Apologetics - Trusting God\'s Word

Apologetic Thought – Trusting God’s Word

 Every week this Advent, we have read a passage from the very beginning of the Bible and a passage from the very end. Just as we started week one with Genesis 1, we will be finishing off this week with the last two chapters of Revelation. From creation to the new creation.

The Bible tells a complete story. We start with creation. Then creation falls. God judges creation and sets a plan in motion to redeem it. And finally creation is restored. We see the beginning and the end and a glimpse of what happens after The End.

It is interesting that there are so many people who try to cut out parts of the Bible. The early chapters of Genesis are often one of the first to go. They don’t fit with “The Science” so they must just be an allegory or exaggerated tale. Next to go are many of Jesus’ miracles, sometimes going so far as to deny the Resurrection. After that they start thinking Moses didn’t actually write the Pentateuch and Paul can’t have been inspired.

Those who think this way do so at their own peril. If you throw out Genesis 1-11 you throw out much of the basis for most Christian doctrines. Throw out Jesus’ miracles and his divinity is called into question. If Christ has not been raised, we are most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15). If Moses didn’t write the first five books of the Bible, then we don’t have to pay attention to them and Jesus is also a liar (John 5:45-47). And if Paul wasn’t inspired, then we have very little basis for anything the Church does or believes. It is way too easy, if you deny one part of Scripture, to deny anything that your sinful flesh doesn’t like, which is most things in the Bible.

But how do we know we can trust God’s Word from beginning to end? There are a few things to keep in mind. One is that the Bible is not just one book, but a collection of books and letters. There are 66 books written by dozens of authors over a span of around 1500 years. Despite this, they tell a cohesive story (as we have seen comparing Genesis to Revelation and their connections to the Gospels). But this is secondary to the main reason to trust the Bible.

The main reason to trust the Bible is Jesus and the fact that he entered into human history. Christianity is grounded in the historical death and resurrection of Jesus. We can even narrow the crucifixion down to just a few possible dates (traditionally believed to be April 3, AD 33). There is good evidence that Jesus existed and was crucified (even a few sources outside the Bible). We know there is good evidence that the tomb was empty and we know that Christianity was spreading quite rapidly within a few years of the Resurrection.  All this points to the fact Jesus actually rose from the dead, which means he is God and if he is God, we can trust what he says about the Scriptures (“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” - Luke 24:27).

You can trust the Bible because we have a living, breathing, Word made flesh Savior.