The Question Underneath the Others
Sooner or later every deconstruction reaches this question. A person may begin with a wound from a church, or with hell, or with sexuality. But the conversation soon comes down to one thing: when the Bible says something I cannot accept, who is right?
That is why this is the first of the four pressure points in this series. Each of the others is argued from the Bible, and each argument turns on what kind of book the Bible is. If it is the Word of God, it can correct us. If it is only a record of what ancient people believed about God, then we may correct it.
The oldest form of the question comes from the garden. The serpent opened with Yea, hath God said (Genesis 3:1). We need to be careful with that verse. A person who brings an honest question about a hard page is not playing the serpent's part. Thomas asked, and the Lord met him (John 20:27–28; see When You Have Doubts). The danger comes later, in the quiet step from asking what God said to deciding what He ought to have said.
We believe that the sixty-six books of the Bible are the Word of God, inspired word by word, true in everything they say, and the final authority for all matters of faith and practice. Inspiration, Inerrancy and Infallibility, and the Sufficiency of Scripture build that case. This study listens to the objections that are shaking people today and answers them.
When you and the Bible disagree, which one has to change?
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For Deeper Study
- Christ and the BibleAmazon John W. WenhamA clear, largely non-technical study showing that Jesus treated what Scripture says as what God says.
- Taking God at His WordAmazon Kevin DeYoungA short, warm book on why the Bible can be known and trusted. Written from a Reformed perspective.
- Another Gospel?Amazon Alisa ChildersA lifelong Christian's account of being shaken by progressive teaching and working through what she was told about the Bible.
- Christianity and LiberalismAmazon J. Gresham MachenThe 1923 classic by a Presbyterian scholar, who saw the same arguments a century ago and showed where they lead.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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The Inspiration of Scripture
All Scripture is breathed out by God. The Holy Spirit carried the human writers along so that every word they wrote, in every part of the Bible, is the very Word of God.
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