Again it amazes me just how relevant the questions these teenagers ask are! This week’s SEEK for example is especially pertinent in the light of both the Church of England and Pope Francis’s actions in going against the Bible as the Word of God. I watched this astonishing sermon from Canon Tom Kennar..
I’m pretty sure that most people who read this will be able to work out instantly what is wrong in this sermon. It is one of the most dishonest, illogical, manipulative, judgemental, hypocritical, harmful and anti-Christian sermons I have heard in a long time! I am going to make a couple of response videos because it is a great opportunity to present what Christ teaches. But meanwhile I leave you with the answer to this weeks question…
SEEK 18 – Bible Mistakes
Question: What about the mistakes in the Bible?
Bible Reading: Ps 119:153- 160
Text: “All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal” (Ps 119:160)
The young man was adamant. ‘The Bible’s rubbish…. it’s full of mistakes. ‘Have you read the Bible?” “No”. Discussion over! Sometimes people argue that the bible is full of contradictions – and yet when you ask them to name one, they really struggle. It’s just something that ‘everyone’ knows. But often what people assume to be obvious, turns out not to be obvious. And that is certainly the case with this myth.
There are people who have read the Bible and who have found apparent contradictions in the Bible. But note the word ‘apparent’. On closer examination you usually find that the case is not as clear cut as they assume. In ASK chapters two and three we looked at how we can trust the Bible as God’s unchanging word. Now we are looking at the ‘mistakes.
If you are asking this question because it is causing you problems in your faith, or holding you back from believing, I feel your pain! Not long after I became a Christian, when I was about 16 years old, someone gave me a book which I think was entitled ‘101 difficulties in the Bible – answered’. As a young newly born Christian I had had no difficulties with the Bible. After I read that book, I had 101! Because the problems were real, but I didn’t find the answers satisfying or helpful. And to be honest it gave me a real crisis of faith. After praying about it, the thought struck me – why shouldn’t parts of the Bible be difficult? Why should I expect to understand it all? After all I am just a baby Christian. I don’t have to know everything at once. God will surely teach you as you go along.
And over the years that is exactly what has happened. I thought ‘let God be true and every man a liar” (Romans 3:4). Perhaps of those 101 difficulties I am now down to about four or five. I have slowly learned that whilst it is not wrong to question and think – it is wrong for me to sit in judgement upon the Word of God as though I am its master and I know all things.
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible – and it is about the Bible. It is one of the most amazing chapters you will read. In fact, it will repay you enormously if you read it slowly, even memorise it and meditate upon it. The reading for this chapter (v.153-160) tells us a great deal about God’s word. It is not something we should forget; it is a promise to preserve our lives; we are not turn from God’s statutes; the faithless are those who do not obey God’s word; and we are to love God’s precepts. But the verse I want you to hold on it simply v.160 “All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal”.
Think about what that means. And how wonderful it is. Is there anyone else of whom you can say ‘all your words are true’? We can get truth from many different people – but there is no person on earth of whom we can say ‘you are the truth, you always speak the truth, to know you is to know truth’. Isn’t that the beauty of Jesus? He never lies to us. His word never fails.
I don’t know what country you live in. But I do know that the laws keep on changing. If we live in Western liberal democracies, we accept the rule of law – and the fact that we expect laws to be just and fair. But we also know that laws keep changing – that they are not always righteous, and they are certainly not eternal. There are things now that are illegal which were once law – and vice versa. It is only God’s law that is righteous and is eternal.
That is why it is not full of mistakes. Does God speak error? Of course not! To even suggest such a thing is to believe the first lie of the devil when he asked Eve ‘Did God really say?” (Genesis 3:1).
This does not mean that copyists or translators cannot make mistakes. There is for example the infamous case of the so-called Wicked Bible where the printers left out the word ‘not’ from the 7th commandment so that it read ‘thou shalt commit adultery’! Of course, such mistakes are easily corrected. But when we are talking about the original Scriptures – they are without error. You can bank your eternal life on it!
Consider: What would you do if you came across part of the Bible that seemed to be a mistake? Or that seemed to contradict another part? How can you be assured that the Bible is without error?
Further Reading: Unbreakable – What the Son of God said About the Word of God – Andrew Wilson
Prayer: Lord God, we bless you that you are the God who speaks. And that you have given us the word of the prophets made more certain. That men spoke from you as they were carried along and inspired by your Spirit. We bless you that every word from your mouth is true. Teach us to trust, experience and know the power of that. In your Name, Amen.
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