Can I Really Trust the Bible?

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Sermon Notes

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What is the Bible? Two things:

1. The high point of world literature

   1. An unparalleled historical anthology: in other words, it is not a book but a compilation of books. And not like a series of books written by the same author, but instead 66 books (39 OT and 27 NT) written by 40 different authors in 3 different languages over a period of 1500 years.

   2. A compiled text

      1. In other words, because it was written by different authors over a period of centuries, it was not originally one book but was handed down generation after generation to be used within worshipping communities

      2. Over time, it was collected, arranged, and formalized within these communities of faith.

   3. An ancient text

      1. Which carries with it some interesting challenges, namely the difficulty of preserving over the course of thousands of years documents written across three continents over the course of 1,500 years (just think of how much trouble we go through to preserve the Declaration of Independence, written less than 250 years ago).

      2. In other words, because it is an ancient text, like all other ancient texts, we don’t actually have the original copies anywhere. Instead, what we have are manuscripts, some partial and some complete, written and carefully preserved by faith communities over the centuries and studied, compared, translated, and compiled by scholars to form the text that we hold in our hands today.

2. The (singular) Word of the One, True God

   1. Wait! How can that be? How can a document written by 40 different people in three languages on three continents over the course of 1500 years, preserved and compiled by worshipping communities over the centuries, and faithfully studied by scholars, all very human processes, be the divine Word of God? Fantastic question! Glad you’re asked! That’s what we’re going to talk about today.

   2. The Bible is the Word of God because God inspired its writing.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

1. It is true that it was written by 40 different authors, but those authors did not write on their own but in cooperation with the Holy Spirit. He inspired, that is “breathed into” their writings. But what does this mean? Well, there are a few things that this could mean.

   1. Classically inspired

   2. Purely dictated

   3. What seems to be the case: a divine mystery wherein the words written on the page are both the work of human writers—their personalities, styles, even grammar—and the authoritative Word of God.

2. Amazing, but does this raise concerns for anyone else? It would be far simpler if God did just dictate it to people. Then, we wouldn’t have to worry about any inconsistencies or imperfections.

   1. “Now, wait just a second! What do you mean inconsistencies or imperfections?! I thought you said this was the inspired Word of God!”

   2. In fact, if you’ve been around the Church for any period of time, maybe you’ve run across the term “inerrant,” the dictionary definition of which is “without error.” Isn’t the Bible inerrant?

   3. Now, here’s where I get myself into some trouble. The answer is: it depends on what you mean by “inerrant.” If you mean that the Bible is true in everything that it says, then absolutely, the Bible is inerrant. If, however, you mean that the Bible is scientifically and legally accurate, by modern standards, in everything that it says, then I would have to say, “no.” And I have three reasons for saying, no.

      1. God chose to condescend Himself to the cultural idiom in and for which the Bible was written (creation account, Levitical laws, etc). Progressive revelation.

      2. For the most part, God chose to limit His revelation to the capacities and limitations of the biblical writers (Mark’s grammar, lack of spiritual insight, limitations of point of view).

      3. God chose to reveal Himself to us through a variety of literary media, that is, genres (poetry, prose, law). Golf rulebook vs. story

   4. It is important that we recognize the nature of our litigious culture when it comes to our reading of the text. We, living in a society of written contracts and loopholes, have an unprecedented lack of creativity when it comes to our understanding of truth. Now, this is not an argument for moral relativism. If I were pro-relativism, I would not be advocating absolute Truth.

      1. Neither postmodern, reducing truth to nothing. In 30+ years of following Jesus, I have never once seen the Bible to be anything less than true.

      2. Nor modern, reducing truth to scientifically measurable and legally defensible. None of our greatest truths can be measured or defended.

   5. The fact is God chose people to communicate Himself to people, and this means that the process is not always tidy. It’s messy because people are messy. But, if you read the Bible, this is how God works in it, through messy people, using their flaws and limitations to reveal Himself. Why would we expect the method of revelation to be any different than the contents of that revelation?

   6. Ok, that was the big, bugaboo. It’s smooth sailing from here on out…Famous last words.

1. The Bible is God’s Word because God inspired (God’s Spirit breathed into) its preservation.

   1. No originals shouldn’t bother us because it has been faithfully copied over the centuries

   2. Among ancient writings, the Bible not only meets the standard of reliability. The Bible is the standard by which all the rest are measured.

   3. NT manuscripts

   4. OT Dead Sea scrolls

2. The Bible is God’s Word because God inspired its compilation.

   1. I guess we’re not clear of controversy yet. DaVinci Code…

   2. Imposition vs. recognition (canonization was not a process of creating a canon but formalizing a canon)

   3. The internal quality of Scripture

   4. Were there disputed books. Yes, there were a few books being used in the context of a worshipping community that were debated. The disputed books were disputed not because they were trying to exclude them but because they were wrestling with the fact that they were already included.

   5. Jesus as the litmus test…

   6. The decision about canonization then came down to 1) recognizing what was already being used as Scripture, 2) discerning what made Scripture Scripture, 3) applying that framework to disputed books, and 4) formalizing a canon.

   7. By and large, the canon was fixed before any of these controversial councils took place.

3. The Bible is God’s Word because God inspires its reading.

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