Can the Bible be trusted?
As far as the Bible goes, perhaps all you'd be willing to say is that you have a basic respect for it. You know it means a lot to some people, and you have no problem with that. You're happy for them. But for you-it just doesn't seem all that relevant to what you deal with on a daily basis. The times you've tried reading it, you can hardly understand what it says. Besides, who can claim with 100% confidence that the Bible says exactly what God said it was supposed to say?
Funny, people don't tend to feel that way about ancient writings like by Plato or Aristotle. Most anything that comes from ancient Greek and Roman literature is generally accepted at face value-required reading for school kids. The Bible, however, is sometimes treated as suspect.
And yet you operate around biblical principles all the time without even knowing it. You expect others to treat you the way they'd want to be treated themselves. You hear news accounts of people acting as Good Samaritans. You make your hard-working reputation by going the "second mile" for your company or customers-all biblical teachings, put to practical use.
That's because the Bible is a living book. More than just words on a page, it changes the way a person thinks and acts. The God who inspired men to write down what He was saying to them continues to inspire those who synch their lives to His Word. They grow deeper and stronger, more attuned to others' needs, better husbands and fathers, living out their true purpose in life rather than looking back on what they missed by doing things their own way.
The Bible is God's guide, his game plan, for your life. You can ignore it, but you cannot escape it. It stays true even when we do not. And when you finally submit to its authority, you begin experiencing what it is like to live with real perspective in a crazy world.
If you are ready to open your heart and mind to the value of the Bible, here are some quick answers to the most common questions men ask about it and how to approach it.
1. The Bible is so big. How do I get started reading it?
The best way to look at the Bible is not as a single book, but rather as a bookshelf of sixty-six volumes. Yes, some of the books pick up where the last one left off-sort of like a sequel-but many of them are their own contained unit. So if you try to go front-to-back, cover-to-cover like a grand epic, you are liable to get turned around. Try some of these approaches instead . . . on your way to more:
Read the Book of John. This is one of the four gospels (meaning, "good news")-a firsthand account of Jesus' life on earth. Of the four, many think it is the easiest to follow and understand. Plus it deals more extensively with the events surrounding Jesus' death and resurrection.
Read the Psalms or the Proverbs. The Psalms are filled with worship and prayer and every emotion known to man. The Proverbs contain a lot of biblical wisdom on everyday life. Much to learn.
Pick a short New Testament book. An example would be Ephesians or Philippians. Read it all at one time, if you can. Even though you may not know exactly what is going on, you will pick up some great teachings inside. Plus you will have a whole book of the Bible under your belt.
2. How is the Bible arranged?
Though designed by God to speak to all people in all times and places, the Bible contains His dealings with man at specific points in history. It is a real-world book. Written by dozens of people over hundreds of years, the intention was not to create a best-seller. The Bible is primarily meant to be a reflection of God's nature and character-His revelation of Himself to mankind-not a storybook saga.
Basically, the books from Genesis to Esther chronicle God's workings in the lives of ancient Israel, His chosen people. The books of Job through Song of Solomon are writings of wisdom and literary verse. The remaining seventeen books of the Old Testament contain messages given by God's prophets, set apart in the Bible but actually positioned chronologically within some of the earlier historical books.
The New Testament begins with four parallel accounts of Jesus' life, each intended for a different original audience, and therefore looking at His ministry from various perspectives. The book of Acts gives the history of the church immediately after Jesus' return to heaven. Then the balance of the New Testament includes letters written by church leaders (like Paul, John, and Peter) to some of the earliest believers in Christ.
3. What are the main themes to be looking for?
Hard to boil these down, but here is a sampling:
God as creator. The first words of Scripture, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1), are more foundational to our lives than we realize. The Bible reveals why it matters that everything-time, the universe, our relationships, our very beings-all belong to Him.
God's love. Think of all the trouble we can be. So why else would God choose to interrupt His perfect existence to deal with us and our world of problems? Bottom line, He has deliberately chosen to seek fellowship with us, His finest creation. This is nothing less than sheer love.
God's sovereignty. The Bible shows God moving history toward a desired end. And though He orchestrates time and events in accordance with His will, people within these events make choices either to follow or rebel. In the Scripture we see His guiding, all-wise hand at work-leading to the culmination of time when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that "Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:11).
God's plan of salvation. The Bible is a message of resurrection. Just as Jesus rose from the dead, individuals throughout history (down to this very day) have been rescued from impossible circumstances by nothing other than His grace and mercy. He is redeeming His people-those whose sins are forgiven by their belief in His gospel, those who trust in Christ's death on their behalf and in His triumph over the grave. Because of what He did, we too can live without fear of death. It is not the end.
4. But how does it apply to life today?
The Bible has a reputation for being an other-worldly book. And certainly God has given it to us so that we can see beyond ourselves, beyond today-so that we believers can live with hope of a brighter age to come. But no book has more to say about how we are meant to live and conduct ourselves on this earth, covering every aspect of who we are.
It talks about how to live in relation to others-loving them, forgiving them, controlling our anger, even having the courage to be kind to those who hate us and speak badly about us.
It talks about how to manage our hearts-enjoying the freedom of living with a clean conscience, being an authentic person in a world of phonies and pretenders.
It talks about how to handle our money-using it for the right purposes, not being held hostage by worry, learning how to trust God for our needs while being generous at the same time.
From physical health, to marriage issues, to work habits, to matters of balance and personal stability, the Bible frames the picture of what a whole life can look like. Your life.
5. Still, how do we know this is the Word of God?
The process of how the biblical writings came together to form our present-day Bible might seem (to the cynical observer) fraught with manipulation and disagreement. Quite the contrary. The BC-era attempts at formalizing the contents of Scripture (our Old Testament), as well as the various councils of the early AD years that canonized the New Testament, were remarkably unanimous in their decisions. The same providence that enabled God to speak His Word to the actual writers of Scripture is also at work in its preservation as a whole.
In fact, the writings that made the short list but were eventually discarded weren't really close to carrying the weight of Scripture. Either they weren't referenced and recognized by those who wrote other Bible books, or they clearly didn't meet the standard of having been authored by Almighty God.
Even today, the Holy Spirit's power to speak again and again to our hearts through the pages of Scripture-even when we've read them time after time-confirms that this is no mere creation of man. The Bible hangs together as one unified whole, though bearing different literary styles and reasons for writing. Centuries of dogged oppostion and questioning have only confirmed what we know in our hearts to be true. This is God's revealed Word to us. The Bible is all He claims it to be.