by Bill Seng Reason 1) Authority I am a Christian. Is that about as intellectually unsatisfying of an answer as I could have possibly given for this topic? Nonetheless, the Bible’s authority begins for me at my confession of faith. Until a person acknowledges the divine nature of the words of the Bible he or she will not believe that it is any greater than any other holy book. Consider the Apostle Matthew’s description of the people’s reaction after Jesus preached his Sermon on the Mount: “When Jesus finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” (Matthew 7:28-29) It is one thing for one of Jesus’ friends to conclude such a thing, but in the Gospel of John, something incredible happened in chapter seven. The Pharisees sent guards to arrest Jesus and after they heard his teachings they returned to the Pharisees empty-handed. When they were asked why they did not bring Jesus back, they said, “No one ever spoke the way this man does” (John 7:46). Something about Jesus’ teachings was noticeably different from the religious leaders of his day. Granted such testimony regarding Jesus’ teachings, why do so many Christians refuse to believe the words of the Bible? There are many reasons why many Christians do not believe what the Bible says, but in our modern context one of the main reasons is fear. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1:18). Too many Christians are afraid of confessing truths that sound absurd to the rest of the world. Instead of having faith that God created the universe as described in Genesis (and Hebrews 11:3), calling evil evil (Isaiah 5:20), or even confessing the resurrection of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:14), it is often easier and more popular to submit to the worldly teachings on these topics. The teachings of the world are that we already know through science how the world came into being, there is no such thing as evil, and that the dead cannot come back to life. The world’s teachers lack authority, regardless of how intelligent they claim to be. Once again, I believe the Bible over any other holy book because of it is my authority as a Christian. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. What loftier claim could the founder of any other religion make? Buddha was merely enlightened, Muhammad was merely a prophet, and Joseph Smith happened to stumble across some golden tablets that only he could read. Jesus claimed to be the source of knowledge, greater than a prophet, and He sends the Holy Spirit upon those who believe so that they might understand all truth for themselves. If these are the only choices aside from the fallible humans that we call scientists, trusting Jesus and the Holy Scriptures is a fairly safe bet.
4 comments:
You sound like a 6 year old debating which superheros are better on the playground.
The Flash is great and all but his only attribute is superhuman speed.
The Hulks only attribute is superhuman strength.
Now you look at Superman and he has everything: Strength, Speed, plus he can fly. He is clearly the greatest superhero there is.
Although perhaps Jean Grey is the greatest. With her telepathic powers and the ability to control the weather, I'm not sure Superman could compete.
Then heres comes that Japanese kid who starts talking about Goku and his power to destroy entire universes. Clearly he is the greatest God -- Err I mean Superhero.
Anonymous...I find your comparison to be rather condescending. Besides, I find it rather insulting that you can bring up such an argument without invoking Wolverine. He might not be the strongest, the fastest, or smartest, but hear me out. He does not have any sort of weaknesses, has regenerative abilities that blow my mind (he heals almost instantly, man!), and he has a skeleton made of adamantium! I mean, he's practically indestructible and he smokes Jean Grey in X3. You might want to rethink your argument on this one friend, because you are totally off base. Of course, I am neglecting that fact that Iron Man might have something that can take out Wolvy, because in Iron Man 2, Stark invents a brand new element. If he can do that, maybe he can destroy adamantium as well. Just saying.
The Argument for Ridicule is a poor tool to prove something is false. I am not a biblical literalist because I have asked the Jews how they read their Torah. However, ridiculing the Bible does not makes it false. For example, Ecclesiastes addresses questions that were dealt by the French existentialists 2,400 years later. I think that ridiculing the bible is a poor argument against it. Bill, next time bring a better argument.
Kevin...what are you talking about? In relation to this specific post, I have no clue what you are saying. Did you maybe intend to post on my prophecy blog? If so, post on that one and I will reply appropriately.
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