Academic Challenges | doyouknowwhy

An academic Challenge

To The Bible

Some Bible colleges and Bible professors take the position that not all of the Bible is infallible, or that they feel the need to come up with an explanation for what seeming difficulty in the Bible.

As was mentioned in the previous chapter, the Bible has more than been proven true beyond a reasonable doubt. With the evidence of the Bible coming from an eternal, all-knowing, alll-powerful God, who is perfect, should we give credibility to those who would question the infallibility of the Bible, or give credibility to the Bible?

The Bible has proven itself to be the word of God, and there are many verses, including 2 Tim 3:16-17 that make claims to it's origin, it's perfection, it's unchangeability, and it's indestructibility.

John 17:17 “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”

Matthew 5:18 “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”

John 10:35b Jesus answered them ". . . to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken"

2 Peter 1:21 “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Inerrancy of the Bible – Additional verses

www.openbible.info/topics/inerrancy_of_the_bible

The Bible is described as:

“the Word of God” , “is truth”

“is profitable for teaching . . . for every good work”

“cannot be broken” and “will stand forever”.

The God of the Universe knows everything, has created all 100 billion galaxies out of nothing, and is outside of time. If this amazing God has provided this incredible resource for us shouldn’t we conclude that He is also able to keep his Word the way that he has intended? The answer seems obvious!

If you are not familiar with the word inerrancy, it has to do with error. www.thefreedictionary.com defines inerrancy as:

“Freedom from error or untruths; infallibility”.

When applied to the Bible it means that the Bible is free from errors or untruths and is infallible.

Norman Geisler states:

“If the Bible is the Word of God and God cannot err, then the Bible cannot err. To deny the inerrancy of the Bible one must either affirm that God can err or that the Bible is not the Word of God.”

Considering the definition and the Bible verses above, Norman Geisler’s conclusion is logical and reasonable.

What's Inerrancy!? And Why Should I Care?

http://defendinginerrancy.com/why-is-inerrancy-important

Proof Inerrancy Is Historical / Biblical

http://defendinginerrancy.com/historical-evidence-for-inerrancy

The Inerrancy of the Bible

www.namb.net/apologetics-blog/the-inerrancy-of-the-bible/?pageid=8589952767

The Historical Reliability of the Gospels

www.namb.net/apologetics-blog/the-historical-reliability-of-the-gospels-1/

Is the Bible Today What Was Originally Written?

www.namb.net/apologetics-blog/is-the-bible-today-what-was-originally-written/

Here is Norman Geisler’s presentation at the Veritas 2014 National Apologetics Conference:

Does The Bible Have Errors?

http://defendinginerrancy.com/does-the-bible-have-errors

The professors in many of the evangelical seminaries currently have signed Statements Of Inerrancy. This means that they hold to the position that the Bible is without error. If you were going to a seminary, would you want to learn under a professor who doesn’t hold that the Bible is without error?

Would you be surprised to learn that a number of these professors who hold that the Bible is inerrant also believe certain passages didn’t happen as these verses indicate, that they were myth, or that they were exercises in creative writing on the part of the writer? Does this sound contradictory to Norman Geisler’s statement? His statement again,

"To deny the inerrancy of the Bible one must either affirm that God can err or else that the Bible is not the Word of God.”

To see some of the statements of these professors, check the articles at these links:

The Devil is in the Details: Biblical Inerrancy and the Licona Controversy

www.albertmohler.com/2011/09/14/the-devil-is-in-the-details-biblical-inerrancy-and-the-licona-controversy

OPEN THEISTS AND INERRANCY CLARK PINNOCK ON THE BIBLE AND GOD

http://normangeisler.com/pinnock-open-theists-and-inerrancy/

A RESPONSE TO CRAIG BLOMBERG’S “CAN WE STILL BELIEVE IN THE BIBLE?”

http://normangeisler.com/craig-blomberg-can-we-still-believe-bible/

Pastor Andy Stanley says the Bible is too hard to defend

https://creation.com/andy-stanley-rebuttal

Already Compromised – Book showing how Christian Universities have become compromised – Link to preview

https://books.google.com/books?id=_xNVJfr90qoC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Also check out this excellent presentation by David Farnell demonstrating the larger concern regarding the influence of professors teaching this “new inerrancy” in seminaries.

Responding To The New Attacks On Scripture - David Farnell

http://defendinginerrancy.com/responding-new-attacks-scripture

In the section covering the amazing number of fulfilled prophesies I had also made reference to certain prophesies not having been fulfilled yet. As well, many of the fulfilled prophesies could not be confirmed as fulfilled until recent archaeological discoveries discovered the evidence. Did archaeologists make up stories about the unfulfilled prophesies while waiting for the archaeological discoveries to confirm details in the Bible? No. Would it be fair to conclude that there are prophesies which we will never be able to verify pending their discovery by archaeologists? I could be wrong, but I believe this is reasonable.

It seems unreasonable and unnecessary that some professors would feel the need to have an explanation for Bible difficulties. I realize that there are those who will use any unresolved Bible difficulty as evidence that the entire Bible is fallible and that Christianity isn’t worth considering. However, when the few items in question are contrasted to the overwhelming amount of confirmed evidence for the Bible and Christianity, it shows that those making the challenges are looking for any excuse to discount the Bible and shows that they seem to be less interested in honestly considering the far larger supporting evidences.

Can one be a Christian without believing the Bible is fully inerrant? Yes. However, you put yourself at risk. You leave yourself open to the possibility that someone will come up with a convincing sounding argument against an important part of the Bible. Take for example the resurrection. What if someone came up with a seemingly convincing argument against the resurrection? Would this shake your convictions?

If we believe that one part of the Bible isn't the reliable the word of God, who is to say another more important part of the Bible won’t be questioned in the future? I point to Norman Geisler’s statement yet again, and Colossians 2:8

“If the Bible is the Word of God and God cannot err, then the Bible cannot err. To deny the inerrancy of the Bible one must either affirm that God can err or else that the Bible is not the Word of God.”

Norman Geisler

Colossians 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”

It is important to remember, if the Bible is God’s word and God knows everything, it is we who don’t have all the information, not Him. To believe a challenge by someone to what is written in the Bible, written by the One who knows everything when we don’t know everything seems somewhat short sighted.

It is important to realize that despite the position of the professors who are changing the traditional definition of inerrancy, pertaining to the different Biblical passages, many of them have still done tremendous work in many other areas of Apologetics. Because of this, you will see some of them included in the Leading Speakers and Thinkers section. Considering the importance of inerrancy it is vitally important to check any speaker or author’s position on the inerrancy of the Bible when evaluating any teaching about the Bible, regardless of that speaker’s or author’s effective teaching in other areas. Remember Acts 17:11

Acts 17:11 “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”

My intention in including this section is so that you are aware of what is being taught in many seminaries, especially if you are planning to go into ministry and attending one of these seminaries. Most of these seminaries were originally started by their founders to provide an answer to this challenge to the inerrancy of the Bible back in 1914-15. 100 years later, this challenge to inerrancy is being advanced now at these very same seminaries.

I highly recommend David Farnell’s presentation on this subject:

Responding To The New Attacks On Scripture

http://defendinginerrancy.com/responding-new-attacks-scripture

History of the Bible: How The Bible Came To Us

www.godandscience.org/apologetics/bibleorigin.html

Chuck Missler - How We Got Our Bible

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZsZLDWWZMs

Why Can The Bible Be Trusted - Sean McDowell

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SLv8uv_wQE

Where and How Did We Get the Bible?:

Part 1: Design and Layout of the Old Testament

http://realtruth.org/articles/248-wahdwgtb.html