All Christians must answer a very
important question: “Is the Bible God’s word to mankind, or is it mankind’s
word about God?”
Some folks think it doesn’t really
matter. They say the Bible offers some good advice, and regardless of who
actually wrote it, the important thing is to recognize this advice and apply it
to our lives when appropriate. However, this is a very naïve approach. If the
Bible is simply mankind’s word about God, then we are free to pick and choose
the parts we like, and ignore the rest. After all, the human authors of the
Bible who lived two- and three-thousand years ago didn’t know the important
things we know today. For example, not a single one of them ever earned a degree
in Gender Studies from an Ivy League College.
If the Bible contains the spiritual
musings of certain ancient men, however smart they might have been, then it can
be compared to clothing fashions. In the past, people truly thought it was
stylish to wear huge powdered wigs. That was the epitome of culture and class
during a certain time in history. Another example is my high school yearbook
from 1975. A quick perusal of the fashions we thought were stylish can cause
such spasms of laughter you likely will pull a ribcage muscle.
If the Bible is just mankind’s word
about God, then there really is no transcendent AUTHORITY behind it. The word
“authority,” by the way, is derived from the word “author.” If the authors of
the Bible were mere men, the biblical writings may strike some people as wise or
interesting or exciting or comforting, but the writings ultimately are merely
human words, not super-human divine words.
A lot of folks these days, including
many faithful church-going folks, are convinced the Bible is a collection of
interesting human-authored writings. They do not believe God Almighty inspired
the authors. You can usually tell which church denominations believe the Bible
was written by mere humans: they are the groups that promote abortion rights,
same-sex marriage, and all the other trendy causes that conflict with the clear
pronouncements of Scripture.
However, if the Bible is indeed God’s
word to mankind, that is, if God inspired the biblical authors to include in
the text exactly what He wanted, then we cannot ignore the parts we don’t like.
For instance, when the Bible quotes God Himself as saying, “Before I formed you
in the womb, I knew you,” we cannot claim abortion is perfectly fine and no
different than having an appendix removed.
When Jesus said, “Have you not read
that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’ and said,
‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his
wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” we cannot claim that same-sex
marriage is a wonderful thing and conforms to God’s will. (Nor can we say some
of the other weird things I’ve heard of late, such as: “Obviously the person
who actually put those words in Jesus’ mouth decades after the fact was steeped
in the hateful heteronormative patriarchy of his primitive culture, and
therefore should be vigorously denounced!” My goodness. Some ideas are just so
goofy only an Ivy League professor could promote them with a straight face.)
So think deeply about this question:
Who authored the Bible, God or mankind? If the answer is God, then Scripture is
a rock solid guide for our lives. But if the answer is mankind, then Scripture
has no real authority and instead we are free to embrace the latest trendy
causes — causes that future generations will consider to be just as dumb as
powdered wigs and my 1975 bell-bottoms.
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