Reasons to Believe the Bible

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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], 508- 753-0312. 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.

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Does the Bible really 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? Can we achieve consensus on what the Bible teaches? How important is it to understand what the Bible teaches? (49 Readings; Revised October 1, 2009)

Transcript of Reasons to Believe the Bible

Page 1: Reasons to Believe the Bible

Reasons

To Believe

The BibleAre 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’stranslations? Is the Bible the best source of knowledge available tohumankind? Can we achieve consensus on what the Bible teaches?How important is it to understand what the Bible teaches?

©2009 by George A. KohlThis 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], 508-753-0312.

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 rightsreserved. The NIV does not capitalize pronouns related to deity and these materials do. To remain faithful to the NIV, no changeswere made when the NIV was being quoted.

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

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Reading 1A Word from Beyond

Jeremiah 10:23

As one ponders the beginning of the universe, the design in the universe, the purpose of theuniverse, and their experience in the universe, it is most natural to assume that a Transcendent Beingexists. This is why there is an almost universal belief in the transcendent.

Thinking atheistically does not come naturally. It must be learned by intensive indoctrinationin the principles of the enlightenment. Where the enlightenment has not indoctrinated cultures, thepeople are much more receptive to belief in a Transcendent Being.

The Enlightenment was an eighteenth-century movement in Western philosophy. Itquestioned and reevaluated everything in light of the scientific method. Every idea, includingreligious ideas, were subjected to scientific scrutiny. Whatever was within the reach of scientificdiscovery 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, spiritualgifts, prayer, and many other Christian realities were deemed merely superstitious.

While the enlightenment and modern science have led to many improvements in life, theirover-optimism has led to much disillusionment and criticism. This can be seen in a newer strain ofphilosophical thought called postmodernism which is highly critical of enlightenment principles andis growing in influence.

Universally, people sense that there is more to this universe than meets the eye. Theynaturally feel a deep need for answers that science cannot provide. Left to our own empiricalresources, much about the universe will be left unknown: How did everything begin? What is thepurpose of everything? Where is history headed? Who am I? Where do I fit into everything? Whathappens 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? Whatdoes He expect from me? What are the consequences of pleasing and displeasing Him? We couldgo 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 agreat deal of disillusionment.

The yearning for a word from beyond is great in the human soul. This partially explains whybillions of people turn to sacred writings for answers to the ultimate questions of life. The Hindusturn to the sacred Vedas. The Jews turn to the Old Testament. Christians turn to both the Old andNew Testaments of the Bible. The Muslims turn to the Koran. The Mormons consider both the Bibleand the Book of Mormon to be revelations from God. Adherents of other religions turn to differentrevered writings.

Without a word from beyond we will never know the answer to many questions that areimportant to us. Maybe we just need to accept the fact that the answers to the ultimate questions inlife are unknowable. At the same time, we at least owe it to ourselves to investigate the sacredwritings 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 needfor a word from beyond, people will believe anything. Charismatic religious leaders can generatebooks that come from their imaginations rather than from beyond. At the same time, if one suchcollection of writings demonstrates that it has supernatural origins, it could be the one that our heartsare yearning to find.

Heart Checkup: Where you grew up, is it an enlightenment stronghold or not? Have you beenindoctrinated in the principles of the enlightenment? Do you think there is more to the universe thanscience can touch and measure? Do you have a yearning within you for answers to questions beyondthe reach of science? Do you understand why people look for a word from beyond?

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Reading 2Who 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 wordfrom beyond, it is easy to understand how a religious leader could exploit the situation. He couldeasily generate writings out of his imagination that meet the need but do not accurately portray theinvisible realities of the universe. He could also generate a movement that believes his writings tobe a word from beyond. When the need is strong, as is the need for a word from beyond, people willbelieve anything. Therefore, we do need to be cautious as we investigate whether or not a writingis 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 hassupernatural 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 heartthat the Christian Scriptures are a word from God. I will present several lines of evidence. I am notsuggesting that any one of these lines of evidence proves the Christian Bible to be the Word of Godby itself. Considered together, however, they present such a plausible case to me that I have a strongconviction 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 wouldexpect it to be consistent with itself. It wouldn’t contradict itself. The Bible is an amazinglyharmonious sacred writing. To get forty some authors to write a harmonious collection over a spanof 1600 years is truly amazing. It indicates that a Divine Mind had to be behind the formation of theBible. Most other sacred writings were written by one person.

Second, the Christian Scriptures are historically accurate. Unlike most other ancient andsacred writings, there are no contradictions between history as recorded in the Christian Scripturesand what we know to have been factually true in history. If it could be shown that there werecontradictions, 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 tomake numerous and specific predictions about the future. It does so with great accuracy. This is theargument that especially puts the Christian Bible in a class of its own. It demonstrates that a DivineMind had to be behind its formation.

Fourth, the Bible is scientifically accurate. Unlike other sacred writings, there are nocontradictions in the Christian Bible between the facts of science and its proper interpretation. Infact, there are some scientifically advanced concepts in the Christian Bible that are not characteristicof ancient literature. This indicates that a Divine Mind was behind its formation.

Fifth, the Bible is experientially accurate. The teachings of the Christian Bible providesatisfactory answers to the ultimate questions of life and produce good results in the lives ofadherents. By itself this is not evidence enough to say the Bible is the Word of God; but one wouldhave 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 androse again from among the dead never to die again, then He is who He claimed to be--fully God andfully man in one person. That makes His testimony of extraordinary value. He clearly endorsed theBible as God’s Word.

Heart Checkup: What are your initial impressions regarding these arguments? Are you going toimmediately dismiss them or are you going to seriously investigate them?

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Reading 3Contradictions 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 peoplebelieve 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 fora 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 Israelwhile turning the other cheek is a non-retaliatory response in personal relationships. Is it a logicalcontradiction if I tell a subordinate at work that I want his report today while telling my son he cando his household chores tomorrow? Not at all. Likewise, telling one thing to one group of peopledoes not contradict giving different instructions to another group of people living in a different timeperiod 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 theBible 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 doesnot mean it contradicts itself. As long as there is a somewhat plausible explanation for thedifficulties, 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 readother verses that allowed Jews and Christians to peacefully coexist if the Christians and Jews wereheavily taxed. I also read some verses that encouraged violence against Christians and Jews. I don’tknow how to reconcile these statements. Perhaps they are contradictions. I would not judge them ascontradictory until I heard a Muslim explanation. I’m asking for that same fair-mindedness andgraciousness 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 studiedthe Bible since 1970, however, I am satisfied that there are no contradictions in the Bible, onlydifficulties.

The Apostle Peter said this about the letters of the Apostle Paul: His letters contain somethings that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the otherScriptures, to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16). If the Apostle Peter had difficulty harmonizingthe 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 standtogether as a tightly interwoven and harmonious whole. Each writing is internally consistent withevery other writing in the Bible.

Most of the other sacred writings of the world were written by one person on one continentover that person’s life span. The Koran was all written by Mohammed, the Book of Mormon byJoseph Smith, and the Al Kitab Al Aqdas by Bahaullah. It is much, much easier to maintain logicalconsistency in such writings than it is in a collection of books like the Bible. There is something veryspecial 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 Wordof 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 youresearched your list to see if the items listed are contradictions or just difficulties?

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Reading 4Predicting Future Events

Ezekiel 26:3-21

Prophetic accuracy is the most amazing thing about the Bible. The Bible does somethingrisky that the other sacred writings do not do–it dares to make hundreds of specific predictions aboutthe 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 arestated with a high degree of specificity. In his original Evidence that Demands a Verdict, JoshMcDowell shows these Bible prophecies and their fulfillment. The prophecies were verifiablyspoken well in advance of their fulfillment in history. If you studied them, you would be amazed atthe 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 around590 B.C. In verse 3 God promised that multiple nations would come against Tyre like waves hittinga shore. Verse 4 tells us that those nations would level Tyre’s walls and towers, scrape away herrubble, and make her flat like a bare rock. Verse 5 says Tyre will be cast out into the sea and be leftso desolate that fishermen would go there to spread their nets. Verse 7 says that God would bringthe emperor of the Babylonian empire, Nebuchadnezzar, and his mighty army against the city. Verse8 says Nebuchadnezzar would destroy Tyre’s inhabitants with the sword and set up siege worksagainst her. Verse 12 says Tyre’s wealth will be plundered, her walls broken, her fine housesdemolished, and her rubble thrown into the sea. And in verse 14 God promises that Tyre will bedestroyed and never be rebuilt.

This is how this prophecy was historically fulfilled. King Nebuchadnezzar attacked the cityof Tyre in 585 B.C. He laid siege to the city. It took months before his armies were able to batterdown the city’s walls and gain entrance. When his infantry and cavalry entered the city, theycompletely leveled it. Nothing was left erect. Many of Tyre’s citizens were killed, however, mostof them escaped to an island just off shore. There they set up their defenses. The Emperor tried toovertake 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 anunderwater 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 shipsin 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 fromNebuchadnezzar’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 itdown. In A.D. 1600, Tyre fell with finality and has never rebuilt again. (We should not confusemodern Tyre with ancient Tyre.) The drifting sands have changed the causeway into a peninsulawhere fishermen are found casting their nets.

Heart Checkup: Do you see how God, over a span of 2185 years, completely fulfilled thepredictions of the future that He gave to the prophet Ezekiel? How did Ezekiel know what was goingto happen? Isn’t it plausible to think that a Divine mind was behind the formation of the ChristianScriptures?

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Reading 5Predictions About Jesus Christ

Psalm 22:1-18

In addition to prophecies about geographical locations, the Bible also has about 60predictions about Jesus Christ. These are listed out in The New Evidence that Demands a Verdictwhere Josh McDowell also shows how they were fulfilled.

According to the Scriptures, these numerous and specific predictions were given so peoplecould identify the Promised Messenger God sent into the world. Some of these prophecies weremade 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 couldhave all been fulfilled by chance.

Psalm 22:16 is one of the predictions that amaze me the most. It predicts that the PromisedMessenger 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 handsand feet pierced on the cross. More amazing is the fact that the Greeks didn’t even invent death bycrucifixion until 200 B.C. This means that crucifixion was not invented until 770 years after theprediction was made. The Jews of the day in which the prediction was written were accustomed tocapital punishment by stoning, beheading, and thrusting with a sword. They couldn’t have seencrucifixion in their wildest imaginations. How could the prophet have predicted that the Lord Jesuswas going to have His hands and feet pierced if it was not the result of a Divine Mind providing thethought?

Did a man named Jesus, who was familiar with these predictions, deliberately set out to fulfillthem so that people would think He was the Promised Christ? That would be impossible because ofthe sixty prophecies regarding the Promised Christ there are several over which He would have nocontrol. 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 personwho 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, Irecommend McDowell’s book, Speaking for myself, I’m convinced that a Divine Mind had to bebehind the prophetic utterances of the Bible. While I am not suggesting that biblical propheciesprovide conclusive proof that the Bible is a word from God, they come as near to it as anything. Isee 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 Bibleprophecy–convinced, impressed, curious, intrigued, skeptical, unbelieving? Why are you convinced,impressed, curious, intrigued, skeptical, unbelieving? What will you do to help you decide withcertainty whether Bible prophecies are supernatural or fictitious?

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Reading 6Scientific 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 andconstantly taunted me about basing my life on such an ancient piece of literature. I kept asking himto show me a contradiction between a scientific fact and the teachings of the Bible since he was socertain that such contradictions existed. Several weeks later he handed me a little slip of paper withtwo Bible references on it--Mark 16:2 and Psalm 50:1. He said to me, “Here you go. The Bible saysthat the sun rises and, scientifically, we all know that the sun does not rise; instead the earth rotatesmaking it look like the sun rises.”

I replied, “Aren’t these verses of the Bible simplydescribing the situation the way we experience it? After all, itlooks like the sun is rising to us. Isn’t the Bible just speakingfiguratively the way we do? I just can’t see that as acontradiction between science and the Bible.”

Several weeks later I saw this man in the break roomreading the newspaper. In those days the time of the sunrise andsunset were printed in a little box in the upper right hand cornerof the front page. I asked him, “What time is the sun rising thesedays?” Without knowing what I was up to, he immediatelylooked in the corner and answered my question. I then remindedhim about our discussion from a few weeks back.

He replied, “The newspaper is not a scientifichandbook.”

I responded, “Nor is the Bible. Speaking of the sun asrising is just the way we speak of it.” By his response I could see that I won the argument but not theheart.

It’s true! We expect ancient literature to be riddled with scientific errors. The Hindu Vedassay that the moon is about 150,000 miles higher than the sun and the moon is made of honey, butterand 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 seriousscientific 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 ledDr. Pierson into the bible is that he found no such blunders on its pages I also have not found thisto be the case.

Christians freely admit that there are contradictions between some of the theories of scienceand the proper interpretation of the Scriptures. For example, the broadly accepted Darwinian theoryof evolution. Christians also admit that there are contradictions between the facts of science and theimproper interpretation of Scripture. For example, we all know that when we speak of the sun asrising we are speaking figuratively. There are, however, no contradictions between the facts ofscience as established by the scientific method and the proper interpretation as established by therules of interpretation. This distinguishes the Bible from the other sacred writings of the ancientworld. 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 properinterpretation of the Bible? If I am correct about there being no conflicts between the two, whatmight that say about the divine origins of the ancient Christian Scriptures?

The Scientific Method1. Formulates a question2. Research the subject3. Articulate a hypothesis4. Experiment for consistentresults 5. Analyze the results6. Draw a tentativeconclusion7. Report findings to othersfor cross examination8. Draw a final conclusionregarding hypothesis

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Reading 7Advanced Scientific Concepts in Bible

Exodus 15:26

There is something that gets me even more excited than the fact that there are nocontradictions between science and the Bible. It is the fact that the Bible contains numerous scientificconcepts hundreds of years in advance of their discovery by the scientific method. In this way theChristian Scriptures are unparalleled in comparison to other ancient writings.

About 1552 B.C. the Papyrus Ebers of Egypt were dispensing medical advice that prescribedlizard blood, swine teeth and animal excretions as cures to common maladies. This is about the sametime in history that God revealed the Law to Moses. Dr. S.I. McMillan, in his book, None of TheseDiseases, 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 bymodern 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 dayof their lives. Today’s doctors tend to circumcise on the first or second day. They often face theproblem 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. Duringthat time the body naturally releases a surge of Vitamin K which serves as a blood clotting agent. Itis 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 whoobey God’s commands will experience good health (Proverbs 3:7-8; 4:20-22; 10:27; 14:30; 15:30and 17:22). While there are plenty of practicing Christians who get seriously ill, the Christianlifestyle 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 ofsprings in the oceans? Is Ecclesiastes 1:6 speaking of wind circuits? Is Ecclesiastes 1:7 speaking ofthe 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. Howdo you explain this? I sense that a Divine Mind had to be behind the formation of the Bible. I seethis 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 haveall life beginning in the sea and the Koran agrees (Koran 21:30; 24:45; 25:54). This, however, is aleading speculation, not a known scientific fact. Second, I feel like Muslim arguments are beingstretched. For example, is Koran 75:4 really talking about the fact that we all have unique fingertips? Third, some things the Koran says flatly contradicts science. For example, the Koran says thatsemen comes from between a man's backbone and ribs (86:6-7). It repeatedly teaches that the earthis 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 abovethe earth there are seven heavens/firmaments, each above the other (2:29; 37:6-7; 67:3; 71:15). Weare 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 scientificalignment 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 mentionedin the Bible years before their discovery by the scientific method?

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Reading 8Experiential Accuracy

Proverbs 4:1-27

The longer I live and work with people as a pastor, the more I see the extraordinary wisdombehind the Bible’s teachings. The experiential accuracy of the Bible indicates that a Divine Mind wasbehind 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 questionsof life. How did evil become a force in the universe? What is the cause of so much suffering in theworld? 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 systemdoes. 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 hopeabout the afterlife that Christians can taunt, Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is yoursting? (1 Corinthians 15:55). I am not saying that the Bible is the only way people can overcometheir 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, thoughthe earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea (Psalm 46:1-3). Many Christianshave found extraordinary peace in extenuating circumstances.

Fourth, the Bible shows us a way to potentially experience tremendous joy. The Apostle Petersaid to Christians that even though you do not see Jesus Christ, you love him; and even though youdo 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 Corinthians8:2; 1 Thessalonians 1:6).

Fifth, the teachings of the Bible, when followed, bring relational harmony even though manyof 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 naturalreaction, 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 theteachings of the Bible are practiced, people get along well.

Sixth, the Bible’s teachings about prayer work for believers. The Lord Jesus said, Ask andit 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 famousGeorge Mueller (1805-1895) ran an orphanage that depended on God to answer prayer. He kept alog in which he recorded the date he began asking and the date the prayer was answered. Heexperienced more than 50,000 answers.

Seventh, the Bible’s teachings regarding giving and receiving work. The Scriptures promisethat 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, youwould think that by generously giving you would have less money for yourself. Although counter-intuitive, the opposite proves to be true. I could introduce you to hundreds of people who haveexperienced 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 isanother 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? Haveyou noticed blessings in your life in proportion to your trust and obedience? To what extent have youtried to live according to the Scriptures’ teachings?

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Reading 9Historical Accuracy of the Bible

Luke 1:1-4

Some people say that they only believe what they can see with their own eyes, Nobody reallypractices this approach to life. For example, everyone believes George Washington was the firstpresident of the United States even though no one alive today saw his presidency. Everyone truststhat which can be proven true by the historical method.

Growing out of the enlightenment there was a movement that was highly critical of theBible’s historical accuracy in the nineteenth century. The movement assumed the Bible washistorically inaccurate until outside sources could verify its truthfulness. While Western educationtreats the Bible as a fictional storybook, the Bible’s history corresponds with what we know to befactual by the historical method.

With the dramatic rise in the science of archaeology in the twentieth century, the attitudetoward Bible history began to slowly change. The sands of the Middle East are revealing secretsburied for millenniums. These secrets are yielding fresh insights into the historical accuracy of theBible. Much of the history of the Christian Bible, so criticized in the last century, has been affirmedin this century.

Please don’t misunderstand me: There is still plenty of biblical history that has not yet beenverified by outside sources. At the same time, there are no known conflicts between Bible historyand historical facts established by the historical method. I do not mean to imply that there are nodifficulties; but archaeology has done Christians a great service. It has confirmed the substantialhistoricity 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. Christiansexpect, when all has been said and dug, they will see a steady rise in respect for the historicalreliability of the Bible.

In spite of the many advances, many still consider the Bible to be unreliable history until itcan be verified by sources outside of the Bible. Take King David for example. Until recently, therewere no known mentions of David in material outside the Bible. For skeptics that meant that KingDavid was a legendary character, not an actual person. Now, however, a stone inscription bearinghis 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 JesusChrist. Skeptics considered him to be a fictitious character until his tomb was discovered in recentyears. 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 factsin this century. Why can we unearth just a few mentions of a secular character like Alexander theGreat and draw such factual conclusions regarding his life while being suspicious of everythingrecorded in the Bible? Why is the Bible held to a higher standard of scrutiny than the other booksof antiquity? Why don’t more archaeologists and historians take more of a “wait and see” approachto the Bible? Whatever happened to Aristotle’s dictum, followed by literary critics down through thecenturies, that the benefit of the doubt should always go to a document and not the biases of thecritic? Why shouldn’t the Bible be considered good, primary source material? Why can’t the Biblebe considered as a reliable witness until proven unreliable?

Many have approached the Bible with an utterly unjustified skepticism. If they were asskeptical about other segments of history–for example Greek and Roman history–as they are theBible, 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?

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Reading 10Reliable, Primary Source Material

Acts 1:1-5

As mentioned, nearly two hundred biblical “myths” of the last century have been convertedinto historical facts in this century. It is amazing how well the Bible has stood up under intensescrutiny. With the rise of the science of archaeology, biblical statement after biblical statement hasbeen verified.

The Bible speaks of two cities called Sodom and Gomorrah. Until recently, these cities wereconsidered mythological. However, recent excavations have uncovered 15,000 tablets and a numberof 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 thecase. 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. Theydoubted that there were such cities as Ur, Shechem, Ai, Haran and Hebron. They doubted theexistence of King Sargon, King Belshazzar and Pontius Pilate. Now the existence of all these havebeen verified.

For yearsskeptics did notbelieve that CaesarAugustus issued adecree to take acensus of theRoman world andthere was noevidence that aQuirinius was evergovernor of Syria.This is no longerthe case.

The discovery of the Nuzu tablets have helped us to understand the times of Abraham, Isaacand Jacob. There is consistency between what the Bible and the tablets describe in terms of makingtreaties 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 archaeologicaldiscoveries 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 whosewounds were strikingly similar to the description of Christ’s crucifixion in the Bible. Previously itwas 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 humanhistory. Anything that contains the miraculous is considered spurious by enlightenment thinkers. Wewill address that issue in our next reading.

Heart Checkup: Do you consider the Christians Scriptures to be good primary source material? Ifnot, why not?

Principles of the Historical Method˜Formulate a clear question to investigate.˜Gather all the available data ˜Disregard unauthentic and irrelevant materials˜Examine data thoroughly and carefully ˜Don’t read your frame of reference into the data˜Consider primary source materials more reliable than secondary sources˜Consider earlier material more reliable than later material˜Synthesize and summarize your findings. ˜Submit your findings to others for cross examination

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Reading 11 Miracles and the Bible

Isaiah 40:12-31

Have you heard of The Jefferson Bible? Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), third president ofthe United States, expressed his views about Christianity by revising the Bible’s accounts of Christ’slife in accordance with his anti-supernaturalistic principles. He took the four Gospels, arranged theevents in chronological order, and deleted everything miraculous. Many people readily discard theBible’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 fullycapable of doing every miracle recorded in the Bible (Jeremiah 32:17). While God did organize theuniverse to operate according to “the laws of nature,” He is obviously capable of operating over andabove those laws. He could have created a universe with a set of entirely different laws. If God choseto get involved in human affairs, one might expect He might choose to do so in some miraculousways. Second, the Bible is based on eyewitness testimony and should be respected as good, primarysource material. Many people think, “Miracles don’t happen; therefore, the Bible stories involvingmiracles did not happen.” But, if there is reliable eyewitness testimony to miracles happening, isn’tit possible?

Third, there may be some archaeological evidence confirming that some biblical miracles didhappen. Joshua 6 is a good example. As the story goes, God’s people were to take possession of thecity of Jericho. God instructed them to march around the walls of the city and worship Him withsongs and shouts. The people did this for six days in a row while the enemy scoffed at them. On theseventh day God instructed them to march around the city seven times singing praises to Him. Whenthey completed their assignment and blew their horns, the walls of the city supernaturally felloutward. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries skeptics claimed the Bible’s account wasinaccurate because the walls of ancient cities always fall inward. Recent excavations have uncoveredJericho and its walls fell outward just as recorded in the Bible.

Fourth, naturalistic interpretations of biblical miracles distort the eyewitness accounts of theChristian Scriptures. Here is how enlightenment thinkers reason: “People once thought that thesupernatural 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 onceconsidered 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 themin terms of natural causes. For example, the sea turning to blood in Moses’ time was a bacterialcondition called the “red tide” in which water gets a reddish tint. The special light that appeared inthe sky at the time of Christ’s birth was really an alignment of heavenly bodies that made it appearas a special star. Christ did not walk on water but walked on a sandbar. Demon possessed peoplereally 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. Initself, this is not much of an argument. But, if there were such evidence, we could legitimately startquestioning 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’tthe God who created the universe get involved in our history in some pretty remarkable ways? Whydo you think the Christian Bible stories that involve miracles could not be true?

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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 finalargument. God is still doing miracles today.

While some people overstate their experiences, I have heard enough stories from enoughcredible 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 virusthat 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 oflaryngitis. I was frustrated in a worship service that I could not express my praise to the Lord. Idecided 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 myinteraction with my children. Some people asked God to remove the pain. The next morning I wokeup without pain and that pain never returned.

One time my daughter was dehydrating and the doctor said we had to put her in the hospitalimmediately. 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 theBible; 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 manwho everyone knew as an absolute cripple just six weeks before my visit. He stood before me asstrong and stable as any other man. On that visit I heard of numerous other supernatural miracles aswell. Many people experienced healing. What impressed me was how confidently the people couldtestify to the before and after condition of these individuals.

I have also talked to Christian missionaries from all over the world. Missionaries to Hindusfrequently mention the role of answered prayer in the conversion of Hindus to Christianity. As youknow, most Hindu people pray to several gods. Through an invitation from Christians, many cometo Christian prayer meetings and listen to the Christians pray. When they return home they offer theirprayers 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 myother gods aside and now I worship only Him.”

Missionaries to Muslims frequently mention the role that visions of Jesus Christ have playedin 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 notHe 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 tryto 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 willingto 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 thetruthfulness of the miracles of the Bible. This compels me to believe that God cares for humanityand 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 insome pretty remarkable ways? Why do you think the Christian Bible stories that involve miraclescould not be true?

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Reading 13Legendary 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 obtainedlegendary status. Some people think that this is how it is with Jesus Christ. He was a greatcharismatic, religious leader. As men talked and wrote about Him the tales became more and moreamazing to the point that people thought He was God.

Historians have had to work at distinguishing between fact and fiction regarding DanielBoone and Davy Crockett. They can identify the exact authors who embellished their stories. Weretheir 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 theNativity of Mary, The Gospel of the Twelve, and The Gospel of Thomas. Most of these accounts arefull of fanciful tales regarding Christ. In one the child Jesus is in a squabble with a playmate andturns him into a frog. The four biblical accounts of Christ’s ministry--Matthew, Mark, Luke, andJohn--are less fanciful. The later things were written about Christ, the more embellished theybecame. 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 accordingto the actual events, the more likely they are to be true. The more time between an event and therecording of an event, the more likely it is that the event will be embellished. The biblical gospelswere all written within the first century. Mark’s account of Christ’s life came only 30 years afterChrist’s earthly life. Matthew and Luke came a few years later. In contrast, the non-biblical gospelswere written between the second and thirteenth centuries. That is partially why they are filled withso much fiction.

Besides being written close to the time of the events, the historical context in which thebiblical accounts were written made it nearly impossible to embellish. First, had the writersembellished their accounts, there were other eyewitnesses around that could easily have correctedthem. Second, the Christians of that time had enemies, like the Jews and Romans, who would havetaken great pleasure in refuting exaggerated claims if they could. The historical context in whichthese 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 (orknew of) the eyewitnesses. Those accounts were deemed reliable. They were consistent with whatpeople knew about Christ at the time. The non-biblical gospels were all rejected by the earlyChristians as spurious and erroneous. The Christians did not know the authors and what they wrotewas not consistent with what they knew to be true about Jesus Christ and His apostles. Many of thenon-biblical accounts came out of obscurity, made their debut, and were self-proclaimed as authenticby 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. Theyhave trusted that the biblical accounts were accurate historical records of what happened. Theytrusted with good reason, not simply out of blind faith. To this day people have continued to examinethe evidence for believing and found it to be credible.

Heart Checkup: Do you think that the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are reliableaccounts of Christ’s ministry? Why or why not?

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Reading 14Outside Verification

John 21:24-25

With a ministry as amazing as Christ’s, wouldn’t you think that there would be records ofthis 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, highlymoral teachings, parables, death on the Cross, resurrection, and claims to deity. In reading non-Christian sources, two things become obvious. First, the non-Christians of the first centuryconsidered 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, thenon-Christian sources are full of prejudice against Christians yet unwittingly demonstrate thehistorical 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 wasexecuted by Pontius Pilate. He described Christianity as suppressed for a time before it broke forthagain throughout Judea and even in Rome. Presumably it experienced a resurgence after Christ’sresurrection.(History, Book 5, Chapter 3, Paragraph 4).

Pliny the Younger wrote a letter to Emperor Trajan (c. A.D. 61-115), in which he consultsthe Emperor on how to deal with the Christians living within his jurisdiction. He admires the highlymoral lives of Christians and confesses that no crime could be proved against them. He admits thathe 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 loveprevailing among the Christians (The Doubter, 13:16).

There are allusions to Christ’s parables and to the historicity of the earthquake that took placeat the crucifixion in a work by Phlegon, a Greek historian. His work is cited in the work of aChristian named Origen (Against Celsus, Chapter 2, Paragraph 14).

Throughout his massive work, Against Celsus, Origen repeatedly alludes to the writings ofCelsus, a second century Greek philosopher. Celsus truly understood what Christians believed unlikemany of Christianity’s critics at that time. Though an opponent of Christianity, Celsus’ writingsclearly 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 tojudge how accurately Origen reported on Celsus’ writings. In the meantime, it is fair to give Origenthe 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 inthe highest regard by scholars throughout history. In his Jewish Antiquities he has several allusionsto 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 asreceive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of theGentiles. He was the Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, hadcondemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appearedto them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand otherwonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named for him, are not extinct atthis day” (Book 18, Chapter 3, Paragraph 3).

Christians have their reasons for believing the four Gospels are actual history and not just acollection of fanciful legends.

Heart Checkup: Do you think the accounts of Christ’s life and ministry have been embellished?If so, why?

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Reading 15The Resurrection

1 Corinthians 15:12-19

The truthfulness of Christianity stands or falls with the historicity of Christ’s resurrection (1Corinthians 15:12-19). From the very earliest days, Christians have ardently believed in theresurrection of Christ. His resurrection attests to the fact that He is no ordinary person. If He aroseyou should wonder, “Who is this man?” If you wonder, you will find that Jesus is God. If you findthat He is God, then you listen intently to whatever He has to say.

Almost everyone acknowledges that something extraordinary happened after the death ofChrist. The debate is about whether it was an extraordinary misunderstanding, hoax, or miracle. Ifyou do not believe in God’s existence, in His involvement in human history, in the possibility ofmiracles, or in the reliability of eyewitness testimony, you will most likely discredit the biblicalaccount of the resurrection from its miraculous nature and look for an alternative explanation. SinceI believe in God’s existence, in His involvement in human history, in the possibility of miracles, orin the reliability of eyewitness testimony, I am a believer.

In this reading and the next, we will familiarize ourselves with that account. I offer asummary and harmonization of the events. You may prefer to read the primary source materials foryourself (Matthew 27:45-28:20; Mark 15:33-16:20; Luke 23:44-24:53; John 19:28-21:14; Acts 1:1-11; and 1 Corinthians 15:1-11). In the next reading we will evaluate the alternative explanationspeople 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 wasarrested, they went into hiding for fear of losing their own lives. The Apostle Peter tried to followthe 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 andenemies– were present when He died around three in the afternoon. A Roman soldier drove a spearinto his side to assure that He was dead.

Soon after His death, a wealthy man, Joseph of Arimathea, requested possession of His deadbody. Pilate, the regional Roman ruler, was reluctant to grant permission until he verified that theLord Jesus was really dead. The Roman soldier in charge of crucifixions that day assured Pilate thatthe Lord Jesus was dead. Legal permission was then granted to Joseph to take the body of the LordJesus off the cross and bury it. Joseph hurriedly prepared the body of the Lord Jesus before sunsetwhen Judaism’s day of mandatory rest began. He wrapped the cadaver in strips of cloth and spicesbefore laying it in a tomb he had intended for his own burial. It was a tomb cut out of the rock in agarden close to the place where the Lord Jesus was killed. The women who were at the cross at thetime of His death observed all of this being done.

While He was alive, the Lord Jesus made the claim that He would rise again. Thoseresponsible for His death requested that Pilate place a Roman guard in front of the tomb so that thefollowers of the Lord Jesus could not steal His body and make the claim that He had risen from thedead. Permission was granted. The tomb had a Roman seal placed on it and a Roman guard wasposted.

Very early that Sunday morning, some of the women who were present at His burial cameto 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 frontof such tombs in Jesus' day were a five feet high circular stone weighing about two tons. Peoplewanted 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 rolledback. When they went inside to look at the body they saw two angels who explained to them that theLord had come back to life again just as He had said He would.

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After discovering that the Lord Jesus was alive again, the women hurried to tell His hidingapostles. Two of them, Peter and John, ran to the tomb to observe things for themselves. Sureenough, the body was not there but the linen clothes in which Jesus was wrapped were neatly rolledup in the corner. At that point, Peter was still left wondering about what had happened but John wasconvinced a miracle had taken place.

Mary of Magdala went with Peter and John. After they left, she lingered. She took anotherlook in the tomb and saw two angels who informed her that the Lord Jesus had resurrected. Whenshe turned around, she saw a man she thought was the caretaker. After seconds of conversation, sherealized 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 villageof Emmaus. He started walking and talking with them about His crucifixion. They also did notrecognize Him until He sat down to eat with them. At that moment, He disappeared. Theyimmediately went back to Jerusalem to tell the Apostles about their experience. Upon arrival, theywere 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 Jesusappeared to them. At first they thought they were seeing a ghost. After He invited them to examineHis 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, burialand resurrection. For some reason the Apostle Thomas was absent. He joined it shortly after the Lordleft. The other apostles told him everything but he refused to believe unless he could see and touchthe Lord Jesus himself.

One week later the Lord made His next appearance to the Apostles in that same room. Thistime 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 comingin after a night of catching no fish. While still on the water, He yelled instructions out to them aboutcasting their nets in again. The desperate fishermen did as they were told and caught a huge batchof 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 andmake disciples among all the peoples of the world. Around this time He also appeared to more than500 of His followers in one gathering. Most of those followers were still alive 17 years later whenChrist’s apostle Paul wrote the letter of 1 Corinthians.

Finally, the Lord Jesus appeared to His apostles on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Afterspeaking with them, He ascended up into the sky and out of their sight while they watched. This tookplace 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. Theywent public with their eyewitness testimony in spite of death threats. Within weeks the number ofpeople who believed their testimony swelled into the thousands. Christianity didn’t experienceexplosive growth because people suddenly realized that Jesus Christ was a wonderful person, hada superior philosophy of life, or taught high moral principles. Christianity was catapulted intoexistence 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?

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Reading 16Natural & Supernatural Explanations

Matthew 28:1-15

Almost everyone agrees that something extraordinary happened after the death of Christ. Thequestion is whether the resurrection is an extraordinary miracle, misunderstanding, or hoax. We havebecome familiar with the miraculous account of the Apostles. Now we will examine the anti-supernatural 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 tobe dead. In the coolness of the tomb He revived enough to roll the stone back and show Himselfalive. There are several problems with this theory when the historical method and modern medicineare applied to it. First, Pilate requested verification that Jesus was dead before he granted permissionto remove the body from the cross. Second, medical experts agree that one who suffered like Jesuswould not have survived and would not be strong enough to move a two ton boulder. Third, if Hedid survive, He certainly would not have looked well enough to convince His disciples that He hadimmortally risen from the dead. Fourth, if He did not rise in an immortal body, where are the detailssurrounding His final death. Finally, it is inconceivable that He could have escaped the notice of theRoman guard posted there.

The Wrong Tomb Explanation. Some think that the women went to the wrong tomb, anempty one, jumped to the conclusion that Jesus had risen, and so masses of people believed theirstory. There are several problems with this explanation. First, according to the biblical accounts, thewomen saw exactly where Joseph buried Jesus. Second, His disciples did not expect Him to resurrecteven though He promised He would. If this explanation is so, it is amazing that thousands believedsuch a far-fetched story on the basis of the testimony of a few women. Third, after the women toldthe Apostles what they had seen, two of the apostles went running ahead of the women to the tombto 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 thewomen didn't know where the tomb was, certainly somebody did. It would only take a short walkto show that the body was still there and extinguish the myth. Finally, ten thousand or more peoplebecame followers of Christ within weeks of the crucifixion. They did so because they wereconvinced the evidence for the resurrection was substantial. The Jewish and Romans leaders couldhave 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 Hehad risen. He conspired with someone other than His disciples, perhaps Joseph of Arimathea, to pulloff a sophisticated conspiracy. He faked His death, burial, resurrection, and appearances. There areproblems with this viewpoint. First, the whole thing requires that Jesus be a master deceiver whereasHe appears everywhere else to have been a teacher with the utmost integrity. Second, Jesus deathwas confirmed, His tomb was known to be occupied, the Roman guard did its duty, the tomb waslater 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 arecommon, it generally takes certain kinds of people to have self-induced hallucinations–people withpsychiatric problems, people who are extreme ascetics, or people who desperately hope forsomething. The disciples don’t seem to have had any of these characteristics. Everything indicatesthat when He died they thought He was dead for all time. Second, group hallucinations are extremelyrare. It is hard enough to get two people to hallucinate the same self-induced thing let alone a dozenor five hundred people. Finally, the appearances of Christ were not confined to one occasion. Theytook place at different times by different groups in different places over a period of six weeks. Thisis not the nature of group hallucinations.

The Stolen Body Explanation is the most ancient, naturalistic explanation. You read about

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its origins in Matthew’s Gospel. Matthew tells about how an angel of the Lord came down fromheaven 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’sdisciples stole the body while the Roman guard was sleeping. Writing 30 some years later, Matthewwrote, And this idea has been widely circulated among the Jews to this day (Matthew 28:15). Evento this day some propose that the disciples stole the body of Jesus, hid it, and proclaimed Him to bealive.

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 suchexpectation and anticipation. They were completely despondent because their dreams of being a partof the Messiah’s kingdom died when Jesus died. Second, before His appearances, the Apostles werefearful for their lives. When Jesus was arrested they ran and hid. They were not the kind of men whowere going to trespass against a Roman seal on the tomb and deal with Roman guards. Yetsomething happened to change their disposition. A few weeks later these men had the boldness theyneeded to die for Christ. How many people of this kind would be willing to die for what they knewto be a lie? Third, if they stole the body, they would have had to do it when the Roman Guards wereall asleep. It is unlikely that they would all be asleep at the same time. Fourth, if the Roman guardswere all asleep at the same time, it is unlikely that they could have rolled a two ton boulder withoutarousing a sleeping guard. Fifth, if they stayed solidly asleep during the rolling of the stone, howwould they know that His disciples stole His body? Sixth, if the disciples did not steal the body, whodid? Seventh, if someone else stole the body, what would their motive be for taking it? His enemieswouldn’t permanently take it and hide it. This would create more problems for them with the Christ-following movement. Finally, nothing in this explanation explains the appearances of Christ unlessthey were also an outright conspiracy and hoax.

In conclusion, as one who accepts the existence of a personal God, God’s creation of theuniverse, God’s involvement in human history, God’s miracle-working abilities, and in the historicalreliability 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 thoseconsidering the evidence. I think it is plain to see that the alternatives reflect a desperate anti-supernatural bias and create two problems for every one they solve. As someone once said, thesimplest explanation is usually the best explanation among alternatives. As one who is attracted tothe explanations that create the fewest problems, I am drawn to the supernaturalistic viewpoint. Itsatisfies 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 interpretationfound in the Christian Bible? Do you believe the miraculous account as recorded in the Bible. If not,why not?

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Reading 17Endorsed by Jesus Christ

Matthew 22:23-46

If Jesus Christ died and rose again from among the dead never to die again, then He issomeone unique in the history of mankind. He is who He claimed to be--fully God and fully man inone person. That makes His testimony of extraordinary value.

In His teachings, Jesus Christ clearly endorsed the Old Testament as a word from the oneand only true and living God. He made hundreds of statements in which He explicitly or implicitlyrespects the Scriptures as the authoritative Word of God.

• He consistently considers the historical narratives to be factual accounts of what happenedin actual history (Matthew 6:29; 8:11; 10:15; 11:23-24; 12:3-4, 39-42; 19:4-5; 22:43; 24:37-39; 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)

• 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).

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

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

• He uses the Scriptures as the supreme authority for settling arguments about beliefs orbehaviors (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).

• He quoted the Scriptures as God’s Word when fending off the devil (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke4:1-13).

• After the resurrection, Christ showed His apostles from the Old Testament how He was thecentral character of the Old Testament, how He had to die, and how He had to rise againfrom 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; John10:35). Since Christians have reason to believe He died and rose again, they believe He is fully Godand fully man as he claimed to be. This makes His endorsement of the Old Testament Scriptures ofimmense value in the minds of Christians.

Heart Checkup: Would you agree that if Jesus Christ died and rose again from among the deadnever to die again, He may be who He claimed to be--fully God and fully man in one person? Wouldyou agree that this makes His testimony about the Old Testament of extraordinary value?

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Reading 18Progressive Revelation

John 14:25-27

Jesus Christ endorsed the collection of writings that we call the Old Testament as the Wordof 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 usrevelation from God. He implied that the next prophet we should look for was Elijah (Malachi4:5,6). Was He referring to the Elijah who had lived hundreds of years before (1 & 2 Kings), anotherfuture person named Elijah, or an Elijah-like person who would come just before the Promised Oneof the Old Testament? The Lord Jesus answered that question. He said that John the Baptizer wasthe Elijah-like person that Malachi said was to come (Matthew 11:14; 17:10-13). John broke fourhundred 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 didnot speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to sayit. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has toldme 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 theOld Testament that applied to Him and could now be understood in light of His death, burial, andresurrection. On one occasion He said to them, “Did not the Christ have to suffer these things andthen enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them whatwas 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 theearth, God the Holy Spirit would come and remind them of everything He had said to them and teachthem 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 hehears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mineand making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit willtake 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 newrevelation given to them by the Holy Spirit, the Apostles reasoned out the teachings that havebecome known as Christianity. The teachings of Christ and His apostles make up the contents ofwhat 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 isof extraordinary value?

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Reading 19Review

Psalm 19:7-14

Many Scriptures from around the world make the claim to be a word from beyond. Inprevious readings I have presented evidence that the Bible is the one that proves to be from Godabove 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 writtenby forty some authors who lived on three different continents and wrote over a span of 1600years. In spite of all this, the Bible does not contradict itself when properly understood. Mostother sacred writings were written by on person which makes it easier to avoid self-contradiction.

• The Bible is historically accurate. Unlike most other ancient and sacred writings, there areno known contradictions between historical facts and the Bible properly understood.

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

• The Bible is scientifically accurate. Unlike the other sacred writings, there are nocontradictions in the Christian Bible between the facts of science as established by thescientific method and the proper interpretation of the Bible as established by the rules ofsound interpretation (yet to be discussed). In fact, there are many scientific concepts in theBible that predate scientific discovery by the scientific method. This is not characteristic ofancient literature.

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

• Finally, the resurrected Christ clearly recognized the Old Testament Scriptures as God’sWord and gave us reasons to believe we should expect more revelation beyond the OldTestament. The fact that He arose from among the dead never to die again adds extraordinaryweight 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 Wordof 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 whynot?

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Reading 20A Divine-Human Book

2 Peter 1:12-21

The words of the Bible were written by forty some humans. Hebrew and Greek scholars canclearly see that each author had his unique style of writing. Since the writings of the Bible are soobviously 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) inwhich 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, isnot enough to make it so.

As we have already seen, the Lord Jesus considered the Old Testament to be a revelationfrom God in spite of the fact that He knew human authors were involved. While on earth, Heanticipated 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 usefulfor teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may bethoroughly 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 theScriptures say, God says.

While 2 Timothy 3:16 is primarily about the Old Testament, the New Testament writingswere equally considered Scriptures by the early church. You can see this by examining theimplications 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 ofdouble honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, "Donot muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages." Theseverses teach that church leaders should be compensated for the work they do to help the church. Thisprinciple is supported by two quotes from Scripture. The first is from Deuteronomy 25:4 in the OldTestament and the second from Luke 10:7 in the New. The implication is that both the Old and, atleast, portions of the New Testament are considered to be Scripture by the earliest Christians. In 2Peter 3:15-16, we see the same. There the Apostle Peter equates the Apostle Paul’s letters with theOld Testament Scriptures.

God chose to form His revelation by a dual authorship involving a man of God being directedby God the Holy Spirit. That is what 2 Peter 1:21 says: Scripture never had its origin in the will ofman, 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 HolySpirit’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 divineand human interaction in several verses of Scripture. Here are three examples. First, Mark 12:36says, David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, declared: "'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at myright hand until I put your enemies under your feet."' Second, Acts 4:25 says, You (God) spoke bythe Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: "'Why do the nations rage andthe peoples plot in vain?” Third, Acts 28:25 says, The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefatherswhen he said through Isaiah the prophet . . .

God the Holy Spirit guided certain men of God to record the very words of God withoutdepriving 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 theWord of God? If so, what do you find to be problematic?

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Reading 21The 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 lookto know what God is like, how He thinks, and what He expects. It alleviates our fear that there is anundiscovered paragraph somewhere that could effect our eternal destinies. Let us examine how Biblebooks were discerned to be from God and not. We will start with the Old Testament. Since wepossess a plentiful supply of ancient, Jewish, religious writings, how can we tell which ones wereGod-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 HisLaw to Moses on Mount Sinai. The first five writings of the Bible are called the Law. As devouthistorians, poets, and prophets prolifically wrote, the religious leaders of Israel wondered if Godintended for any of these writings to be added to the collection of writings that spoke for Him. Wedo not know much about the process by which these decisions were made. We do know that byChrist’s time there were clearly two Old Testament collections in use. One was called the PalestinianCollection. It was written in Hebrew and was based in Jerusalem. It consisted of 39 writings. Theother was called the Alexandrian Collection. It was a translation of the Hebrew Scriptures intoGreek. It was known as the Septuagint. It was based in Alexandria, Egypt. It included sevenadditional writings–Tobit, Judith, 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) andBaruch. (It also includes an additional chapter to the book of Daniel and 10 additional verses addedto Esther 13.) The additional writings in the Alexandria Collection are called the Apocrypha. Theyword “apocrypha” means “accepted by some.”

While Catholic and Orthodox Christians accept the Alexandrian collection, ProtestantChristians accept only the Palestinian collection as God-breathed, They reject the Apocryphal booksas 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 thecollection of books that speak for God. First, Protestant scholars believe that Jesus Christ used thePalestinian collection and never quoted from the apocrypha. Second, it wasn’t until A.D. 400 thata Christian church council started considering the apocryphal writing to be part of the OldTestament. Third, it wasn’t until A.D. 1546 that the apocryphal writings were officially accepted asScripture by the Roman Catholic Church and that was largely in reaction to the Protestantreformation. Fourth, the Apocrypha seems to contain several historical errors and doctrinalinconsistencies with the rest of Scripture. Finally, some of the writings of the Apocrypha are a morefanciful and legendary genre than the rest of the Scriptures. It is for reasons like these that mostProtestant Christians accept the Palestinian Collection of Scriptures over the Alexandrian.

This, however, does not mean the Apocryphal writings are without value. First, they arehistorically helpful in understanding the 430 years between the Old and New Testaments. Thewritings in the Palestinian Collection were all written before 430 B.C. The additional writings foundin the Alexandrian Collection were written 160 to 220 years before the birth of Christ. Theapocrypha 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 otherdevout people. As the Jews were being pressured to assimilate into the pluralism and polytheism ofthe 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 thesame 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 theBible? If not, which books do you think should be added to or deleted from the Bible? Why?

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Reading 22The New Testament Collection

Ephesians 2:19-3:6

The New Testament is a different story. As the Apostles and their closest coworkers wrotethe Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the letters, and the Revelation, their writings were circulatedand copied by the various Christian churches. By the end of the first century almost every church hada 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 ofthese include The Gospel of Thomas and The Gospel of Peter. Also appearing were letters falselyclaiming to be from Christ’s apostles. These included The Letter Attributed to Our Lord, The LostEpistle to the Corinthians, The Letters of Paul to Seneca, and The Apocalypse of Peter. During thesecond and third centuries, there were between 250 and 350 books that made some claim to havingauthority from the Apostles of Christ or that some groups claimed were from the Apostles. Thesituation sparked much debate over which books really did come from the Apostles and which didnot. In the course of dialog at church council meetings, leaders applied various tests to discern whichwritings 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? Itwas decided that all 27 writings of the New Testament had that ring of authority. It was determinedthat 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 Hisapostles? The New Testament authors Matthew, John, and Peter were appointed by Jesus ChristHimself 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 1:11-2:16). Twenty two of the 27 writings in the New Testament were written by these specially chosenrepresentatives, the Apostles.

The Gospel of Mark was written by Mark who was closely associated with the Apostles Peterand Paul. The Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles were written by Luke who traveledextensively with Christ’s apostle Paul.

There has always been debate about the authorship of two books in the New Testament. Forexample, was the Letter of Jude written by the Apostle Judas son of James (Luke 6:16), the halfbrother of Jesus Christ by that name (Matthew 13:35), or the Judas who was closely associated withthe Apostle Paul (Acts 15:22)? In the end the early church leaders decided it did not really mattersince 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 ApostleJames or James the half brother of Jesus Christ? Once again the early church leaders decided it didnot really matter since all were members of that close circle of relationships tied to Christ and Hisapostles.

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 beenin 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 AgainstHeretics, spoke about the “rule of faith” (Latin, regula fidei) as a means of determining who was aChristian and who was a heretic. The rule of faith was apparently like a statement of beliefs thatevery Christian wanting to be baptized had to recite from memory. It was said to have capsulized theorally transmitted teachings of Christ and His apostles. While we do not have that statement, itapparently had statements revolving around God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spiritin much the way the Apostle’s Creed does. It had continued unbroken from the time of the Apostlesto the time of Irenaeus and Tertullian. It probably contained many of the beliefs in that confession

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of faith. It was transmitted openly, publicly, and widely at the time. It preceded the formation ofwritten Scriptures. In fact, no writing would be acceptable as Scripture unless it was consistent withthe rule of faith. Hundreds of pieces of religious literature that were contending for inclusion in theNew Testament collection were rejected by the churches because of their inconsistencies with therule of faith.

The fourth test: Was the writing officially accepted by the people of God as being fromGod? What was the reaction of the people of God when they first received it? Did they receive itas authoritative? Did they accept it as direction coming from Christ? This test may have been thesecond in importance.

Twenty of the 27 writings of the New Testament were widely and immediately andwholeheartedly 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, Jamesand 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 justnot one hundred percent certain that the stated author was indeed the real author. And questions wereraised about the Book of Revelation because it was such a different kind of writing than the rest ofthe New Testament.

It is important to understand that the vast majority of the churches accepted these sevendisputed books as the Word of God. Some of the church fathers were ambiguous enough to hold offa final and official church decision until A.D. 363. After the debates had all settled down, we foundourselves with 27 writings in the New Testament.

I wish there were actual transcripts of these discussions so that we could render a betterjudgment on their thinking process. We know that everything was discussed publicly. We must eithertrust or distrust their judgements. These people were closer to the events than we are. They were alsomore driven than us to discover which books had the tell-tale signs of God’s involvement. We haveto be content with the writings of the church fathers, especially Athanasius' 39th Festal Letter fromA.D. 367. His letter is generally viewed as the final statement on the matter of a New Testamentconsisting 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 thefollowing: the four Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, after them the Acts of theApostles and the seven so-called catholic epistles of the Apostles -- namely, one of James, two ofPeter, then three of John and after these one of Jude. In addition there are fourteen epistles of theApostle Paul written in the following order: the first to the Romans, then two to the Corinthians andthen after these the one to the Galatians, following it the one to the Ephesians, thereafter the one tothe Philippians and the one to the Colossians and two to the Thessalonians and the epistle to theHebrews and then immediately two to Timothy, one to Titus and lastly the one to Philemon. Yetfurther the Revelation of John. These are the springs of salvation, in order that he who is thirsty mayfully refresh himself with the words contained in them. In them alone is the doctrine of pietyproclaimed. 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 inthe Bible? If not, why not? Which books do you think should be deleted or added? Why?

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Reading 23 A Final Word

Revelation 22:18-21

Jews believe that God stopped revealing Himself in writing with the 39 books of the OldTestament. Christians believe He added the 27 books of the New Testament. Muslims believe Headded the 114 Surahs of the Koran. Bahia believe He added the writings of Sayid Ali Muhammadand Bahaullah. Where are we to draw the line? Is there a line? Is the Christian Bible God’s finalword? Nothing in the Bible explicitly says God would or would not give us further writtenrevelation. 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 withHim and do His will. For example, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, All Scripture is God-breathed and isuseful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God maybe thoroughly equipped for every good work. There is no necessary information hidden somewhereelse. There is, therefore, no need for further revelation.

Second, there is nothing in the New Testament that implies we should expect more revelationfrom 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 JesusChrist is the climax of God’s revelation. Hebrews 1:1-3 says, In the past God spoke to ourforefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he hasspoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made theuniverse. 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 lastdays of which the author speaks refers to the final chapters of history between the time of Christ’sfirst and second coming. Until Christ returns, we should not expect any more written revelation thanthe 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 isthe 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 exactlywhat has taken place with Muhammad’s Koran, Bahaullah’s Al Kitab Al Aqdas, Ali’s Bayan, andSmith’s Book of Mormon. Hopefully, these men were deluded by mental illness, not fully responsiblefor their actions, and God will deal mercifully with them.

These writings are inconsistent with what God has given us in the New Testament. Theypresent very different understandings of God, life, people, morals, and problems. Therefore, theycan’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 additionalword from God. Many respect the Bible but discredit it when I insist that it is the errorless Word ofGod, the deciding authority in any matter of which it speaks, and the final word from God. They areforced to admit that they see the Bible as having errors. They diminish its authority and justify theirradical 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 1Clement to be Scripture. While valuable, these were not considered God-breathed in the finalanalysis. 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 NewTestament, 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 qualitiesabout them that cause you to wonder? Do they take your mind in a radically different direction thanthat of the Bible? How do you justify the radical shift?

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Reading 24Has the New Testament Changed?

Matthew 5:17-20

Since humans were involved in writing the Bible and humans are prone to err, it is naturalto assume the Bible has errors in it. At the same time, what if God is able to prevent errors fromcreeping in just as the Bible says He did (Psalm 19:9; 119:89, 91, 152, 160; Isaiah 40:6-8; Matthew5:17-18; 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 heardothers 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 todayhad 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 byapplying scientific principles. For example, a textual critic will take the five available manuscriptsof Aristotle’s poetics (dated A.D. 1100) and reconstruct what was written 1400 years before. Whenfinished, no serious historian doubts the accuracy of the critics work.

The New Testament is the most accurately reconstructed writings of antiquity. There are threegood reasons for this. First, there are more manuscripts available for the New Testament than otherworks 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 14,000manuscripts available for the New Testament. Having such a large number of manuscripts to workwith 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, substitutingone word with a synonym, accidently reversing the order of letters or words, misreading a word orletter, and accidently skipping a word or line. These kinds of errors are common in copyingmaterials. There are few differences where critics cannot determine the exact causes of the differenceand make the necessary corrections.

Second, the New Testament manuscripts we have are dated closer to the time of the originalwritings than any other works of antiquity. The closer a manuscript is to the time of the originalwriting, the less time there is for changes to creep in during transmission. One of those NewTestament fragments found is dated within ten to fifty years of the original writings! Fifty are datedbetween 60 and 100 years. Two complete New Testaments are dated between 235 and 260 years ofthe writings. When compared to other ancient writings, the New Testament is the most accuratelyreconstructed 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 singlemanuscript by simply taking the 36,000 quotations of the New Testament found in the writings ofthe early church fathers before A.D. 250.

When all is said and done, textual scholars are confident that the Greek New Testament wepossess today is 98.33% of what was originally penned. The 1.67% of the New Testament that is stillin question does not trouble Christians since not one Christian teaching or practice depends on theresolution of any of these verses. We are highly confident that the New Testament we read todayaccurately represents what the apostolic circle penned.

Heart Checkup: Do you honestly think the New Testament we possess today accurately representswhat was originally written by the apostolic circle? If not, why not?

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Reading 25Has 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 differentreasons. Because the writing materials that were used to write the Old Testament were not asenduring and were written many years before the New Testament, there are not many Old Testamentmanuscripts that have survived. In fact, for many years the earliest Old Testament manuscript we hadwas A.D. 900! In spite of that, textual critics were less concerned about the reliability of the OldTestament than the New Testament. Why? Because textual critics know about the meticulouscopying practices of the scribes who made copies of the Old Testament. The Jewish historianJosephus (A.D. 37-100) expressed it this way: “We, Jews, have demonstrated reverence for theScriptures. For, even though long ages have now passed, no one dared to add or remove or alter asyllable. It is an instinct within every Jew from the day of his birth to regard them as the Word ofGod.”

The Jewish scribes had a long history of being extremely careful in the copying of theScriptures. For example, they counted every letter on a page, made a copy of that page and thencounted every letter on their copy. If the number was not exactly the same they searched for theirerror until they found and corrected it. It is because of practices like this that textual critics have beenless 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 hismany throws caused the unmistakable sound of breaking pottery. Sensing he may have stumbledupon a treasure, he climbed the steep cliff and cautiously entered the cave. With ease he found thetall 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 discoverybecame known to the world as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Over the next nine years all the caves in the region were meticulously combed byarchaeologists. Over 800 manuscripts were found in eleven different caves. Portions of every writingof 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 werewonderfully preserved in the arid climes of the Middle East.

In an era of high drama, textual critics wondered how much correspondence there would bebetween these Old Testament manuscripts and the ones we possess today. It took years for themanuscripts to be professionally preserved and archived. When textual critics were finally allowedto view them, the assumption of the textual critics was confirmed–the Old Testament we possesstoday accurately represents what was originally written.

Heart Checkup: Do you honestly think the Old Testament we possess today accurately representsthe Palestinian collection that the Lord Jesus endorsed in His day?

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Reading 26Translating Scripture

Matthew 26:6-13

Have you ever tried to read English from A.D. 1300? There is barely a word you canrecognize. Such is the nature of languages. They are always changing, always evolving. While somelanguages change more rapidly than others, the vocabulary and grammar of languages change overtime.

In the English speaking world, many people use the King James Version of the Bible whichwas translated in A.D. 1611. With English changing as it does, about 600 words in the King JamesBible do not mean what they meant in A.D. 1611 or are no longer in use. (Compare 2 Thessalonians2:7, Philippians 3:20, and Ephesians 4:22 in the King James Version with a modern version.) Thisbeing 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 phrasesfound in the King James Version. There are some within the body of Christ who have problems withthe 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’llleave that matter of debate for minds that are greater than mine. What I don’t understand is whythose who cherish the King James Version on the basis of manuscripts do not use their choice ofmanuscripts and create a translation that uses modern vocabulary and grammar. Maybe it is becausetranslating the Bible is a daunting task and responsibility. Consider all the work that goes into themaking 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 beexpressed. How do you translate Bible words like bread or snow to people who have no conceptsin 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 Biblesfor every person in the world in their mother tongue. Thank God for the scholars who have providedus with the many excellent translations that enable us to understand what the original authors werewriting to their original readers. Thank God that we can pick up a copy of the Bible and haveassurance in our hearts that we are reading what God is trying to say to us and what He wants us toknow.

Heart Checkup: Do you have confidence in Bible translators and the translations they haveproduced? If not, why not?

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Reading 27Bible Versions

Proverbs 30:5-6

Over the years I have heard many people imply that the versions of the Bible are verydifferent from one another. This is not true. I trust any version of the Bible translated by a qualifiedand reputable translator such as the ones I described in the previous reading. The many differentversions 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 thefront of every translation is a preface. It explains the translators approach. Translations basically fitinto 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 wordcorrespondence to the original Hebrew and Greek words. Popular examples of literal versionsinclude the King James Version, New King James Version, New American Standard Bible, andRevised Standard Version. These are best for serious Bible study.

Paraphrases are idea-by-idea translations. The translators of paraphrases are not concernedabout original words as much as original ideas. Once the original idea is determined, the translatorfreely expresses the ideas in whatever words he thinks will communicate the idea in the languageinto which he is translating. Popular examples of paraphrases include The Living Bible, TheMessage, and Philips Translation. These are best used like commentaries when the reader is tryingto understand the meaning of a passage.

Hybrid versions attempt to create a smooth reading and easy-to-understand translation. Thetranslators strive for a high degree of word-to-word correspondence but freely resort to idea-to-ideacorrespondence if it will help with the readability of the translation. Popular examples of hybridversions include the New International Version, New English Bible, New Living Translation, TheEnglish Standard Version, and the Holman Christian Standard Bible. If you are looking for a Bibleto just read, hybrids are your best option.

“Per-versions” (short for perverse version) is my word for versions that do not accuratelyreflect the original languages because the translators have twisted the translation to fit their ownbelief system. For example, the Jehovah’s Witnesses have their own translation. It is mostly accuratebut gets distorted in places that do not fit their preconceived teachings. It is their claim that theirtranslators have done a better job of representing the original languages in those cases than mosttranslators. It is a rather arrogant claim since they do not submit the names and credentials of theirtranslators for scrutiny. Scholars outside the Society are convinced that the Watchtower translatesmany 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 paidto 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 3:16is 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 anaccurate translation of what was written many years ago in the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaictexts. 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 Bibledo you possess and into which category do they fit? Are you highly confident that the Word of Godhas been accurately translated into your language?

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Reading 28The Deciding Authority

Matthew 15:1-20

Aside from some small offshoots, Christianity is divided into three main branches. They areRoman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Protestantism. Protestants attempt to base theirteachings on the Scriptures alone. Catholics and Orthodox Christians base their teachings on theScriptures and their respective organizations. They believe that Jesus Christ entrusted them with abody of oral teachings beyond what is revealed in the Bible and that they alone guard the trueteaching of Christ through an unbroken connection to Christ’s apostles. They regard the Scripturesas one component of their traditions equal to other components such as the ecumenical churchcouncils, 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 beliefsheld 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 allChristian teachings, many differences also exist. Protestants are aware that there was a period in thehistory of the church, before the writings of the New Testament were written, when the church wassustained by oral tradition and the supernatural work of God the Spirit. And Protestants realize thatwhen those writings did come along, the church was sustained by a combination of those writingsand oral traditions (2 Thessalonians 2:15).

Unlike Catholic and Orthodox Christians, Protestants do not see oral traditions and writtentraditions as being two separate bodies of teaching. There is no evidence that any oral tradition wentbeyond what was later passed on in writing. Protestants believe that all of the oral traditions of Christand 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 andwritten traditions were one and the same. The idea of a different and separate body of oral traditionswas not even conceived until the third century with church fathers like Cyprian and Augustine andisn’t born until many centuries later. The idea wasn’t formalized as an official doctrine in the RomanCatholic 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 fromthe 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 justobject to equating their writings to the level of authority of the Scriptures.

After their writings (A.D. 95-150), Protestants become increasingly suspicious of doctrinalcorruption with each passing decade. Why? History demonstrates that it does not take long forbeliefs to become distorted. The Pharisees in Jesus’ day had only been around for seventy five yearswhen 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 likethey would any other human writing–substandard to Scripture, potentially valuable, a mix of errorand truth, and in need of a discerning read.

Protestant Christians are persuaded that all of our Christian beliefs and practices mustultimately 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 essentialinformation you need to know in the Bible? Do you sense there might be some essential informationfound in a church that is not included in the Bible? If so, why do you think like this?

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Reading 29The Deciding Authority (Continued)

Luke 16:19-31

The Scriptures provide us with all the information we need to have a relationship with Godthat will last forever and prepare us for His final judgment (John 20:30-31; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 1John 1:4; 5:13). The Lord Jesus would have made it unmistakably clear if there was a body ofteaching essential for salvation to be found in some organization. Protestants understand the Catholicarguments for giving authority to their organization (e.g., Matthew 16:18-19), but find them to bebased upon an insufficiency of biblical data and interpreted by reading things into the Scriptures. Iwill briefly explain why Protestants feel strongly about basing all Christian teaching on theScriptures.

First, the appeal to Scripture as the ultimate authority can be seen in the example andteaching of Christ. In the Gospels, He made over 100 references to the Scriptures as a decidingauthority. 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 theSadducees 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 aperson of eternal condemnation (Luke 16:19-31). On yet another occasion, He condemned thePharisees 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 ofChrist’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 forright belief. Paul makes 93 appeals to Scripture in his letters alone. The words it is written appear62 times. Synonymous phrases appear just as many times. The Apostles were constantly appealingto the Scriptures as the deciding authority for true Christian teaching (e.g., Acts 13:32-35; Romans9:10-33).

Third, the appeal to Scripture as the deciding authority can be seen in the writings of theearliest church leaders. When they debated heretics, they appealed for the heretics to look to theScriptures for truth. In their writings one can clearly see how they revered the New Testamentwritings as Scripture and considered them to be the deciding authority. You see no evidence that theybelieved there was an oral tradition out there beyond what was captured in the Scriptures. Theybelieved that the teachings of Christ and His apostles were all included in these books. Irenaeus isrepresentative of most when he called the Scriptures “the ground and pillar of our faith” (AgainstHeresies, Book 3, 1:1).

Fourth, church history demonstrates the practical necessity of making the Scriptures theultimate authority. Without this deciding authority, churches grow corrupt over time. This becamemost obvious in the sixteenth century when the Roman Catholic Church was full of corruption. Atthat time a courageous monk named Martin Luther was able to use his powers of persuasion and thepower of the printing press to bring about much reformation. Out of his experiences, he crystalizedand articulated the teaching that the Scriptures are the deciding authority for all Christian teachingsin any matter they address. Protestants have embraced that truth to this day.

Protestant Christians feel strongly about basing all Christian teaching on the Scriptures. Ithink it is easy to see why.

Heart Checkup: Can you see why the Scriptures must be the supreme authority in any issue theyaddress? If not, why not?

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Reading 30The 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 saysthat 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 intangiblerealities through God’s Word.

Christians are convinced that God is the grand unifying force who ties the whole universetogether. 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 thatwe understand only a small percentage of it. I think we are closer to understanding 10% of all thereis to know than 90%. I find this realization to be very humbling. We are in no position to criticizeanything God has said in His Word. It seems so arrogant to do so. Are we wiser than the One whocreated this universe with immeasurable wisdom? Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom andknowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! "Who hasknown the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?" "Who has ever given to God, thatGod should repay him?"For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be theglory forever! Amen (Romans 11:33-36).

Since the Bible comes to us from the Creator, we have to assume that He is writing from thevantage point of one who has a comprehensive grasp of all there is to know. If there is a conflictbetween something numerous humans teach and something God teaches, I’m going to believe whatcomes from God over what comes from humans. This is what Christ’s apostle Paul meant when hesaid, 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 othersources of knowledge. True Christians still do. They still consider the Scriptures to be the mostreliable source of knowledge available to humankind. If there is a conflict between the Scripturesand any other source of understanding, Christians believe that God’s Word should be consideredmost accurate. No other means of attaining truth should be considered equal or superior to God’sWord in its authority.

Other sources of knowledge may cause Christians to take a more careful look at what theBible really teaches in itself; but we are not going to dismiss, judge, criticize, or change what theBible teaches in itself. A follower of Jesus Christ remains fully committed to trusting the Word ofGod, properly interpreted, over any other sources of truth. The Scriptures rank higher than theauthority of the entire scientific community, than our finest historians, the views of the majorityaround us, and the brightest philosophers. We should not dismiss anything the Bible says as untrueor irrelevant because of our experiences, intuitions, cultures, and so forth. And what the Scripturessay 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 byscientists, historians, church leaders, schools, professors, books, philosophers, and cultures? Do youtrust what the Scriptures teach more than your experiences and intuitions? If not, why not? Whatsources of knowledge do you consider to be superior to a word from God?

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Reading 31Interpreting Scripture

2 Timothy 2:14-19

If one hundred people read the Bible, won’t they come up with one hundred differentinterpretations? The answer is yes and no.

If everybody interpreted the Bible by the same rules by which we interpret any other pieceof literature, there would be much more consensus about what the Bible teaches. The leading errorsare spiritualizing words instead of taking them literally, taking figurative speech literally, makingsymbols out of things that are intended to be literal or figurative, and looking for hidden meaningsin passages. As long as there are diverse approaches to interpreting the Bible, diverse interpretationswill follow.

Since God has chosen to give us His revelation in writing, we must apply the same rules ofinterpretation 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, payattention to the tense of verbs, determine the antecedents of pronouns, understand the relationshipof 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 sentencesimmediately 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. Differentkinds of literature within the Bible – prophecy, parables, and poetry – call for special rules. But, ifeveryone 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 determineexactly what the original author intended to communicate to the original readers. That is the onlycorrect 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 precisemeaning of many sentences in the Bible. Some sentences in the Bible can legitimately have multipleand equally possible interpretations. In them a needful bit of information must be supplied by theinterpreter with concepts found elsewhere in the Bible. People will sincerely supply different bitsof 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 tounderstand them, a needful bit of information is totally missing from the Bible making it impossibleto 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 tocommunicate His mind and will. Certainly He is capable of expressing His thoughts so clearly theycould not be misunderstood. Maybe He did this to keep us mystified, humble, and dependent on Himfor guidance in understanding His Word.

Even though there are sentences over which people will differ, most of the sentences ofScripture are clear to anyone who faithfully and honestly follows the standard rules by which weinterpret all literature. Following the rules by which we interpret a novel or the newspaper willenable 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 beinterpreted by the same rules as all other pieces of literature? Do you think that there would be moreagreement in understanding the Bible if we all followed the same rules for interpreting it?

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Reading 32Doing TheologyActs 17:10-12

Unless people have seriously studied theology at a collegiate level, they do not appreciate thecenturies, 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 anddesire to immerse themselves in the study of biblical thought. Their conclusions gradually trickledown 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 noblecharacter than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examinedthe 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 apostlePaul? Yet the Bereans were commended for doing their own study of Scripture. Every Christian isto have an ever growing understanding of God’s Word and its teachings. You are to devoteyourselves to the apostles' teaching (Acts 2:42) and do your best to present yourself to God as oneapproved, 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 andarticulate 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 thequestion. We would have to study over 100 verses of Scripture to answer the question as to whetheror not Jesus is God. Step 3: Assign a level of clarity to each sentence of Scripture that addresses our question. Raresentences are completely obscure. Some sentences are equivocal in their clarity. Some sentences areclear, unequivocal, and relevant to our question. Those are the ones we are seeking to identify andto 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 wecan. 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 othertheologians say. We assume God is logically consistent with what He thinks. So, when we haveproperly understood His Word, our conclusions will be logically consistent with all else He hasrevealed. In other words, our conclusion won’t contradict what we know to be true about otherbiblical beliefs.

Throughout this curriculum we attempt to remain focused on the clearly revealed teachingsof the Scriptures. We avoid teachings that are based on insufficient amounts of clear data or toomany equivocal proof texts. That is, we avoid drawing conclusions on topics that are highlyspeculative. 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 asufficiency of proof texts. I tend to pull back at that point and get refocused on the clearly revealedtruths and morals of Scripture. There is enough non-speculative teaching in Scripture to keepstretching 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?

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Reading 33Establishing Coherent Beliefs

Isaiah 55:6-13

Establishing coherency and consistency in our theology is easier said than done. Thedifficulty does not necessarily lie in the ability of the theologian to think. Part of the difficulty liesin 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 canget 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 Godhas chosen not to reveal an answer. Deuteronomy 29:29 says, The secret things belong to the LORDour God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all thewords 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 butthere is a way to see how they can both be true without becoming irrational. It is important tounderstand that paradoxes are not the same thing as logical contradictions. There are many paradoxesin 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 basedon Scripture and can peacefully coexist side by side.

This mixture of clearly revealed truths, partially revealed truths, mysteries, and paradoxescreates much tension in the Bible student’s mind as he tries to hold them all in his mind at the sametime. 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 keepthings in balance is what leads to false teachings.

Some people do not like to have to hold truths together in tension. To alleviate the tensionsthey 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 sorational. 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 makingsure that everything they say is consistent with everything else in God’s Word. Most false teachingscontain much truth and a little bit of error. Like rat poison, their beliefs are 98% nutritious food and2% 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?

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Reading 34Basic Christian Beliefs

Ephesians 4:1-6

While Christians do not all agree with one another on many matters, there are a number ofcommon conclusions drawn by all who interpret Scripture and do theology the way we justdescribed. 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 beliefsin the midst of the issues they face. The Apostle’s Creed is one such expression. We do not knowif an Apostle of Christ had a hand in writing it or not. We do know that it was in widespread usearound 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 Hisonly Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, sufferedunder Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hades; the third dayHe rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God, theFather Almighty; from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in theHoly 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. 325and 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,

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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 seriesof books called, The Fundamentals. These 12 volumes were written by 64 distinguished individualsfrom various denominational and non-denominational backgrounds. They sought to identify thehistoric teachings of the Bible and Christianity that were orthodox and essential for a person tobelieve in order to be right with God. Out of them grew several “statements of faith” such as the oneof the World Evangelical Alliance. It reads as follows:

We believe in . . .

. . . the Holy Scriptures as originally given by God, divinely inspired, infallible, entirelytrustworthy; 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 byfaith 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 witnessand 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 resurrectionof life, they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.

Heart Checkup: Do you honestly think the statements mentioned in this reading capture theessence of biblical Christianity? Which ones should be deleted? What beliefs should be added? Whydo you think as you do?

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Reading 35Divided Over Teachings

Galatians 1:6-9

I’m sad to say that not every group that uses the name “Christian” subscribes to all theessential doctrines of the historic Christian faith. Many churches and denominations stand under thebanner of being “Christian” but do not embrace the core of beliefs that Christians have embraced fortwo 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 humanhistory. They view the Bible as merely the words of religious men rather than the word of God. Theybelieve Christ was simply a human instead of being God in human flesh. They do not believe thatHe rose from the grave bodily and immortally. They see multiple ways to heaven instead of onlyJesus Christ. We could go on.

Many other groups who stand under the banner of being “Christian” have deviated fromessential, orthodox beliefs since their inception. We generally refer to these as pseudo-Christiancults. There are thousands of such “Christian” groups throughout the world. A few of the major onesinclude the Local Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Church of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons),International Church of Christ, Unification Church, Way International, International Community ofChrist, Church of the Living Word, Christianisme Celeste, Christadelphianism, Unity School ofChristianity, Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, and Christian Scientists.

No one can deny that there are differences among real Christians who cherish the abovestatements of faith. Once we get beyond these essential issues, Christians have many differencesamong themselves. We have differences about the governance of the church, the right style ofworship, the meaning and mode of baptism, the meaning of communion, the work of the Holy Spiritin our lives, the place of signs and wonders, the prophetic future, the moral rightness of certainactivities, the means to overcome sin, the relationship between the free will of people and thesovereignty of God, and much more. It is what we believe about these differences that subdivide usinto various denominations.

Sometimes Christians jest about their differences and sometimes we fight over them. It isbecause we believe the Bible to be the authoritative Word of God that we wrestle over its properinterpretation. 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 ofthe Lord, the authority of His Word, the necessity of His blood, the reality of His resurrection, or thecertainty 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 wedescribed 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 andmovement 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 acertain body of truth that comes with being related to Christ. It emerges clearly out of the pages ofScripture.

Heart Checkup: Do you tend to view every Christian group as being opposed to every otherChristian group? Do you now see how Christian groups do have much in common in spite of theirdifferences?

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Reading 36The Christian Lifestyle

Colossians 3:1-4:1

Being a Christian is primarily about having a relationship with Jesus Christ. However, thereis 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 hadto practice. Everyone acknowledged that they were not all of equal importance. The scholars usedto debate over which commandment was the most important commandment. The Lord was onceasked to weigh in on the matter. Without hesitancy He quoted Deuteronomy 6:5 as the mostimportant one. It says, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and withall your mind. He said that the second greatest commandment is almost equal with that: Love yourneighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18). He clarified that the reason these two commandments are themost important is because every other moral command in Scripture can fall under loving God, lovingothers, 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 nodebt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves hisfellowman 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 inthis one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore loveis the fulfillment of the law.

The whole moral law of God is summarized in these two commandments: (1) Love God withyour whole being, and (2) love your neighbor as much as you already love yourself. If we practicedthese two commands we would fulfill all others. All other moral commands and principles line upunder these two. God is working in our lives to enable us to love Him and others. Attaining moralmaturity 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 andteaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect (morally mature) inChrist. 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 ourministry?” We felt certain, if one hundred people interpreted the Scriptures and did theology the wayit 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.

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-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 forthem 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 theBible will agree with the above statements. Do you agree that these are some of the morals the Bibleteaches? Why or why not?

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Reading 37Tenacious TrustProverbs 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 thepoint that he perceives the invisible realities God has revealed as being just as real as the visiblerealities he perceives with his senses.

Because God is immeasurably knowledgeable, wise, right, loving, good, and faithful, theChristian trusts His Word. As it says in Proverbs 3:5,6: Trust in the LORD with all your heart andlean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make yourpaths straight. That is tenacious trust.

Tenacious trust is believing what God has said in His Word even when everyone andeverything else around us is crying out contrary to it. It is believing God’s Word to be true and righteven when we have no other evidence to support that what God has said is true. Faith is being sureof what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is being sure that thingsrevealed 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 inspite of the fact that they had no other evidence that it was. God’s Word was all the evidence theyneeded! 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 sinfulnessof people. God instructed him to build the ark at a time when there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Therewas no visible evidence that what God said was going to happen. Noah did not need any furtherevidence. God said it and that was all the evidence he needed. He did as he was commanded. Hebuilt a large ship in front of a mocking crowd. He worked on the ark and endured ridicule fordecades. When people asked what he was doing, he had the opportunity to proclaim the Word ofGod to them. The people thought he was crazy. They did not see any evidence that God was goingto flood the earth and they did not accept God’s Word as evidence. They just went on living theirsinful lives. They worked during the day and partied at night. Then one day an eery look came intothe sky. Lightning began to flash and thunder began to crack. Fear gripped their souls as the watersbegan to rise. What Noah had been saying all along now made sense. How they wished they hadadmitted 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 Wordas hard evidence of the invisible components in the universe. While believers long for the day whenwe will walk with God by sight, we must walk with Him by faith until He returns. We must learnto 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 Godhas revealed are just as real as material things you perceive with your senses. Life will be radicallydifferent for you when you start to assimilate true spiritual realities into your daily life–the awesomeGod, the wonders of your position before God in Christ, the support of angels, the reality of evil, thedynamics of spiritual warfare, the benefits of possessing the Holy Spirit, the necessity of God’sgracious 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 foryou to develop tenacious trust?

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Reading 38Practice, Practice, Practice

1 Timothy 4:6-8

After the Christian has properly understood God’s Word, he must next trust God and HisWord 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 onceasked how much time he spent practicing. He answered eight to nine hours a day with two of thosehours devoted to finger exercises. To become an accomplished pianist requires a great deal oflearning about music theory; it also requires a great deal of practice at the keyboard. And to becomean 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. TheLord Jesus has called us to a lifetime of learning His ways. Fortunately, humans are amazingcreatures with the mental capacity to learn everything Christ wants us to know whether we are fromamong 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 whichhe did not practice. And the world is made no richer by Christians who know the contents of theBible but never practice it.

The Lord Jesus said, Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in thename of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything Ihave commanded you (Matthew 28:19-20). As you can see, He did not command His disciples tosimply 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. Hesaid, Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wiseman who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew andbeat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyonewho hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who builthis house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against thathouse, and it fell with a great crash (Matthew 7:24-27).

His apostles followed the Lord in demanding obedience and not the mere understanding ofconcepts. 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 ina mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. Butthe man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, notforgetting 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 bypractice, practice, practice. Walking in fellowship with God takes practice, practice, practice. Wecan only learn how to apply the Bible by practice, practice, practice. We can only learn to pray bypractice, 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 youobey the Word of God? Are you practicing?

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Reading 39Knowing ChristJohn 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 greatbody of teachings. They are following the teachings of someone who is alive right now, who left usa 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 moralprinciples, it is first and foremost a relationship with Jesus Christ. Because He is a living person, itis 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 andinterests 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 havenot seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and arefilled 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 Christhas delays in communication. When we speak to others face to face, we get an immediate responseto what we have said and they respond immediately to us. Relating to Christ is more like having towrite letters to someone in a foreign country that take weeks to get to them. He speaks to us and wespeak to Him but the communication usually involves long intervals.

3. He is perfect and we’re flawed. When a misunderstanding develops in my relationship withmy wife, sometimes the misunderstanding is my fault and sometimes hers. Not so in my relationshipwith 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 andeverything 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, andpurpose 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 wasin 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 withJesus Christ, He is vastly superior to us in a way that could not be duplicated in any earthlyrelationship. Yet He is not domineering in the sense that some people selfishly and sinfully dominateothers. 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 withothers. It is an actual relationship nonetheless.

One way in which it is similar to human relationships is that the cultivation of thatrelationship requires time and effort just as with the cultivation of a relationship with a spouse, achild, a friend, or anyone else. Christians cultivate their relationship with Jesus Christ by investingtime in the essential spiritual disciplines. Christians do not see these spiritual disciplines as simplyduties to be added to a good Christian’s daily work list. We see them in relational terms as beingnecessary to develop a closer walk with Jesus Christ.

Heart Checkup: Do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ? Are you getting to know Christbetter and better?

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Reading 40Beginning of a Movement

John 1:29-51

There is a sense in which Christianity can be viewed as a relationship with Jesus Christ, a setof 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 toGod through Him, and follow Him as Lord.

John the Baptizer served as the forerunner to Jesus the Christ. Thousands of peopleresponded to his message and were baptized. Among them were Andrew and John. One day Johnlooked up and saw Jesus Christ. He informed Peter and John that Jesus was the Christ prophesiedin 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 namedPhilip. Presumably, Philip then found his friend, Nathanael, and told him. By the end of His secondday 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 thewedding feast of a relative. They accepted His invitation. They spent the next four months travelingand 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 theirhomes and jobs while Jesus Christ continued His itinerant ministry.

After a period of separation, the Lord invited them to follow Him again. They respondedimmediately and did a ten-month stint together. They traveled throughout the entire region of Galileewhere they evangelized in synagogue after synagogue (Mark 1:35-39). They saw many more peoplebelieve 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 theyspent twenty months together. During this time the Lord Jesus selected twelve people from amongHis many followers to be His apostles. They were the ones who would lead the Christ-followingmovement 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 Heselected seventy disciples from among His thousands of followers to go out and evangelize (Luke10:1-16).

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 theworld (Matthew 28:19-20).After receiving the Holy Spirit (Acts 2), they went out and preachedeverywhere, and the Lord worked with them (Mark 16:20). They were extraordinarily effective. Onthe 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 (Acts2:47). When you read the rest of the book of Acts you will be amazed at the phenomenal growth ofthe Christian church. In just ten years, Christ’s apostle Paul evangelized and establishedcongregations throughout four provinces of the Roman Empire in provinces where there were fewChristians and no churches before A.D. 47.

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Reading 41Development of a Movement

Acts 2:40-47

The phenomenal growth of the Christian movement continued even after the death of the lastapostle. 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 manysexual options, people aborted unwanted pregnancies, slaves were mistreated, gluttony anddrunkenness 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 andmartyred.

Born in this environment, the Christian movement came along with a clearly distinct worldview and ethic. For Christians there was only one true and living God who was the supremeauthority. Husbands were taught to love their wives as Christ loved His church. They were to bemorally faithful to their wives. Homosexuality was deemed unnatural and immoral. Abortion wasconsidered murder. Parents treasured and trained their children to be Christ-followers. Slaves weretreated as family. Christians avoided the violence and sensuality of the theater, circuses, andcoliseum events.

As every Christian told non-Christians about the resurrected God-man, the movement grewone heart and one family at a time. As more and more people heard Christians give a reason for thehope that was within them, people became a part of the movement. As people observed the hope ofeternal life that Christians enjoyed, the willingness of Christians to die for Christ, and the graciousway they suffered for Him, they were attracted to Christ. As people witnessed the unusual love ofChristians 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 activelyregenerating 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 praisesare not offered in the name of the crucified Christ to the Father and Creator of all things.” And fiftyyears later, Tertullian said to Roman leaders, “Christianity just began yesterday yet already we fillyour cities, islands, camps, palaces, senate, and forums.” In his voluminous History of the ChristianChurch, the respectable Philip Schaff said, by A.D. 200, the name of Christ was known, revered, andpersecuted in every province and every city of the Roman Empire. He estimates that by A.D.300 thenumber of Christians amounted to one tenth or one twelfth of all Romans, or about ten millionpeople.

As Christianity grew in the Roman Empire, the evils of Rome began to diminish. In time, theRoman Empire became the Holy Roman Empire. Christianity became its official religion and hada huge influence upon its laws. These laws became the basis of Western civilization and law. It ishard to overstate the influence Christianity has had upon Western civilization.

For centuries Christianity was primarily a Western man’s religion even though Christ clearlytaught that His message was for the entire world. As the centuries went by, the Gospel took hold inmany areas of the world, but especially in the Caucasian West.

In the eighteenth century there was an Englishman, William Carey, who was distraught aboutthe thought of Christianity being “the white man’s religion.” As he studied his Bible, he saw thatJesus Christ wanted followers among every tribe, nation, and tongue in the world. His convictionbecame expressed in a famous booklet called The Obligation of Christians to Use Means for theConversion of the Heathen. He formed a mission society and went to India himself. There he startedseveral congregations of new converts to Christ. Today William Carey is considered the father ofmodern missions. He started a movement that took some time to get rolling but is rolling at fullsteam at the present.

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Reading 42The Movement Today

Matthew 24:4-14

When I was born in 1954, two thirds of the Christians of the world were Caucasian and onethird were people of color. Today the Christ-following movement is much larger and two thirds ofthe Christians of the world are people of color.

There are about 43,000 distinct culture-language-people groups in the world. About 10,000are classified as “unreached people groups.” That means, about 1.3 billion people have no access toChrist’s message–they have no Christians, churches, evangelists, missionaries, or ministries amongthem. 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 becomefollowers of Christ every day. Each year 44,000 new local churches are started. God is doing a greatthing today as He forms a body of people who will praise Him from every tribe and language andpeople and nation (Revelation 5:9).

Every Christian and Christian church is part of a great movement that has its marchingorders. The Lord Jesus said, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of theFather and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I havecommanded you (Matthew 28:18-20).

What does it mean to make disciples? The early followers knew exactly what the Lord meantbecause they had seen Him do it. We are in a position to answer that question by looking at what Hisapostles did in response to His command. We can summarize disciple making this way:

1. Disciple making involves evangelizing. Christ-followers make extensive contact with non-Christians and confidently present Christ’s message to all who will listen (Matthew 9:35; Luke13:22; Acts 8:1-5; 19:8-10; Romans 15:20).

2. Disciple making involves baptizing. Christ-followers ceremonially immersed those whohave 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 localchurches (Acts 2:42).

4. Disciple making involves stabilizing. Congregationalized believers are established byinstruction 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 theyare 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 inaccordance the unique spiritual gifts and calling for their lives that they have received from God. (1Corinthians 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 Hewants all churches to be involved in every phase. In this way, the Christ-following-movementadvances and continues to grow.

Heart Checkup: Personally, where are you at in the disciple-making process? Are you involved ina disciple-making church? How comprehensive is your church in the task of making disciples?

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Reading 43A Persecuted Movement

John 15:18-16:4

It is costly to be in the Christ-following movement. The Lord Jesus said, If they persecutedme, 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 agodly 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 youbecause of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same waythey 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 (Luke14:27). What He was saying is, “I am going to the cross. Unless you are willing to come there withme 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 challengedpeople with these words: Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down andestimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and isnot able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build andwas not able to finish.' Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not firstsit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming againsthim with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a longway off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everythinghe 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 aresuffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate inthe sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insultedbecause of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If yousuffer, 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 seethat Christ’s apostles and all believers were persecuted. There were times when the persecution waslow keyed and other times when it was furious. There are four furious periods of persecutionrecorded in New Testament times: 1. Saul of Tarsus (who later converted and became the Apostle Paul) conducted a great persecutionof 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 (Revelation1:9-11).

While some Christians are called to suffer more than others, all Christians are called to sufferfor Christ. The Apostle Paul told the Philippian Christians, It has been granted to you on behalf ofChrist 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 committedyourself to being loyal to Him no matter what the cost? Are you spiritually and psychologicallyprepared to be persecuted for Christ?

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Reading 44The 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 treatus like logs to be set on fire; yet, let me tell you, when we are lit and dressed in fire, we are then inour most illustrious apparel.”

And another church father, Basil (A.D. 372), wrote: “Threaten us with something else, if youcan. None of these things can affect us. Confiscation cannot injure him who has but a few books anda cloak to lose. Nor can I be banished, who am bound to no place. The whole earth, in which I ambut a pilgrim and a stranger, is God’s. Death, which can be accomplished with a single stroke, I fearnot. It will be a kindness to me. It will sooner bring me to my God for whose sake I live and towardwhom I have long been hastening. Reproach, threaten, and exert your power to the utmost, yet, letthe emperor know, that you will never be able to make us agree to your wicked doctrine, not evenif you threaten us ten thousand times more than this.”

The persecution of Christians takes place in every country of the world to one degree oranother. In some countries it is subdued. In other countries, Christians live out their faith under thethreat of death. About 156,000 believers are killed each year for being followers of Jesus Christ. Andthere 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 confiscatedor destroyed. Church meeting places are closed, bombed, or destroyed. Groups that monitor civilrights 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. Onenight he came home to discover every important person in his life gathered in his home. Togetherthey pleaded with him to forsake his newfound faith and return to the religion of his ancestors. Helet all know that he loved them deeply but he could not forsake the Lord Jesus. A few weeks laterhe 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. Shewas told that the village leaders had voted to deny her family access to the well until their sonreturned to his ancestral religion. This action hurt Schwam deeply. He did not mind suffering forhimself 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 fromwells seven miles away to Schwam’s family. As the non-Christians watched the gracious way thatSchwam suffered and the love of Christians for one another, the tide began to change. Today overfifty percent of Schwam’s village are Christians. As can be seen in Scripture, God has a way of usingthe persecution of believers to advance His work. As Tertullian put it, “The blood of the martyrs isthe seed of the church.” Most of the time God uses persecution to grow His church. That does notjustify the injustice and cruelty of persecution. Persecutors will be held responsible for their evilactions. 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 findthat God is able and willing to strengthen him for the ordeal. Believers through the centuries havefound the truthfulness of God’s words, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfectin weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). If we are faithful to the Lord in our daily struggles withpersecution, He will show Himself amazingly faithful in the hours of greater persecution. WithGod’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 faithfulto Him from day to day?

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Reading 45An Apologetic Movement

1 Peter 3:13-22

As participants in the Christ-following movement, Christians have a responsibility to sharethe Good News about salvation through Jesus Christ. We are to share that news with every personin 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 thequestions 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 beensomewhat 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. Apologeticsis 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 toa point of decision by asking, “Is there any reason you cannot place your faith in Christ right nowand become one of His many followers?” This question helps me identify and deal with the obstaclesthey are yet facing. I have discovered that there are hundreds of different obstacles standing betweena person and Christ. Sometimes I sense those obstacles are just excuses to help them maintain theirindependence 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 aresincere 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 notgive dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them undertheir feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces (Matthew 7:6). The Lord was saying that there is novalue in overspending your time and energy trying to persuade someone who has resolved to resistyou and your Christ. When I sense a sincere question, however, I will give a person the best answerI know. While the Christ-follower needs to follow the lead of the Spirit in every conversation, weshould focus our attention on people who are interested in learning more about Christ rather thanoverspending 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 alegitimate question, I don’t know the answer, I want to know the answer, and I am going to do someresearch. To research I might talk to a fellow Christian or a pastor. I might read a book, search theInternet, or listen to a recording. I investigate until I arrive at a reasonable response that satisfies myown 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 doingresearch to answer the questions of others. With such an approach I am constantly forging a realworld faith.

It is the responsibility of a Christian to be prepared to respond to the questions non-Christiansraise. In 1 Peter 3:15-16 we are commanded, Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone whoasks 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 inChrist may be ashamed of their slander. Christians are to be prepared to answer the questions non-Christians need to resolve on their way to embracing Christ. These verses are clear that what we sayand how we say it are of equal importance.

Heart Checkup: What resources do you have around that can help you find answers to some ofthese issues?

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Reading 46Defenders of the Faith

1 John 4:1-6

Jude wrote, Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation weshare, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to thesaints (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 generallythe same. We should identify what those issues are and be mentally prepared to respond to them. InWestern civilization there are a hundred questions people can ask but 80% of the time it is one ofthe 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 comeyour 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 ofsophistication and must be answered accordingly. Who are the people with whom you interact ona 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 themare 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 andChristians who are trying to help serious seekers. Some outstanding apologists in the West includethe 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 RaviZacharias. Some of these people write for the world of higher education and some write best for theman in the street. They can help us know what to say to address the questions and issues seriousseekers around us raise.

If people do not accept our arguments, it does not mean we did not do a good job. We mustnot forget that there is much more going on in people’s minds than just consideration of theevidence. 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 theyare going to draw wrong conclusions no matter how bright and persuasive they are. If brilliancecould determine rightness, all the brilliant people of the world would think alike. The truth is allabout 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 anotherperson’s heart. Only God can do that. Nevertheless, we have a responsibility to use reason inpresenting 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 ofthese issues? For which of the leading issues do you have thoughtful responses? For which ones doyou not?

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Reading 47The 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 howto say what we say. First, it tells us that Christians are always to be gentle and gracious in theirreplies. Christians never want to be harsh and arrogant. Colossians 4:6 instructs Christians to let yourconversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answereveryone.

1 Peter 3:15-16 tells us that Christians should speak respectfully toward others when theyaddress them. We should not insult or demean anyone. After all, every person is created by God inHis image and likeness (Genesis 1:26). Humans are special creatures. We are the creature Godcreated 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 tothink and act as they wish. He allows us to believe anything we want and live any way we want. (Notwithout consequences, of course.) If God allows a tremendous amount of freedom of choice topeople, shouldn’t we? We should never try to coerce people to believe as we do. We should neverdemean or humiliate others for thinking differently than we do. As God tolerates erroneous believingand living, so must we. God tolerates it with deep concern for the quality of life and their eternaldestiny. We too should tolerate erroneous believing and living with concern for the quality of lifeand 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 layout the evidence in a reasonable way so the Holy Spirit can convince people of their sin and need ofChrist. Our inability to persuade is not necessarily a reflection on our capabilities to persuade. It maysay more about the heart of the person we are trying to persuade. Sometimes all we can do for othersis pray that they will see the truth about Jesus Christ being the central personality of this universeto whom everyone owes absolute allegiance. By taking this approach to people, we show properrespect for them.

Third, the verses tell us that Christians are also to be righteous in their replies to the issuesthat non-Christians raise. That is what 1 Peter 3:16 means by keeping a clear conscience. We alwaysuse righteous speech and actions as we address people’s concerns. Unrighteous uses of speech suchas 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 asthrowing 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 toaccuse us of believing outrageous thoughts but they will not be able to accuse us of having wrongattitudes, speech, and deeds. Heart Checkup: If you are a Christ-follower, how gentle, respectful, and righteous are you in theway you respond to the issues others raise against Christianity?

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Reading 48Teaching God’s Word2 Timothy 2:1-2; 4:1-5

How many things are more important to learn than God’s Word? The Lord Jesus said thatingesting every word of God was just as essential as ingesting food into the body. He said, Man doesnot 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 synagogueto hear the Scriptures read and explained by those who were able to read and instruct (see Luke 4:14-30 and Acts 15:21). As Christian churches began to form, they were patterned after the synagoguesin many ways. Christians gathered to have the Scriptures read and explained to them. In 1 Timothy4:13 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 thatthe Scriptures are to be read and explained in the Christian gatherings. God has assigned teachingto 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 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:27-30; Ephesians 4:7-16). To prevent people from being flippant about beingBible teachers, James wrote, Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, becauseyou know that we who teach will be judged more strictly (James 3:1). Teaching God’s Word is aserious responsibility.

Before teaching a lesson, the first responsibility of a Bible teacher is to carefully study theBible story, passage or verse to make sure that he is understanding it correctly. We have properlyunderstood the God’s Word when we understand what the original author intended to communicateto the original readers. Anything else is a distortion. None of us like it when others distort andmisuse our words. Neither does God. In 2 Timothy 2:15 the Apostle Paul told a Bible teacher, Doyour best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamedand 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 heardfrom 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 onemain point a teacher wants the students to know in a well prepared lesson. There may be several sub-points that need to be made to support that point; but there is usually one main point. That pointarises out of the Scripture story, passage, or verse that is being taught. If our lessons are not drivenby God’s intentions for a Bible story, passage, or verse, we will distort the Scriptures to promote ourown agendas. We will use the Scriptures like blocks and lumber to build a case for what we wantto 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 mystudents to do as a result of understanding my main point?” While there is only one correctunderstanding of every passage, there are many practical applications to every biblical truth. Aneffective 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; James1:22-25).

Heart Checkup: Name the three responsibilities of Bible teachers that are highlighted in thisreading. Has God given you the special ability to communicate His Word to others? Do you havea teaching role? If so, how faithful are you with each of the three teacher’s responsibilities?

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Reading 49Summary

Matthew 11:25-30

The yearning for a word from God is great in the human soul. Without such a word we willnever know the answer to many important questions. Maybe we just need to accept the fact that suchanswers are unknowable. At the same time, there are several writings on the face of the earth thatclaim to be that word for which we are looking. We at least owe it to ourselves to investigate suchwritings 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 andproves 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 sacredwritings can compare. I portrayed these as being indicative of a supernatural mind being necessaryfor the formation of the Christian Scriptures. We finished our argument by arguing that the Bible isendorsed as God’s Word by the resurrected Christ Himself.

There are numerous and good reasons that Christians believe the Bible proves to be the Wordof 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 humanbeings. We decided that God chose to form His revelation by a dual authorship involving a man ofGod being directed by God the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that the human authors were simplypassive recipients of the Holy Spirit’s words. While small portions of the Bible were dictated by Godto 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 deprivingthem of their personal involvement and writing styles.

There are many ancient religious writings. Which ones involved a man of God being directedby God the Holy Spirit to be included in the collection of writings that speak for God? We presentedour arguments for concluding that God’s Word consists of 66 writings–39 Old Testament writingsand 27 New Testament writings. We also decided, while nothing in the Bible explicitly says Godwould or would not give us further written revelation, the clear implications of Scripture are that theNew 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 Hedid. 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 howtextual scholars are confident that the Bible we possess today accurately represents what theapostolic circle penned. And thanks to the many brilliant men and women who do the challengingwork of translating the Bible, we can be sure that we are reading an accurate depiction of the originalwritings 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 conflictbetween the Bible and some other source of knowledge. Other sources of knowledge may causeChristians to take a more careful look at what the Bible really teaches in itself; but we are not goingto dismiss, judge, criticize, or change what the Bible teaches in itself. A follower of Jesus Christremains fully committed to trusting the Word of God, properly interpreted, over any other source oftruth. The Scriptures rank higher than the authority of the entire scientific community, than our finesthistorians, the views of the majority around us, and the brightest philosophers. We should notdismiss 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 anyorganization, denomination, church leader, council, historical figure, creed, article, statement offaith, resolution, or tradition.

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Like we said, it is what the Bible says in itself that is important. The goal in understandingthe Bible is the same as in all literature--we want to determine exactly what the original authorintended to communicate to the original readers. Understanding what the Bible says in itself is agreat challenge. For some reason, people do a lot of funny things when it comes to interpreting theScriptures. But, if everybody interpreted the Bible by the same rules by which we interpret any otherpiece of literature, there would be much consensus about what the Bible teaches. While admittingwe would never eradicate differences among Christians, we demonstrated that there is a core ofChristian teaching that cannot be missed by anyone who applies the rules by which we interpret allliterature.

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 thepoint that he perceives the invisible realities God has revealed as being just as real as the visiblerealities he perceives with his senses. And, after the Christian has properly understood andtenaciously trusted God’s Word, he must next apply it to his life. We can only learn how to applythe Bible by practice, practice, practice.

While it is easy to get the impression that Christianity is a set of beliefs or a set of moralprinciples, it is first and foremost a relationship with Jesus Christ. Because He is a living person, itis possible to have an actual relationship with Him. While relating to Jesus Christ is very real, wedemonstrated 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 decadesince the close of the New Testament. While the prospects of having to suffer for Christ can befrightening, Christians find that Christ is able and willing to strengthen them for the ordeal ofsuffering for Him. When Christians learn to be faithful to Christ in their daily struggles withpersecution, He shows Himself amazingly strengthening in times of severe persecution. With Hisgrace and the support of the Christians brotherhood, Christians can withstand the fiercestpersecution.

As participants in the Christ-following movement, Christians have a responsibility to sharethe Good News about salvation through Jesus Christ. We are to share that news with every personin 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. Theyshould defend the faith always showing love, humility, grace, understanding, and respect towardothers.

As people come to embrace Christ as Lord and Savior, they need to be taught every word thatcomes from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). To that end God created churches where, among otherthings, the Scriptures are read and explained. God has assigned Bible teaching to church leaders andto people in whom He has placed special abilities to teach others. Teachers must carefully study theBible to make sure they understand it correctly. They must also apply it to their lives. And, inpreparing 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 oflearning from the Lord Jesus. I encourage you to begin another course right away. Unless one hasalready 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 inmind 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?

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Appendix 1Cross References

This appendix has yet to be developed.

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Appendix 2Additional Resources

Reading 3 The Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties by Gleason Archer Faith Has Its Reasons by Kenneth Boa and Robert BowmanIntroductory Logic by Douglas Wilson and James NanceThe New Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell (Several chapters)That’s Just Your Interpretation by Paul Copan (Several chapters)Readings 4 & 5The 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 & 7I'd Like to Believe, But . . . by Michael Green and Nick SpencerThe Physics of Christianity by Frank J. TiplerNone of These Diseases by S.I. McMillan and David Stern Many Infallible Proofs: Chapters on the Evidences of Christianity (1886) by A.T. PiersonThe Reasons for Our Hope by Vernon GroundsScience and Religion by Alister E. McGrathReading 8Believing God by Beth MooreEvidence 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 & 10Archaeology and the New Testament by Merrill F. UngerArchaeology and the Old Testament by Merrill F. UngerThe Case for Christ by Lee Strobel (Chapter 5)History and Christianity by John Warwick MontgomeryIn Search of Noah’s Ark by David Balsiger and Charles E. SellierKnow 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. KitchenReadings 11 & 12The God of Miracles by C. John CollinsKnow Why You Believe by Paul Little (Chapter 8)Miracles by C.S. LewisThe New Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell (Chapter 39)Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth & Apologetics by William CraigReadings 13 & 14The 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. KitchenTrue for You, But Not for Me by Paul Copan (Part 4)

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Reading 15Matthew 27:45-28:20Mark 15:33-16:20Luke 23:44-24:53John 19:28-21:14Acts 1:1-111 Corinthians 15:1-11Reading 16 History and Christianity by John Warwick MontgomeryThe Battle for the Resurrection by Norman L. GeislerThe 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 17History and Christianity by John Warwick MontgomeryJesus and the Old Testament by R.T. FranceWhy 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 NixThe Origin of the Bible edited by F.F. BruceSystematic Theology by Wayne GrudemWhy Believe the Bible by John MacArthurReadings 21 & 22The 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 23Systematic 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 GeislerKnow 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. StuartThe Theory and Practice of Translation by Eugene Albert NidaReadings 28, 29, & 30The Shape of Sola Scriptura by Keith A. MathisonIn Understanding Be Men by T.C. Hammond (Part 1)Inspiration and Authority of the Bible by Benjamin WarfieldSystematic Theology by Wayne Grudem (Chapter 8)Why Believe the Bible by John MacArthur

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Reading 31How to Study the Bible for Yourself by Tim LaHayeHow to Study Your Bible by Kay ArthurHow to Get More from Your Bible by Lloyd Perry and Walden HowardIndependent Bible Study by Irving Jensen Readings 32 & 33 In Understanding Be Men by T.C. HammondNew Testament Theology by Donald Guthrie (Introduction)Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem (Chapter 1)Readings 34 &35 Basic Christianity by John StottCorrecting the Cults: Expert Responses to Their Scripture Twisting by Norman GeislerDoctrine Twisting: How the Cults Distort Major Christian Beliefs by H. Wayne HouseThe Kingdom of the Cults by Walter MartinKnow What You Believe by Paul LittleIn Understanding Be Men by T.C. HammondScripture Twisting: 20 Ways the Cults Misread the Bible by James SireSystematic Theology by Wayne GrudemReading 36 Christian Ethics: Options and Issues by Norman L. GeislerDown-to-Earth Spirituality by R. Paul StevensIntroduction to Biblical Ethics by Robertson McQuilkinThe Marketplace Annotated Bibliography by Pete Hammond, R. Paul Stevens, & Todd SvanoeReading 37Believing 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 39Enjoying Intimacy with God by J. Oswald SandersMore Than a Carpenter by Josh McDowell (Chapter 11)Readings 40, 41, & 42From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya by Ruth A. TuckerHistory of the Christian Church by Philip SchaffJesus Christ, Disciplemaker by Bill HullThe Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert ColemanReadings 43 & 44By Their Blood by James Hefley and Marti HefleyThe Costly Call by Emir Fethi Caner and H. Edward PruittFoxes Book of Martyrs by John FoxeA Passion that Shapes Nations by Charlie Cleverly Readings 45, 46, & 47A Little Primer on Humble Apologetics by James W. SireBaker’s Encyclopedia of Apologetics by Norman L. GeislerDefending Your Faith by R.C. SproulKnow Why You Believe by Paul LittleNew Dictionary of Christian Apologetics by McGrath, Campbell-Jack, and EvansReading 48Biblical Preaching by Haddon W. RobinsonEffective Bible Teaching by James Wilhoit and Leland Ryken

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Appendix 3Recommended Web Sites

www.christiananswers.netwww.gospel-com.net/rbc/questionswww.lifeway.com/24hrwww.hisdefense.orgwww.str.orgwww.defendingthefaith.comwww.karma2grace.orgwww.reasonstobelieve.orgwww.BiblicalArchaeology.netwww.arcapologetics.org