapter 2:
Christ Thinks Scripture is Historically
Defining
Chapter 3:
Christ Thinks Scripture is Eternal
Chapter 4:
Christ Thinks Scripture is True History
Chapter 5:
Scripture: The Highest Source of Intellectual
Proof
Chapter 6:
Right Thinking
Chapter 7:
Christ Uses Scripture as a Powerful Spiritual
Weapon
Introduction
"You have exalted above all things your name and your word." (Psalm 138:2)
Have you ever watched something beautiful die by being slowly tortured to death? That
is the feeling I have had for the last ten years as I have heard, upon occasional visits, the
Sunday school teaching of a respected community leader that has artfully, and with
apparent credibility, systematically undermined the belief in the authority of Scripture
for some of my friends and loved ones. The primary means has been to teach the
documentary hypothesis as if it were fact. (I will describe the documentary hypothesis a
little later on.) The particular setting of this teaching has made it difficult to respond
with a counter view without being discredited through polite mockery. I have struggled
for ten years with how to appropriately respond to this teaching. I am well schooled in
the apologetics of the authority of Scripture, but in the face of the teaching style and the
well cultivated general attitude of prideful pseudo-intellectualism that exists in that
particular Sunday school class, the arguments of other intellectual men would more
likely build conviction for the errant views than cause repentance. I may be wrong, but
I have come to the opinion that only God could soften their hearts and open their ears.
This perspective has caused me to search Scripture and discover that Christ has said
some startling things about the authority, authenticity, and proper use of Scripture.
Some of these are things I have never heard taught in evangelical circles, but they ought
to be. I suspect that even many evangelicals would find Christ's views on Scripture too
piercingly poignant to easily accept and live by. As difficult as it may be to understand
and accept, it is important to know these things if we are committed to knowing the
truth.
What does God think about the Bible? Does that seem to be an out-of-place question?
There is much debate among modern-day theologians about the authority and
authenticity of Scripture. Inerrancy is another word that is frequently used. Billy
Graham made this statement about the subject in his book Storm Warning:
In numerous churches the Bible is treated as a collection of fairy tales and fables
written by half-educated men of an ancient time. While it offers challenging
spiritual myths and wholesome encouragement, some "modern" churches seem to
feel that no one should go to the Bible expecting to find absolute truth.
Such teaching is an abomination before God. Nothing could be more destructive to
true faith and peace on earth. In the face of such a growing storm, the world
desperately needs moorings, and God has given us that anchor in His Word, the
Bible (pp. 78-79).
As we listen to so many different voices critically dissect these ancient writings, does it
not make sense to consider what Christ Himself had to say on the subject?
Over the centuries, the Church has maintained an exalted view of Scripture, believing it
to be the very word of God. However, when men's hearts are examined, and trapped, by
the bright convicting searchlight of Scripture, some invent ways to discredit its
authority. Some of these are quite creative and clever, and given that "the heart is more
deceitful than all else" (Jeremiah 17:9), these degradations of God's word are presented
apparently with utmost sincerity. This treatise is written for the Christian who desires
to know the truth but is confused or disturbed by the persuasive arguments of some
modern day theologians. That many are confused is not surprising. There are
multitudes of mind-stretching and intellectually challenging arguments on the subject.
Pondering these will likely cause one to ask questions about the authority of Scripture.
Some cast doubt on the authority of Scripture by claiming that significant portions of
the Old Testament Scriptures are the combined efforts of many different editors who
over the centuries added their own perspectives and themes to the evolving texts. This
theory, known as the "Documentary Hypothesis" was originated in modern times
because, for a while, some "learned" scholars had concluded that no written form of a
language existed at the time of Moses. As they hypothesized how the Mosaic writings
might then have come into being, they conjectured, based on no currently standing
historical or archaeological evidence, that multiple editors constructed these writings
from the folklore and partial manuscripts handed down in later generations. These
hypothesized and anonymous editors go by the names of J (for the Jehovah
perspective), E (for the Elohim perspective), etc. Since the initial fabrication of this
hypothesis, its premise has been proved false by the discovery of the "black stele" on
which the detailed laws of Hammurabi were written at least three centuries prior to the
time of Moses. However, instead of recanting this "Documentary Hypothesis," those
minds that imagined it were unwilling to do so; so it continues to be taught today. Only
now the case for the existence and contribution of these multiple editors is based
primarily on the diversity of style and theme in Scripture. My personal response to
those who advocate this theory of multiple editors is that, aside from ignoring history as
well as the strict ritual religiously used by the ancient Jews to copy and preserve
Scripture in its original form, they have apparently failed to recognize that the diversity
in creation itself points to a God who delights in diversity. His own being is presented to
us in three persons. If God is diverse in His own being, and if the diversity of the
Creator is obviously reflected in his creation prolific with diversity, then why should
one not expect to find diversity in a set of writings that themselves claim to be the
thoughts and words of this single God of diversity? But my response to the proponents
of this or other discrediting theories is only one man's opinion. For those who seek to
know the truth, it can be quite confusing and debilitating to hear men debating among
themselves about these theories. Would it not be far more valuable to hear the words of
Jesus Christ on this subject?
But how can we be reasonably sure that we have the sayings of Jesus Christ accurately
recorded and available to us? Those who advocate the "Documentary Hypothesis" of
multiple editors modifying Scripture down through the ages (the earliest portions of the
Old Testament were probably written in the 15th century B.C.) tend to restrict this
hypothesis to the Old Testament writings. The reason for this is the overwhelming
evidence that the Greek manuscripts we have available to us today are so close to the
original New Testament writings, that no significant grounds for debate as to its
authenticity as a primary document remain. (It was written by eyewitnesses or their
secretaries, completed probably prior to 80 A.D., and the great multitude of existing
New Testament manuscripts allow us to reconstruct the original Greek documents.
Additionally, there are many first and second century secular writers who attest to the
existence, authorships, and authenticity of account of the New Testament writings.)
Furthermore, the "Documentary Hypothesis" claim is required by literary history to
restrict itself to the fact that all significant modifications to Old Testament Scriptures
must have been made prior to the first century since it can be demonstrated by extant
documents of that time that the present day versions of the Massoretic Old Testament
texts are accurate copies of the first century version of Old Testament Scripture (with
the exception that vowels have since been inserted to assist with pronunciation, not
significantly changing any words or meaning).(Endnote #1)
Because the Old Testament Scriptures at the time of Christ are nearly identical to the
present day version and because there is no significant scholarly debate as to the
authenticity of the modern Greek version of the Gospels as accurate copies of the
primary documents (with the exception that Matthew may have been originally written
in Aramaic and translated into Greek very soon after its writing), then it makes a great
deal of sense to examine what Jesus Christ had to say about how we ought to view Old
Testament Scripture as recorded in these Gospel writings. Since the average reader of
this treatise will not speak Greek, Scripture quotes used herein come from the New
American Standard Version, except in a few cases when the Greek itself was deemed
necessary which is quoted from The Greek New Testament edited by Kurt Aland, et al.
There is a second motivation for writing this treatise. For some who seek the truth,
there is an unsatisfying shallowness to simply parroting the traditional claim that
Scripture is inerrant without understanding the justification for that claim. Scripture
itself instructs Christians to be "ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to
give an account for the hope that is in you" (I Peter 3:15). In preparing an answer, I
think one will receive a deeper blessing that comes from better appreciating the richness
and depth and the fuller implications of the authority of Scripture. I think that many
Christians would benefit from being encouraged to deepen their view of the authority of
Scripture and, in doing so, would be encouraged by a deeper understanding of God and
His purpose for us. This would also help them properly respond to those who would
challenge their faith. It is for this purpose of building up and equipping the Saints to be
prepared to give a reason for the hope that is in us that this treatise is written.
There are a plethora of good intellectual arguments to support the authority of
Scripture. Although not the subject of this treatise, it is useful to mention just a few of
them. The authority of Scripture can be addressed from many vantage points. For one,
archaeology provides an impressive and growing set of evidences for the consistent
accuracy of Scripture. Impressive arguments can be made for the authority of Scripture
because of the miraculous logical consistency of theme and lack of contradiction despite
the fact that Scripture has had many authors in many centuries, each with diverse
backgrounds. Certainly the record of the Biblical prophesies and their fulfillment is at
least astonishing and presents a compelling argument that their authorship is credited
to someone with the power to see and know the future unlike man. Having been
educated to the doctorate level in modern sciences, I think it is impressive that after
much study of the Scriptures, I am unaware of any single scientific inaccuracy in these
ancient writings. All of these vantage points when considered together form an
impressive and overwhelmingly convincing argument for the authority and authenticity
of Scripture as the Word of God. But I have come to believe that all these collectively do
not form the strongest argument for the authority of Scripture. Nor do they form the
most complete case to rebuff those who say that not all Scripture is the Word of God,
but only that it "contains" (in some parts, presumably to be determined by the reader
because he is smarter than Scripture and qualified as its judge) the Word of God.
The strongest and clearest argument for the authority and authenticity of Scripture can
be made by examining the convictions that Christ himself held of Scripture. This
treatise intends to examine what Christ, God in the flesh, said concerning the authority
of Scripture. His words are powerful and provide an impressive and very strong,
perhaps the strongest, argument for the inerrancy, but beyond that, the historically
defining authority of Scripture.
In the Gospel writings, Jesus Christ was succinct and startlingly pointed about the
authority of Scripture. I hope and pray that my discussions herein of His words on the
subject will help you better understand some of the riches of what God himself, in
human form, has said, and what I believe God would have us understand, about the
authority of Scripture. It has been for me a very settling discovery. I hope you will find
it the same.
Chapter 1: The Context of His Person
The sayings of Jesus Christ cannot be fully appreciated without understanding Jesus's
identity. This Man who spoke these things recorded in New Testament writings spoke
from a position of authority that is far above any other. Three attributes of Jesus Christ
are particularly pertinent to a discussion about the meaning and significance of His
comments on Scripture: (1) Jesus was and is the Almighty God; (2) Jesus has always
existed and was the means by which all things in heaven and earth were created; and (3)
Jesus, in particular, is the Word (Logos) of God--in a very real sense, Scripture in the
flesh. When one understands who Jesus was and is, His comments about Scripture
become strikingly penetrating.
Certainly Jesus Christ, as He is portrayed in New Testament writings, was fully human-
-a man in every sense of the word. I would not say just as human as any one of us, but I
see a man who is more human than any of the rest of us. He was born a helpless child
needing care from his imperfect human mother; He wept; He grew tired; He was deeply
moved with emotion; He was quintessentially compassionate to those who suffered; He
suffered greatly; He bled; He got hungry; He submitted to His earthly parents even
when their understanding of the situation was more limited than His; He was concerned
for the underdog; and at times He was surprised, even astonished. Even though He was
fully human as He walked on earth, Jesus was fully God. In fact, Colossians 1:19
records for us that all the fullness (of Deity) dwelt in Him. In John 1:1, taken together
with John 1:14, we see this again: "In the beginning was the Word [Logos], and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. ... And the Word became flesh, and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of
grace and truth." With these words, John tells us that Jesus was God and the creator
(agent of creation) in that "All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him
nothing came into being that has come into being" (John 1:3). Again Colossians repeats
this theme saying, "For by Him [Jesus, God's Son] all things were created, both in the
heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or
authorities--all things have been created by Him and for Him" (Col 1:16). Jesus is God
the Creator.
These three interwoven attributes (that Jesus is God, that Jesus is the Word (Logos) of
God, and that Jesus is the creator) all tie together in Genesis chapter one where we read
that "God said, 'Let there be ...'" and creation was spoken (through the Logos) into
existence, made from nothing. We see this same power at work through Jesus in the
New Testament. He spoke and a dead man's decayed body came back to Life (John
11:44). With our current understanding of human physiology, we now know something
of the complexity of what was going on here that those bystanders of Jesus's day
probably did not appreciate. Within minutes of death, most of the cells of the body
explode because the sodium pump, the cellular mechanism that keeps the cell's wall
intact, ceases to function. When this happens, the cell's contents begin to dissipate
throughout the fluid around them. In short, the structure of the body at the cellular
level is destroyed. A trillion complex micro universes (the cells of the body) begin to
disintegrate rapidly. Only a force equal to that which could speak a universe, with all of
its unfathomable complexities, into existence would be able instantly and simultaneously
to recreate and repair the billions of destroyed cells within Lazarus's body and bring
him back to life.
As remarkable a miracle as it is that Jesus would command the simultaneous recreation
and reconstruction of billions of small complex universes known as Lazarus's body cells
to bring Lazarus back to life, consider the miracle when Jesus gives sight to a man born
blind (John 9). In order to accomplish this feat, not only did Jesus demonstrate creation
from nothing, but He also demonstrated that He was the master of time. Sight is
dependent not only on the mechanical operation of the eyes and the brain, but also on
the perception mechanisms that are developed over time in the cerebral cortex of the
brain. When a child is born, although his eyes and brain work mechanically, he cannot
really see so as to actually perceive, but instead the images being played on his striate
(visual) cortex must be associated, in many complex ways, with other stimuli over time
so as to "train" the cortical perception mechanisms to actually "see" (perceive) any
meaning in those images. This training involves the chronologically sequential
establishment of many hierarchies of perception. This sequential establishment requires
at least many months, if not years, of associative cortical development in a developing
child. Thus for a man who was born blind to be able suddenly to see as an adult, not
only must the mechanics of sight be created from nothing, but the cortical structure
must be created in such a way so as to simulate a long period of experience in the use
and development of that sight. Otherwise, the man born blind would not have any
cognitive perception of the visual images moving on his retina. This miracle may be the
greatest of all the miracles because it requires the creation of a long time of experience
to be developed and placed instantaneously in the cortical structure of the man's brain.
This displays a power of mastery even over time--a power reserved only for the eternal
God and Creator.
The recognition of the importance of Jesus's ability to perform these miracles is that
God, even in view of His enormous and displayed power over creation and time,
considers himself unalterably bound by the words contained in Scripture. (This
statement will be justified later.) This realization will bring us to an appreciation of
Scripture that is considerably higher than that held by the average evangelical today. In
this we will see that Scripture is a great deal more than simply inerrant; it is alive and
powerful so as to be the ultimate authority, even to the point of binding the actions of
the one who has control over creation and time. In later chapters we will see that Jesus
held this view.
Some people find it surprising that Jesus is exalted by God the Father to the highest
status. Often we see Jesus praying to the Father and making statements such as "the
Son [Jesus] can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing"
(John 5:19). But let us not overlook the fact that the Father also makes such statements
about the Son. In Hebrews we read: "But of the Son He [the Father] says, 'Thy throne,
O God, is forever and ever" (Hebrews 1:8). Here we see that the Father refers to the
Son as His (the Father's) God.
In Philippians (2:11) we read that "every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord (kurios) to the glory of God the Father." The Greek word "kurios" is defined
(Endnote #2) as "he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has the power
of deciding; master, lord." The "kurios" in Philippians is Jesus Christ whose domain is
explicitly stated as extending over "those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under
the earth," in other words, the whole universe. The Father acknowledges that the
rightful Lord (Kurios) of the universe is Jesus Christ the Son because again here the
Father says, "Thou [the Son], Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the
earth, and the heavens are the works of Thy hands" (Hebrews 1:10). Here the Father
acknowledges that the Son is the Creator of the earth and the heavens.
This theme of the deity of Jesus the Christ is not new to the New Testament writings.
The Old Testament writings declare this in many places in many ways. One such
occurrence is in the ninth chapter of Isaiah. Many messianic prophesies occur in Isaiah.
In the following verses, Isaiah makes some astounding claims about a human child yet
to be born:
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will
rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.(Isaiah 9:6)
The Old Testament practices regarding names were different than ours today. In our
society, if you want to call someone Sam because you like the sound of the name, you do
it--even if you don't know the meaning of the name or intend that the meaning is in
some way significant about the child. This was not the practice of Old Testament times.
We see a consistent practice throughout the Old Testament writings from the beginning
to the end of them (about a thousand year span) in which names were given because of
their meaning. It was clearly understood by Isaiah's readers prior to the time of Christ
that this child to be born would be named "Eternal Father" and "Mighty God" because
those were rightful titles for that child to bear. They no doubt struggled with how this
could be true, but nonetheless, they were clear about Isaiah's intent in the
communication. Isaiah's communication was clear: The Messiah would be the Mighty
God, He would be the Eternal Father, He would be a human child.
While Jesus walked on this earth, he understood quite clearly who He was and told the
Jewish religious leaders so plainly that He was the God of the Old Testament (John
8:58), that they had no trouble understanding His claim. The way He did this was
characteristically brilliant and unambiguous. For us to understand the full impact and
clarity of what he was saying to them and to hear it the way the Jews heard it, we have
to review a few things first. Remember in the third chapter of Exodus, God speaks to
Moses from the burning bush. He calls Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. When
Moses asks God what His name is, God, from the burning bush, answers by saying, "'I
AM WHO I AM'; and He said, 'Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, "I AM has sent
me to you."' And God, furthermore, said to Moses, 'Thus you shall say to the sons of
Israel, "The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the
God of Jacob, has sent me to you." This is My name forever, and this is my memorial-
name to all generations'" (Exodus 3:14,15). This statement was the genesis of the
Hebrew tetragrammaton "YHWH" (the consonant portion of "I AM THAT I AM").
This name for God was revered by the Jews as so sacred a name that they would not
speak it casually for fear of violating the third of the ten commandments to not take the
name of the Lord in vain.
In the eighth chapter of John, Jesus makes the statement that "Abraham rejoiced to see
My day, and he saw it and was glad." The Jews therefore said to Jesus, "You are not yet
fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?" Then Jesus says the most explosive
words: "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am" (John 8:56,58). The
grammar here does not work in Greek just as it does not work in English. But Jesus did
not make a grammatical error. It is clear by the grammar, the specific choice of words,
and the context that He was claiming this most sacred name of God as His own name.
He clearly said to the Jews, in a way they would be sure to understand, the modern
rough equivalent to "You know who that was who spoke to Moses in the burning bush
and told him that He was the Lord, the God of Abraham? That was Me! I am the God
of the Old Testament!" The Jews did understand this meaning and immediately picked
up stones and tried to stone Him to death, the penalty for blasphemy.
As we delve into the study of Jesus's view of Scripture, let us keep in mind that this was
not an occasionally fallible man expressing his best, but limited, understanding of
Scripture (as would at best be the case with any of the rest of us), but these words are
from Jesus, the living Word (Logos) of God who unerringly speaks truth with the
deepest profundity and highest authority. This mouth that spoke the universe and time
into existence is the same voice that has spoken some amazing things about Scripture;
let us remember the source as we read them.
Chapter 2: Christ Thinks Scripture is Historically
Defining
"...and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, that the Scripture might
be fulfilled" (John 17:12b).
"... to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken) ..."(John
10:35).
Judas Iscariot was a favored companion of Jesus's. He was given special honor. For
example, Judas was given charge over the money bag (he was the treasurer of the twelve
disciples). Judas was given the place of honor at the last supper. He was served bread by
Jesus at the last supper, a gesture customarily extended to the guest of honor. In Psalm
41:9, we read the following words, identified by Jesus in John 13:18 as being spoken
prophetically by the Holy Spirit, of the anguish Jesus would experience at the betrayal
of his close friend Judas:
Even my close friend, in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.
Judas was beloved of the Lord. Judas was favored and trusted by Jesus.
In John 13:18, Jesus identifies this passage from Psalm 41:9 as referring to Judas's
betrayal of Jesus. Jesus tells his disciples that the reason Judas betrayed Him was so
"that the Scripture may be fulfilled." Later when Jesus was in prayer, He spoke these
words to the Father: "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Thy name which
Thou hast given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished but the son of
perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled" (John 17:12). The question asks and
answers itself from these verses: "Why was Judas not kept by Jesus in the name of God
as the other disciples were?" The answer is given in the passage here: so "that Scripture
might be fulfilled." Scripture, Psalm 109, prophesied that Judas would betray Jesus and
be lost (see Acts 1:15 - 22).
In spite of the fact that Judas was loved and honored among men by Jesus, Jesus
considered that He, God in the flesh, was bound by what was written hundreds of years
before in a potentially obscure Psalm in Scripture. Some mistakenly dismiss the Psalms
as only the folk songs of the ancient Jews; it is obvious that Jesus considered the
authority of the Psalms so binding that they dictated His very actions. Could Jesus have
also saved his good friend Judas? The question is moot. Jesus would not, could not, for
only one reason--the reason cited by Him--that Scripture must be fulfilled.
We see this fulfillment of Scripture as a recurrent theme. For example, although not a
quotation by Jesus, John says that the reason Jesus spoke the words "I am thirsty"
while dying on the cross was "in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled" (John
19:28).
The question that glares out at us in these passages is: "Why would God feel so
constrained by anything that it would dictate His actions?" Does that not seem the most
absurd, out of place convolution? It makes no logical sense that God should be
constrained by anything other than His own will. Logically, the requirement that
Scripture be fulfilled must be the explanation for this phenomenon. Scripture is a
statement of God's will and, since God is not fickle, it therefore states that which God
has already determined. This elevates Scripture to a point that not only can one say it is
always true, but that it also records the unalterable decisions of God. At least this
appears to be the way Jesus saw it. This decidedly leaves no room for those theologians
who claim that these passages are not God's word, but attempt to dilute them with
explanations such as that they are only man's attempts to express the best he
understands about God, or other such rationalizations. These alternate explanations
disagree with Jesus's view ... and ought He not know? These alternate explanations
seem to portray Jesus as somewhat misinformed or limited in His thinking. Does that
not highlight the unreasonableness of these alternate explanations?
The binding authority of Scripture is also conveyed in John 10. In the middle of a
discussion about the exalted status of men as gods in God's sight, Jesus speaks some
remarkable words: "the Scripture cannot be broken." The text of the conversation is
recorded for us and translated into English in the following words:
Jesus answered them, "Has it not been written in your Law, 'I said, you are gods'?
If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot
be broken), do you say of Him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world,
'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? (John 10:34-36)
There are some magnificent assertions in this passage. Explicitly, Jesus refers to the
quoted passage in Psalm 82 as "the word of God." Psalm 82 was not called "the word of
God" by some uneducated back-woods preacher who presumably has not been
"enlightened" by the higher thinking of modern analysis and thought, but this
statement was made by the One who is unerring in what He says because He is Himself
the Word (Logos) of God and speaks with the highest authority and most precise
accuracy in heaven and on earth. Jesus thinks that Scripture is the word of God, not
just the writings of well-intentioned men!
There is more to be gleaned from John 10:35. Do we think that Jesus would mislead us?
If Scripture is not the infallible, authentic, unadulterated word of God, why doesn't
Jesus take this opportunity, or any other opportunity (none is taken anywhere in the
New Testament writings), to enlighten our thinking to understand these finer points?
Wouldn't it be a hideous crime to allow men to continue to assume that every word of
Scripture can be trusted as the authentic word of God if it were not so? The mere fact
that Jesus refers to Scripture as the "word of God" without qualification, would lead
any clear thinking person to conclude that no qualification is necessary. Can we not
reasonably conclude from this discourse of Jesus in John 10:34-36 that all of Scripture
IS the "word of God"? Do we not think that Jesus would have taken the opportunity to
correct our thinking about interpreting Scripture so strictly if some correction were
necessary? Instead, Jesus powerfully reinforced this strict, high interpretation of
Scripture: He said, "the Scripture cannot be broken."
Jesus could have used less definite language if He had meant something less definite.
Why did He not use the words "should not be broken" or even "must not be broken" or
something else a little less definite? To use the words in Greek "ou dunatai", meaning
literally "not able to be" or "cannot be", lucidly communicates and reinforces the fact
that the accuracy and authority of the Scriptures was accepted by Jesus as perfect and
directly from God without qualification. The realization that Jesus held such a high
view of the precision and accuracy of the Scripture should give correction and comfort
to those who have been mislead by rationalizations that would argue otherwise.
Chapter 3: Christ Thinks Scripture is Eternal
"But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of
the Law to fail." (Luke 16:17)
"O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken.
Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and enter into His glory?"
And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained the things
concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. (Luke 24:25-27) To what extent does this very exalted view of Scripture apply? Is it possible to say that
only selected portions of Scripture are the true Word of God? Is all of Scripture the
original unaltered communication from God? In the previous chapter we examined
Jesus's words "the Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). We saw how, by
implication, Jesus refers to all of Scripture. This would be enough to convince us that
Jesus's view of Scripture as the unalterable Word of God was inclusive of all of
Scripture, but He has said other more explicit things that add weight to this implication.
Furthermore, it was the practice of the Jewish religion of the day to exalt all of
Scripture as given by God. There were, by tradition, elaborate and extremely strict
rules as to how Scripture was to be copied (this was prior to the printing press) that
ensured the precise copy of each letter in the original. Among other strict detailed
practices of those who copied the Scriptures, each letter was counted in the original and
in the copy to ensure not even a single letter was omitted or inserted. This attention to
each letter was indicative of the view that each letter had sacred value. If this were an
inaccurate view of Scripture, Jesus had many opportunities, and one might argue even
the obligation, to correct this thinking. He did not. Instead, Jesus reinforced the fact
that even every letter is sacred with these words recorded in Matthew:
For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or
stroke shall pass away from the Law until all is accomplished. (Matthew 5:18)
On another occasion, Jesus said, "But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away
than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail" (Luke 16:17).
Let us keep in mind that Jesus considered it His mission to show men "the truth, the
way, and the life" that would lead them to the Father (John 14:6). In fact, Jesus
apparently considered this mission inseparable from His very identity (John 12:46). It
would be ludicrous to think that Jesus would not have gone out of His way to correct the
thought that all Scripture is from the mouth of God if it were not true (He did not
hesitate to correct many other errors in the Sermon on the Mount). Otherwise He would
be violating His own stated reason for being by allowing the Jews to continue to search
all of Scripture as though it were from God and pointed the way to Him. The Jews of
the first century were not wrong in thinking that all Scripture was from God or Jesus
would have corrected this thinking; instead He reinforced it.
Immediately prior to Jesus's saying in Matthew 5:18, was another statement of scope.
Before we look at this quotation, in order to properly understand what Jesus was
saying, we need first to look at the organization of the Scriptures during the time Jesus
spoke them. The Hebrew Canon contained the same books as the modern Protestant
Old Testament but the books were organized differently. They were divided into three
named sections: (1) The Law, (2) The Prophets, and (3) The Writings. The divisio ns
were as follows:
The Law: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
The Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel (I & II as one book), Kings (I & II as one
book), Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, The Twelve (Hosea through Malachi as one
book).
The Writings: Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Esther,
Ecclesiastes, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah (as one book), and Chronicles (I & II as one
book).
In Matthew 5:17, Jesus makes a statement about the criticality and centrality of the
Law and the Prophets. He says, "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the
Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill." Again this is significant that Jesus
gives the reason for His mission as being the fulfillment of Scripture. In Jesus view, at
least the Law (a first century figure of speech referring to the Mosaic writings: Genesis
through Deuteronomy) and the Prophets (Joshua through Malachi as listed above) were
so authoritative as to be sufficient justification to require God to humble Himself to take
on human form and be sacrificed on the cross for our sins to accomplish our salvation
(Endnote #3). Here again we see that the Scripture is so authoritative that it binds God
Himself.
In Luke 11:51 (also recorded in Matthew 23:35), Jesus indicates that the scope of
legitimate Scripture extends beyond the Law and the Prophets. As we have seen above,
the Hebrew Canon began with the book of Genesis and ended with the book of
Chronicles. In Luke 11, Jesus is accusing the Pharisees and other experts of the Law of
approving of the martyrdom of the prophets. He says:
"I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and some
they will persecute, in order that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the
foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation, from the blood of
Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the house of
God" (Luke 11:49-51).
Not only do we have here a statement from Jesus verifying the authenticity and
historical accuracy of early chapters of Genesis, but we also have a statement that seems
to indicate that Jesus recognized the authenticity of the entire Hebrew Canon. Abel was
the first recorded martyr in the first book of the Hebrew Canon (Genesis chapter four)
and Zechariah was the last recorded martyr in the last book of the Hebrew Canon (II
Chronicles 24). Is this not the equivalent of a sweeping validation from Jesus of the
authenticity of the Hebrew Canon from the first to the last?
In The Revelation to John, chapter 22:7, Jesus says, "Blessed is he who heeds the words
of the prophecy of this book." The "this book" referred to in this statement is The
Revelation to John. By this pronouncement, Jesus plainly indicates that the Scriptures
extend beyond the writings of the Old Testament. The quotations of Jesus, who is the
Word (Logos) of God, are obviously the word of God since Jesus is God. A strong case
can be made to show that the Gospel writings are of the same authenticity as the
Scriptures of the Old Testament. Among other arguments that can be made for this are
the words of Jesus Himself when He says:
"These things I have spoken to you, while abiding with you. But the Helper, the
Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things,
and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." (John 14:25,26) Here Jesus is saying that the Disciples will have supernatural recall of the words Jesus
spoke, thus enabling them to write the Gospels with the inerrant precision required to
qualify as Holy Scripture. (Endnote #4)
Chapter 4: Christ Thinks Scripture is True History
"What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate." (Mark 10:9)
A common criticism of the Scriptures is that, as I have heard one religious leader say,
"Anyone with half a brain can see that the Bible obviously contains fables, myths, and
fictional folk stories." If it were true that portions of Scripture were not historical fact
when the context clearly suggests that they are, but rather are only add-ins by folk
writers (like the works of many other ancients such as Homer) or other later-than-the-
original-editors, then we would have a situation in which the case for the inerrant,
historically defining authority of Scripture would be undermined. Some of the accounts
most commonly labeled as fables are (1) the Genesis account of creation, (2) Noah's ark
and flood, (3) Jonah being swallowed by the big fish, and (4) the authorship of the book
of Daniel by Daniel during the Babylonian and early Medio/Persian empires. Altho ugh
convincing extra-biblical evidence supports the authenticity of each of these (Endnote
#5), this treatise is concerned with what Jesus has to say about such things.
More than any other person, Jesus Christ was and is a realist. The Man who said, "I am
the ... truth" (John 14:6), has nothing to be gained by dealing in fables and a great deal
to lose by presenting fables as fact. We have several examples of Jesus correcting
erroneous religious teaching when he found it. But what did He have to say about the
authenticity of the Genesis account of creation, or the Noachian flood, or Jonah's big
fish, or Daniel's writing of the book of Daniel?
Jesus underscores the authenticity of the Genesis account when He refers to the
"beginning" of creation and that it was at that time that a man and a woman were
created and joined together by God in marriage. During this discussion, He even quotes
from the first and second chapters of Genesis, thereby acknowledging its authenticity.
In Jesus's words:
But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this
cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and the two shall become one flesh;
consequently they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined
together, let no man separate. (Mark 10:6-9) Here two observations can be made. First, by quoting from the creation account in
Genesis, Jesus is acknowledging its authority and truth. Second, by using the words
"What God has joined together..." He recognizes God to be the author of these Genesis
writings. (Endnote #6)
Of the authenticity of Noah's flood, Jesus speaks of it as factual history. In Matthew 24
(also Luke 17:26-27), Jesus links the certainty of his second coming to the certainty of
Noah's flood. In His words:
For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those
days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the Ark, and they
did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the
coming of the Son of Man be. (Matthew 24:37-39)
If Jesus were not completely convinced of the historical accuracy of Noah's flood, He
would hardly have used it as the proof text for the certainty of His second coming!
Of the swallowing of Jonah by a big fish (or whale or sea monster) (Endnote #7), Jesus
says, "For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster,
so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth"
(Matthew 12:40). Again, Jesus is trying to convey the reality of a coming event (His
death and resurrection) by appealing to the reality of a past event (Jonah being
swallowed by the sea monster). The credibility of His prophecy about His resurrection
would be destroyed if the account of Jonah were not true.
Some might argue that Jesus was relying on a literary mechanism such as a metaphor
and therefore, it is not logically necessary for the Jonah event to be historical fact, only
that the concept existed. This argument would ignore the fact that this was the Man of
Truth speaking; that Jesus was by demonstrated pattern predisposed to exposing
religious myth; and that Jesus had demonstrated at other times the validity of literal
interpretation of the prophets' words. For Jesus to have changed His modus operandi
and begun appealing to prophecy simply as metaphorical myth would contradict His
past practices and undermine His own teaching. If Jesus thought this story of Jonah
were not true, why would He not have taken this opportunity to correct the wrong
thinking of His day instead of reinforcing its factual occurrence by linking it to a certain
coming factual event? Aside from all this, the context of this saying in Matthew 12:40,
the logic being used, the people he was talking to and their beliefs, and the flow of the
focus of theme, all require the conclusion that Jesus was convinced of the historical fact
of Jonah being swallowed and then regurgitated three days later by the sea monster. It
does not seem to me to be honest or good scholarship to attempt to construe any other
interpretation.
Some skeptical modern critics have said that the book of Daniel was written nearly 400
years after Daniel's death. This is because even a cursory reading of the prophecies of
Daniel and of the secular history that took place during the four and a half centuries
following the reign of Nebuchadnezzar reveal an extraordinarily detailed and startlingly
accurate prophecy of those events. The book of Daniel, perhaps more than any other
book in the Old Testament, clearly demonstrates this supernatural characteristic of
Scripture. Either only the supernatural or the later writing of Daniel could account
reasonably for this. If it were the supernatural, then that would unequivocally
demonstrate that at least parts of Scripture are authentically supernaturally authored
(i.e. written by God)(Endnote #8). In the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, Jesus says,
"Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through
Daniel the prophet, ..." (Matthew 24:15). The "abomination of desolation" is referred to
in three places in the book of Daniel (verses 9:27, 11:31, and 12:11). In Matthew 24,
Jesus clearly attributes the authorship to the historical person Daniel.
As we review these sayings of Jesus about the four events most referred to by the
skeptics as fables, can we not conclude that Jesus believed in their historical accuracy?
It seems obvious. The implication here is that the entire argument that Scripture
contains fables and myths written by folklore editors is erroneous. Not even the four
most "obvious fables" stand up under the scrutiny of Jesus, but instead are pronounced
by Him to be historical fact.
Chapter 5: Scripture: The Highest Source of Intellectual
Proof
"But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of
Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am
the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the
God of the dead, but the God of the living; you are greatly mistaken." (Mark 12:26-
27).
This passage from Mark is amazing. Jesus is a very good scholar; remember He claims
to be the source of all truth. Who among us would dare to prove a major theological
principle on the basis of only one word that was written over a millennium before and
copied and recopied many times by many different people since then? But that is what
we see Jesus doing in this passage. He is stating that adequate justification for the
theological principle of the resurrection of the dead (a hotly debated principle in the
first century among Jewish religious leaders) is a single word: the word "am" as
contained in the passage in Exodus 3:6. To picture the explosiveness of these words of
Jesus, remember that the major theological differentiation between the Pharisees and
the Sadducees was that the Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead in the life
to come and the Sadducees did not (Mark 12:18, Acts 23:6-10). The Jewish religious
leaders wrote much about their interpretations of Scripture. I suspect there were many
discourses written by many different Jewish pontificators over the years that piled up
arguments on both sides of this debate. Jesus dismisses it all in a moment on the basis of
a single word written in Exodus fourteen hundred years before. Does Jesus believe there
is more credibility in a single word of ancient Scripture than all the writings of the
finest minds of His modern times? Obviously He does.
Note the weight and authority Jesus gives to the accuracy of the smallest details of
Scripture, regardless of its age. He says Scripture has been preserved with such
meticulous accuracy that one can, with absolute reliability, put ultimate faith in even a
single word. Without studying the ceremony and methodology for copying Scripture in
ancient times, this would seem ludicrous to us today. But an examination of the extreme
care, ceremony, and precise methodology of the scribes who copied the Scriptures will
reveal that it was copied with such meticulousness that it is quite reasonable to believe
that the Hebrew words were preserved as originally written in their entirety from the
15th century B.C. until the first century A.D. At any rate, Jesus obviously believed, and
taught by His example here, that it was reasonable to rely on the first century copies of
Scripture as exact replicas of the original writings.
Chapter 6: Right Thinking
"Jesus said to them, 'Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not
understand the Scriptures, or the power of God?'" (Mark 12:24)
Right thinking--that ability to clearly see necessary insights and reach correct
conclusions. Jesus seems to say that understanding Scripture produces right thinking in
a person. In the previous chapter of this treatise, we looked at a portion of the passage
in the twelfth chapter of Mark where the Sadducees attempted to trap Jesus in a logical
argument about the resurrection of the dead. They had spent the equivalent of many
dissertations and had done research papers analyzing the issue of resurrection from
death and had come to the conclusion that it did not exist. What can cause someone who
is intellectually gifted, as no doubt many of the Sadducees were, to come to the wrong
conclusion of a matter after so much study, analysis, and peer review? That question is
certainly raised when one's entire prolonged study and understanding of a matter is
brushed aside by God in a moment and replaced by a single word of Scripture. Jesus
anticipates this question and directly points out to them that their mistake is due to the
fact that they do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God. This is a point
worth re-emphasizing: Jesus states that the reason they are mistaken, that the reason all
of their studies, analysis, peer review, and conclusions, are mistaken, is because they do
not understand the Scriptures or the power of God. How much of the Scriptures would
they need to understand to be able to come to the correct conclusion of this matter? In
this case, it was only one word. As we have seen, Jesus's epitaph of this matter is that
because they missed that one word, they were "greatly mistaken" (Mark 12:27).
Right thinking: understanding Scripture and the power of God produces right thinking.
In Matthew 21, Jesus discusses with the Pharisees their hard-heartedness. He points out
to them that their hard-heartedness about to cause them to lose their inheritance in the
kingdom of God. Jesus brings them to an understanding of this reality when He says to
them:
"Did you never read in the Scriptures, 'The stone the builders rejected,
This became the chief cornerstone;
This came about from the Lord,
And it is marvelous in our eyes'?
Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you, and be
given to a nation producing the fruit of it."(Matthew 21:42,43)
This is a very grave warning by Jesus. Someone is about to lose the opportunity to live
in the kingdom of God. What is causing this loss of opportunity? Read carefully this
twenty-first chapter of Matthew. Does it not say the cause of this lost opportunity is due
to the rejection of God on God's terms? Does it not say that God will not be found on
man's terms? Does it not recognize that the religious leaders are rejecting God's
authority and thereby voluntarily condemning themselves? Is not Jesus trying to bring
them to right thinking by pointing them back to Scripture? Cannot one conclude that
by rejecting Scripture as the inerrant word of God, one also rejects God's authority and
therefore forfeits the kingdom of God? Be very careful skeptical reader; what if the case
presented here is right thinking? Which camp will you join? The religious leaders'
camp or the camp of the fishermen who followed Jesus because they didn't have the
intellectual pride to re ject Scripture's authority and the one who authored it?
Chapter 7: Christ Uses Scripture as a Powerful Spiritual
Weapon
"And the tempter came and said to Him ... But He answered and said, 'It is written
...' ... 'it is written ...' ... Then Jesus said to him, 'Begone, Satan! For it is written
...'" (Matthew 4:3-11)
Jesus's opinion is that Scripture is not only historically defining as we have seen in
chapter 2, eternal as we have seen in chapter 3, true history as we have seen in chapter
4, more credible than the finest intellectual thought of men as we have seen in chapter 5,
produces right thinking and leads to the kingdom of God as we have seen in chapter 6,
but now we also see in the fourth chapter of Matthew that Jesus believes Scripture is a
powerful and effective weapon of spiritual warfare able to defend us against even the
temptations of Satan himself.
Here in the fourth chapter of Matthew we witness an awesome battle. The creature
comes to tempt his Creator. The clay attempts to subdue the potter. But the creator has
emptied himself, taken on the form of a humble servant, and voluntarily been made in
the likeness of a man. He has made himself vulnerable and His creation, Satan, knows
it. God does nothing for show--He has no reason to impress anyone. All that God does
and participates in is reality; there are no pseudo-real, play-acting events for God. Jesus
did not just appear as a man; He was a man. Hebrews 4:15 makes it clear to us that He
was indeed tempted; the temptation was real; the pull and lure to sin that we are all so
familiar with was quite real and deeply felt. Yet, as Hebrews 4:15 assures us, Jesus was
not overcome (He did not sin, He did not give in) by temptation as we have been. Here is
the record of this battle; Satan is at his most powerful and brilliant and convincing
moment and Jesus is at His weakest; as written in the first eleven verses of Matthew
chapter four:
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry. And
the tempter came and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."
But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on
every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God'" [Deuteronomy 8:3].
Then the devil took Him into the holy city; and he had Him stand on the pinnacle of
the temple, and said to Him,
"If you are the Son of God throw Yourself down; for it is written, 'He will
give His angels charge concerning You'; and 'On their hands they will bear
You up, Lest You strike Your foot against a stone.'" [Psalm 91:11,12]
Jesus said to him, "On the other hand, it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord
your God to the test.'" [Deuteronomy 6:16] Again, the devil took Him to a very high
mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory; and he
said to Him,
"All these things will I give You, if You fall down and worship me."
Then Jesus said to him, "Begone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the
Lord your God, and serve Him only.'" [Deuteronomy 6:13-15, 10:20,21] Then the
devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him. (Matthew
4:1-13)
It is not the purpose of this treatise to expound on the intricacies of all that was going on
here. This can be studied in many other commentaries. Suffice it to say that these
temptations were very real, were brilliantly constructed, and were very powerful. The
purpose of this discussion is to focus on what Jesus did to defend Himself against
powerful temptation: He quoted Scripture--1400 year old Scripture.
We can only begin to imagine what was at stake in this battle. Certainly, the order of all
creation, the integrity of God, the Holiness of God, the humility of God, and the
Godhood of God were all at stake here. Had Jesus given in to any of the three
temptations, at least all these would have been lost. I am convinced that even a
collection of all the finest intellects of all men of all time arrayed in concert against
Satan could not have come up with a more adequate rational argument than those
proposed by Satan in these temptations. Satan is far more brilliant and powerful than
the intellects of men. To adequately defend Himself, Jesus had to come up with a better
defense than logic can produce. Notice Jesus did not defend Himself by trying to reason
with Satan as to why it was ludicrous that He should give in to the temptations. Jesus
had a more powerful and effective defense. He quoted Scripture. In the midst of all else
that was going on here, let us not lose track of the fact that when ALL hung in the
balance, Jesus let the outcome be determined by the veracity of the 1400 year old
writings of Moses.
In light of this foregoing spiritual battle, one must ask: Was Jesus convinced of the
authority, authenticity, and inerrancy of Scripture? Should His answer to this question
not also be our personal answer? Shall we not pattern our thinking and our defenses
after His? If we want to live the truth and not a lie, we have no choice.
ENDNOTES:
1. For those who would like to further explore the arguments and historical evidences
concerning the authenticity of both Old Testament and New Testament Scripture, Josh
McDowell has an excellent introduction to this subject including extensive
bibliographies for deeper study in his book, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, (San
Bernardino, CA: Campus Crusade for Christ, 1972), pp. 17-79.
2. See Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon.
3. In John 5:39, Jesus says, "You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them
you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of me." And He says in Luke
24:25-27:
" 'O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Was
it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things [death on the cross] and enter into
His glory?' And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained the
things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures."
Jesus understood the Scriptures required that He die to pay the price for our sins and
this was necessary for our salvation. He said, "Now My soul has become troubled; and
what shall I say, 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this
hour." He said in Matthew 20:18-19 that He would be crucified and resurrected on the
third day. In John chapter 10, Jesus says that He is the door for men to go through to be
saved (John 10:9,10) and that He must lay down His life (die) for them so they can be
saved (John 10:15). Speaking of His life, Jesus says in John 10:18, "No one has taken it
away from Me, but I lay it down on my own initiative. I have authority to lay it down,
and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My
Father."
4. At this point, the skeptical reader might be tempted to argue that circular reasoning
is used to justify the statements in this book. Simply stated, one might say that since the
arguments of this book are based on the sayings of Jesus, and since the validity of the
sayings of Jesus are based on the accuracy with which they are recorded in the New
Testament, and since the accuracy is certified by the writings of the New Testament
itself, then the logic used to make the case is circular. This claim of circular reasoning
would ignore both sound logic and extra-biblical writings of the first century. To
elaborate: the writers of the Gospel accounts and other New Testament writings claim
to be writing Scripture by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (see II Peter 1:20-21, 3:1,2,
and 3:15,16, Titus 1:3, and many others). Making this claim would logically require that
one of the following four is true: (1) these authors are either deluded, or (2) these
authors are purposely propagating a great hoax through collusion, or (3) the New
Testament writings were not written by the Apostles as claimed but were fabrications
by ghost writers, or (4) these authors are telling the truth and they are writing Scripture
by the power of the Holy Spirit. The extra-biblical (secular) writings of the first century,
even by some non-Christian historians, plentifully validate the authorship and basic
claims and history presented in the Gospels, including the genuineness of the Disciples
in believing what they wrote as well as the radical life changes they experienced because
of what they believed. These secular accounts of the first century reasonably eliminate
numbers (2) & (3) above as possible explanations. If the authors were deluded, then it
was a common delusion that occurred to many and brought with it a power that turned
the Roman Empire upside down. This rules out the possibility that the authors were
deluded. This logically leaves only one choice: the New Testament authors were telling
the truth and were indeed writing Scripture by the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore
the potential objection to circular logic is refuted.
5. There are many scientific evidences for the literal validity of the creation account as
described in Genesis chapter one. The best single compendium that I am aware of is
found in the book by Walter T. Brown, Jr., In the Beginning (Phoenix, AZ: Center for
Scientific Creation, 5th ed., 1989). There is an impressive set of evidences to suggest that
Noah's Ark still exists frozen in glacial ice on Mt. Ararat. A good bibliography of books
chronicling the eye-witness reports, photographs, and other corroborating evidences for
this are listed in ibid., pg. 56.
One of the best modern works I know of that effectively substantiates the authenticity of
the book of Daniel is Josh McDowell's book Daniel in the Critics' Den (San Bernardino,
CA: Here's Life Publishers, 1979). A list of 88 bibliographical entries appears at the end
of McDowell's book.
6. It is noteworthy that just a few verses before this passage in verse 3, Jesus asks by
way of introduction to the passages He quotes from Genesis: "What did Moses
command you?" How can He say that these verses from Genesis are God's authority
and also that these are from Moses? How can we reconcile this apparent double
accreditation? Jesus explains this by example in another of His discussions recorded in
Mark 12:36 where He says, "David himself said in the Holy Spirit, ..." and then goes on
to quote from Psalm 110. Here Jesus recognizes the authorship of David, but only as a
medium by which God (the Holy Spirit) writes. So, according to Jesus, the words of
Scripture are God's even though the instrument of the writing is a particular man. As I
heard someone say once, God could have used a brick or a donkey to write Scripture if
he had wanted to, but instead, God extended to man the extreme high privilege of being
that instrument.
7. Scripture does not divide animals into the same groups as evolutionists have. For
example, mammals (those animals that have cerebral cortex -- the only defining
characteristic of a mammal), are classified by evolutionists as all in one group. Scripture
does not do this. Bats are classified as birds by Scripture and whales and other large sea
creatures are classified by Scripture as fish. For example, see Deuteronomy 14:11,18
where Scripture classifies the bat as a bird.
8. For those who are interested in exploring this discussion further, I recommend Josh
McDowell, Daniel in the Critics' Den (San Bernardino, CA: Here's Life Publishers,
1979).
Any Comments you have, either affirming or critical, would be appreciated: Please
send me e-mail with your comments & questions to [email protected] .