About Me

My photo
I am a born-again Christian, who is Reformed, but also charismatic, spiritually speaking. (I do not speak in tongues, but I believe glossalalia is a bona fide gift not given to all, and not as great as prophecy, for example.) I have several years of college education but only completed a two-year degree. I was raised Lutheran and confirmed, but I didn't "find Christ" until I was in the Army and responded to a Billy Graham crusade in 1973. I was mentored or discipled by the Navigators in the army and upon discharge joined several evangelical, Bible-teaching churches. I was baptized as an infant, but believe in believer baptism, of which I was a partaker after my conversion experience. I believe in the "5 Onlys" of the reformation: sola fide (faith alone); sola Scriptura (Scripture alone); soli Christo (Christ alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and soli Deo gloria (to God alone be the glory). I affirm TULIP as defended in the Reformation.. I affirm most of The Westminster Confession of Faith, especially pertaining to Providence.

Saturday, September 19, 2020

Why Is The Bible An Authority?

 

Why is the Bible a source of authority?

This may seem like circular reasoning but it isn’t: The Bible says so. It claims to be the Word of God over 2,000 times: “Thus says the LORD.,” or its equivalent. Jesus believed in it as the Word of God. He verified the authority of Scripture and called it “truth.” The final source of authority is that it claims to be the “inspired” Word of God (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21).

If the Bible appealed to some historian for verification or authority or to scientific advance, then historians or scientists would be the final arbiter of truth. Thus we say the Bible is “self-attesting.” The Bible unapologetically starts out “In the beginning God….” It does not offer proof but assumes its own authority.

There are several reasons we might reason it is authoritative: it has thousands of predictive prophecies that are fulfilled in great detail, not just a few lucky guesses. It is geographically, historically, and scientifically accurate with not anomalies.

The Bible isn’t a science text but it is accurate where it does make statements. In fact, in dozens of verses, it’s statements are ahead of what science could have known at the time and wasn’t common knowledge till much later. In fact, if you could dehistoricize it, you would discredit it fully and many have tried to no avail and become believers. In conclusion, the Bible is a historical document telling the story behind 10,000 events from creation to the story of the church or it is nothing; its historicity is the fulcrum to be unbalanced in order to devalue it.

No comments:

Post a Comment