{"id":29529,"date":"2016-11-16T01:51:45","date_gmt":"2016-11-16T07:51:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/?p=29529"},"modified":"2022-09-12T13:46:41","modified_gmt":"2022-09-12T18:46:41","slug":"scripture-true","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites-stage.josh.org\/main\/scripture-true\/","title":{"rendered":"Biblical Scripture: Truth or Tale?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Can we Believe What We Read in Scripture?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Scripture:
\nThe idea that “what’s true for you isn’t necessarily true for me” can lead a person to the conclusion that the moral truths from the Bible\u00a0are all just a matter of opinion. But\u00a0this conclusion simply reveals our confusion over\u00a0the concepts of truth<\/em> and belief<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

We are all entitled to our own beliefs, which describe the way we subjectively<\/em> think the world is. Truth, however, objectively<\/em> describes the state of the world. Thus, our beliefs can be relative, but truth cannot.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

So it makes no sense to say, “It’s true for you, but\u00a0not for me.”\u00a0Truth doesn’t change; only our perception of it changes.<\/em><\/p>\n

The sky, for example, might look baby blue to you, but\u00a0robin blue\u00a0to me. We can stridently argue our personal belief\u00a0all day long, confident we’re right, but once we pull out the color wheel, the\u00a0true color would be revealed. At least as long as the color wheel is rightly viewed as objective truth.<\/p>\n

Similarly, many people argue over\u00a0the\u00a0“truth” of Scripture. Can the Bible, they ask, really be trusted to be from God? After all, wasn’t it written by a bunch of writers\u00a0over a long period of time?\u00a0Surely the Bible is merely these men’s take on life, rather than God really speaking?<\/p>\n


\nIs\u00a0Scripture the “Word” of God?<\/strong><\/p>\n

God, indeed, chose to use\u00a0more than forty different writers, from every walk of life, over a span of fifteen hundred years, to convey his objective truth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We’re talking statesmen, masters, servants, tentmakers, tax collectors, shepherds, soldiers, poets, prophets, a physician, monarchs, and rough and tumble fishermen. Some of the\u00a0writers\u00a0wrote from despair, others joy. Some during times of certainty and conviction, others during periods of\u00a0confusion and doubt. And\u00a0they wrote in a variety of places: a palace, a prison, the wilderness, a dungeon, on a hillside, and on an island in exile.<\/p>\n

Each brought\u00a0differing talents and educational levels.\u00a0Each brought his\u00a0unique personality. Each brought his\u00a0unique\u00a0perspective of life. Each was 100 percent human.\u00a0But the writers\u00a0cited God as the author of Scripture, not themselves.<\/em> They acknowledged that they were merely conduits that God used to highlight His message.<\/p>\n

God chose Israel’s King David, for example, to record\u00a0valuable lessons on\u00a0failings, sin, suffering, loss, repentance, and forgiveness. David, you will remember, enjoyed\u00a0great victories in his life when he wholeheartedly sought after God. But he also endured\u00a0miserable failures and suffering because of his murder, adultery, and other sin. David’s most important message to us might be that God’s love for us is unconditional and unfailing, and that God willingly offers us forgiveness when we ask.<\/em><\/p>\n

Moses’ personal experiences uniquely prepared him to be God’s spokesman for the first five books of the Bible. Brought up as a prince in the halls of Egyptian power, Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. He was just the man\u00a0God needed\u00a0to lead the children\u00a0of Israel from\u00a0their Egyptian bondage into the Promised Land, and communicate God’s expectations of how God’s people would differentiate their conduct from\u00a0the rest of the world’s.<\/p>\n

The apostle Paul’s background and life experiences — including his tenure as a tenacious and ruthless enemy of Christ — also were effectively used by God to spell out the\u00a0amazing message of love, grace, and salvation\u00a0through Jesus. Paul\u00a0wrote many\u00a0of his New Testament letters from prison. No matter the hardship he faced, Paul’s\u00a0allegiance to Christ never wavered. He knew that he knew that he knew\u00a0that he served the Risen Lord.<\/p>\n

God even used Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, to show us that wisdom is a useless gift if we\u00a0don’t choose<\/em> to use it. Now that’s a sad story there! I can’t even image how Solomon, who was given the privilege of personally hearing from God, chose\u00a0to also worship many of the\u00a0foreign gods that his 700 wives worshipped.\u00a0That’s major stupidness right there, people!<\/p>\n

How kind of God to provide us with written documents that showcase His heart and mind. With this unique partnership between\u00a0God and human writers, the sixty-six books of the Bible can rightly be called the “Word of God.”\u00a0We can rest assured that the contents of the Bible have been vetted and are valid.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Measuring Rod of the Canon\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

At first, the Gospel message was spread by the disciples by word of mouth. But once the apostles’ writings began to be circulated, the Gospel message was transformed into a ministry of multiplication that fueled the spread of Christ’s message exponentially. Believers\u00a0receiving these writings knew they had come from men who had known Jesus personally or were considered authorities on Him and His teachings.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Over\u00a0the next two hundred years, the fledging church experienced explosive multiplicative growth, quadrupling every generation for five consecutive generations. We’re talking millions of believers! Again, it was the writing of the apostles, or men close to and endorsed by them, that each group believed were supernaturally guided by God to reveal the teachings and truth about Jesus.<\/em><\/p>\n

From biblical and church history, we find at least four measurements that guided early\u00a0church leaders in determining which Scriptures were authentic. This discovery process led to the inclusion of a certain group of books commonly referred to as the canon<\/em> of Scripture. Canon comes from the Greek word kanon, meaning “measuring rod” or “rule.” The four measurements that had to be met:<\/span><\/p>\n