Theological Digression: Judging the Bible

One thing I have noticed is that it is increasingly common for Christians to judge the Bible. What I mean by this is that those who call themselves followers of Christ are reading the Bible and criticizing its teachings. If they agree with what a verse in the Bible says then they decide that verse must be true; however, if they disagree then they say that verse must be in error.

Today it is common for Christians to teach that while the Bible contains truth it is not entirely perfect. Many claim there is a great deal of error and superstition mixed up in it, and it’s up to each person to decide what is right and what is wrong. People don’t see a problem with rejecting whole passages (or even entire books) simply by saying they disagree with them. To them, the Bible cannot be trusted and must be judged. And who does this judging? Why, people do. They decide on their own authority (or using what modern culture believes) what is right and what is wrong.

This can be seen in so many areas. Does the Bible say that homosexuality is wrong? Then it is in error, or it was just reflecting ancient thought and those teachings should be dismissed. Does the Bible say that adultery is wrong, or does it make any other statements that conflict with what culture teaches? Then it simply doesn’t know what it’s talking about.

I wish I were making this up but I’m not. Even Christian colleges no longer believe the Bible is inerrant. They, too, teach students that each person must make up their own mind about what parts of the Bible can be believed. The Bible is no longer viewed as the infallible Word of God. Today it is simply a collection of truths that is only true as far as it agrees with what people already think and believe.

The real problem does not seem to be a concern that the Bible has been corrupted over the years. In fact, there is a tremendous amount of evidence that the Bible has been copied faithfully throughout the centuries. Scholars have found manuscript fragments of the New Testament that date to within a few decades of when the books were actually written, and they have copies of the Old Testament that date back several centuries before Christ was born in Bethlehem. When these manuscripts are compared to today’s Bible it is found that the text has not been corrupted. In fact, virtually no errors have crept in over the past several thousand years. The Bible today accurately reflects the Bible as it was originally written.

I believe the real issue is one of authority. Who gets to decide what is right and wrong? Who gets to define truth and error? Is it God, through His Word, or is that determination left up to individuals? Does God want us to read the Bible and believe it, or should we just do whatever is right in our own eyes?

It amazes me that modern Christianity has rejected the authority of the Bible and set themselves up as the ultimate authority. If a person decides on his own what is right and what is wrong, and what is truth and what is error, then he has set himself up as God. He is the giver of truth and the master of his life. He bows the knee to no one but himself. Why? Because he is living by his rules. He who makes the rules is king. Look at it this way: if we live by God’s rules then He is our king. If we live by our rules then we are king – and it is silly to edit the Bible to our liking and then say we’re living by God’s rules.

After all, at that point anything goes. The Bible becomes nothing more than a prop that people use to justify whatever they’re doing. People might as well write their own Bibles, for if you reject the teachings of the Word of God then that’s what you’re doing anyway. If you throw out the epistles of Paul then how is that not writing your own Bible? And if you write your own Bible you aren’t believing in God anymore, but in yourself. It is your word, not God’s word, that counts. How can you claim to be a follower of Christ when you refuse to believe His Word?

Christ certainly didn’t take a “pick-and-choose” approach to the Word of God. In fact, Jesus once defended the resurrection of the dead based on the tense of a single word in the Old Testament. When the Sadducees attacked the resurrection Christ responded as follows:

Matthew 22:31: “But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

What Christ is saying here is that because God said I am the God of Abraham, instead of I was the God of Abraham, then that means Abraham must still be alive, and therefore there is a resurrection. Christ clearly believed what the Old Testament taught about the Bible:

2 Samuel 22:31: “As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.”

Psalms 12:6: “And the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times.”

Psalms 18:30: “As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.”

Proverbs 30:5: “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.”

In case we missed it, this idea is re-emphasized in the New Testament:

2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

This says that Scripture is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness. In other words, we should take it seriously and believe what it says – instead of seeking to edit it so it teaches something more to our liking. But what about believing whatever you want to believe, and coming up with your own ideas? The Bible does have something to say about that, too:

Proverbs 3:7: “Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.”

Proverbs 16:2: “All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits.”

Proverbs 26:12: “Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him.”

 
 
Jesus and the Bible

What did Jesus believe about the Scriptures? Well, let’s take a quick look. After all, Christians are to be followers of Christ, and it would be great if they had the same view of Scripture that He did.

It should be noted that Christ quoted the Old Testament many, many times. For the purposes of this paper I will just focus on a few controversial areas – places where Christ upheld the Bible while modern scholars tend to disregard it.

 
 
Christ believed Abel was a real person

Today it is common for Christian scholars to say the first 11 chapters of Genesis are simply myth. There was no Adam and Eve, no Cain and Abel, and no Noah and the ark. However, Christ strongly disagreed. He believed that Abel was a real person that died a martyr’s death:

Luke 11:50-51: “That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; from the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zechariah, which perished between the alter and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.”

 
 
Christ believed in Noah and the flood

Likewise, Jesus did not dismiss the story of Noah and the flood as a myth. He believed it was a real event and used it to draw a comparison between those days and the days just before His Second Coming:

Luke 17:26-7: “And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.”

 
 
Christ believed in the story of Lot

Nor did Christ think the story of Lot and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha was just a fairy tale. He believed it was real history:

Luke 17:28-9: “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, the builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.”

 
 
Christ believed in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

Likewise, Christ believed that there really was an Abraham, and Isaac, and a Jacob. They were not mythological figures, but real people:

Matthew 8:11: “And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.”

 
 
Christ believed in the story of Jonah

It is also common today for scholars to dismiss the story of Jonah as a myth that has no basis in history. However, Jesus believed that the story was true, and went so far as to say that just like Jonah spent three days in the great fish, He would spend three days “in the heart of the earth”:

Matthew 12:39-41: “But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah: For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Ninevah shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and, behold, a greater than Jonah is here.”

 
 
Christ believed that the Queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon

Likewise, Jesus believed that the Queen of Sheba (here called the “queen of the south”) really did exist, and actually did come and visit Solomon:

Matthew 12:42: “The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.”

 
 
Christ believed in Daniel and his prophecies

It is also common for scholars to say that the book of Daniel was not written by Daniel and that his prophecies were written by someone else, long after the events actually happened. This is because modern scholars do not believe in prophecy, and therefore any prophecies must have been penned after the fact. However, Jesus clearly taught not only that Daniel was a prophet, but that the words in the book of Daniel were actually penned by him, centuries before the events took place:

Matthew 24:15-6: “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains:”

 
 
Christ believed that Moses wrote the first 5 books of the Bible

Some modern scholars also teach that Moses did not write the first five books of the Bible. However, Jesus strongly disagreed. This can be seen in a great many scriptures but I will just quote one.

Mark 12:26: “And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?”

Other verses to check out include Matthew 19:7, 8; Mark 7:10, 12:26; Luke 5:14; 16:29, 31; 24:27, 44; John 1:17; 5:45, 46; 7:19. Jesus clearly believed that Moses was the author of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

Let’s also not forget what Christ had to say about the rest of the Old Testament:

Luke 24:44: “And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me.”

 
 
Christ believed that Isaiah wrote the entire book of Isaiah…

…unlike some modern scholars, who teach that it had multiple authors. This is because Isaiah makes many prophetic statements, and moderns scholars do not believe in prophecy. Therefore, they state that any prophetic statements had to be written by someone else, long after they happened. However, Christ attributes the entire book of Isaiah to that prophet.

Mark 7:6: “He answered and said unto them, Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.”

John 12:37-41: “But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him: That the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe, because that Isaiah said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said Isaiah, when he saw his glory, and spake of him.”

 
 
Christ condemned people for not knowing the Scriptures

Here we are getting to the heart of the matter. It is very, very common for Christians today to know very little about the Bible. However, Jesus was not hesitant to criticize people for not knowing the Scriptures:

Matthew 22:29: “Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.”

 
 
Christ obeyed the Scriptures and was subject to them

Most importantly of all, Jesus not only knew the Scriptures, but He obeyed them. He believed that He – the Son of God, the Creator – was subject to them and had to do what they commanded:

Matthew 26:24: “The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It had been good for that man if he had not been born.”

Matthew 26:53-4: “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?”

This last point is key. You never see Christ attacking the Bible, or saying it is wrong, or claiming that is it riddled with errors and people must decide for themselves what is true. In every case Jesus upheld the Scriptures – believing in Noah, Jonah, the prophets, and so forth. But most notably of all, Christ obeyed the Scriptures. He did not judge them, or put Himself in authority over them to change what they said to something that was more to His liking. When they said go, he went. What they commanded, He did.

If we are to call ourselves followers of Christ then shouldn’t we do as Christ did? If He knew the Scriptures and obeyed them then shouldn’t we do the same? But I fear that we are living in the time spoken of by the apostle Paul:

2 Timothy 4:3: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

To all those who call themselves followers of Christ, I urge you to follow Christ, and not yourselves. Ask yourself this: who makes the rules that govern your life? Whom do you answer to? Is Jesus your Lord, or are you your own master? In your life, who decides what is right and what is wrong?

This is a very important question. In order to be saved Jesus must be your Savior and Lord. There is no salvation that says “Jesus, I refuse to repent of my sins and make you Lord, but I don’t want to go to Hell. So I’m going to keep on serving myself and living in sin, and what I want You to do is take me to Heaven when I die. But just stay out of my life. I don’t want You pushing me around or telling me what to do.” In order to saved you must give your life to Jesus. You must repent of your sins. This doesn’t mean that you’ll never sin again, but it does mean that Jesus is your master. There is no salvation that rejects the Lordship of Christ.