Interesting Questions-140

A fragile basis of faith?

Letter to the Editor:
PASUGO, February 1997, p.13

A RELIGIOUS PROGRAM I watched on television contested the authenticity and authority of the Bible.  The preachers in the said program pointed out that the Bible is a very fragile book or literature to be the basis of the Christian faith. Two of the reasons they gave are as follows:

1. Almost all of the Bible writers were not firsthand witnesses to the biblical events they wrote. Therefore, they are not-qualified to be writers of such events. There is a great possibility that their accounts are inaccurate because they were not present when  the events took place.

2. The four evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), although having written the same gospels, have contrasting accounts of the life of Jesus.

How can I explain to my friend that the above-mentioned reasons are weak arguments to discredit the Bible. 

Melanie Distor
Lagro, Philippines

Editor's reply:

     That not all Bible writers were firsthand witnesses to the accounts they wrote does not make the Bible a fragile basis of faith. It was God Himself who willed that such book be written (cf. Jer. 30:2). For this, God guided the men whom He commissioned to write the Scriptures, as proven in this particular event:

     “And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down’.” (Rev. 10:4, New International Version)

     Notice that when Apostle John was about to write down what the seven thunders spoke, a voice from heaven prevented him from doing so. Instead, the voice from heaven instructed him to seal up what the seven thunders had said and NOT write it down. Clearly, then, the men tasked by God to write the Bible were guided by Him.

     Even Apostle Paul affirmed that “all Scripture is inspired by God” (cf. II Tim. 3:16, Today’s English Version). Hence, although some of the authors were not physically present to witness the various biblical events (such as the Creation, the Deluge, etc.), the fact that they were writing under the divine inspiration of God makes the Bible the most credible basis of faith.

     That God inspired the men who wrote the Holy Scriptures does not mean that the four evangelists in particular -- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – should have written exactly the same account of Christ’s life. Divine inspiration does not destroy the individuality of a particular writer. We must bear in mind that as an individual, each one of these evangelists had a particular point of view or a different way of seeing a subject at hand. Thus, a particular account may have been narrated by them in various ways, depending on the point of view adopted by each one of them, yet maintaining the truthfulness of the accounts.

___________________

 

Bible Study Suggestion: If you have further questions, please feel free to visit the Iglesia ni Cristo congregation nearest you. A minister or an evangelical worker would be happy to answer any biblical question you have in mind.