Lesson 3. The Bible is true in all that it affirms, even where touching history and science.
In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, the Apostle Paul wrote, “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.”
We might consider a Bible-believing Christian as one who would agree with Francis Schaeffer when he taught that the Bible is true in all that it affirms, even where touching history and science. When considering what the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy above, Paul wrote about “All scripture.” Paul would never have written, “All scripture, except those parts of scripture that touch on history and science, is inspired by God; therefore, trustworthy and true.” Yet, many have come to conclude and have taught that the Bible cannot be trusted where it touches history and science, but it can be trusted where it touches moral and spiritual concerns. Obviously, the Bible is not a history textbook or a science textbook. Nevertheless, how can it be possible that some think they cannot trust the Bible in the less important areas of history and science, but they can trust it in the most important areas of faith, spirituality, and morals? For me, if I cannot trust the Bible in the areas of history and science, where it touches on history and science; then, I certainly cannot trust the Bible as my infallible rule of faith and practice in the most important areas. Simple consistency, logic, and trust in God’s inspiration move me to believe with Francis Schaeffer that the Bible is true in all it affirms.
When I was eighteen years old, I remember some Bible college professors teaching that Adam and Eve were not real people, but only mythological figures. Still, they taught that we could learn some valuable spiritual lessons from the story of Adam and Eve. I thought even then that if I could not trust the Bible when it obviously throughout teaches that Adam and Eve were real people, that I could not consistently and logically trust anything the Bible teaches. Eventually, my teachers in my church and university led me away from my commonsense, and my faith in the Bible was destroyed – even as a guide in the areas of faith, morals, spiritual life, and practice. It was not until I met Francis Schaeffer in late 1978 and considered carefully his thought and writings that I became a Bible-believing Christian. Through Schaeffer, I came to understand that unless we believe that Adam and Eve were real people we have no trustworthy explanation regarding why evil exists in our world. Furthermore, if they were not real people, what the Apostle Paul taught about the first Adam and the second Adam becomes meaningless. Moreover, what the unbelieving pastors and professors teach about the first and second Adam becomes nonsensical and untrustworthy.
After I became a Bible-believing Christian, I told a missionary friend of mine that I had become “a Bible-believing Christian,” and he asked me a question, “Is there any other kind?” Can a person be a Christian if he is calling God a liar and not trusting in God’s word? Can a person really live the Christian life fully if he or she cannot trust what they read in the Bible to be true, but feel they need to spend a considerable amount of time trying to figure out what they can believe and trust in the Bible and what they cannot trust and believe and build their lives upon?
Eventually, of course, many of those who have believed and taught others in the church, especially pastors, that the Bible cannot be trusted in the areas of history and science have come to believe and teach that the virgin birth did not happen, that Jesus sinned, that Jesus did not die on a cross (but was resuscitated), that Jesus did not rise from the dead or ascend into heaven, that there are many ways to heaven in addition to the way Jesus’ taught, was, and is. We have come to call these patterns of disbeliefs and teachings in the church “liberal theology” or “theological liberalism.”
For me, historical, biblical, Christianity is true. The Bible is true in all that it affirms in all areas. The Bible is true to reality and corresponds to reality, to “what was, is, and will be.” The Bible is consistent and all the Bible’s teachings are logically consistent. The Bible teaches the only practical way to live and is the only sure basis upon which to build one’s life, faith, and future. Of course, we still need to properly translate and interpret the Bible, and we still need to spend some time trying to reconstruct the original writings in a few places, but this is far different from taking the path of liberal theology. The areas where we might have some textual problems in the original languages are few and very far between. We still do research regarding these problems, but they do not impact at all the truths upon which we can trust God and base our lives.
You might also like to learn more about Francis Schaeffer from two of his biographies, now online for you to read for free at http://www.labri.net .
Copyright 2009 L.G. Parkhurst, Jr.
International Bible Lessons .
Prayer Steps to Serenity .
Serenity Groups .
A Psalm and A Prayer .
