Christians, Bible Critics, and Truth
| by | Eric Lyons, M.Min. |
No one is perfect. No one but God has ever or will ever get everything correct. Indeed, “To err is human.” The real question is, what will a person do once he makes mistakes? Is he honest enough to admit them? Is he humble enough to swallow his pride? Does he really care about the truth, or does the end justify the means?
To the Christian, truth is paramount. Everything about our God is truth, including His Spirit, His Son, His Word, His judgments, etc. (1 John 5:6; John 14:6; Psalm 19:9; 119:142,160). And the Christian’s pursuit is one of truth (John 8:31-36). The only “agenda” a Christian should have is whatever God’s “agenda” is (i.e., whatever the truthful, omniscient Creator and Savior wants us to be and do, which includes owning up to our mistakes; Luke 18:9-14; Acts 26:20).
When human beings do not acknowledge God and His truthful standard for their lives, deceit eventually rules the day, even though it is often peddled as “truth.” One glaring example of such deceitfulness is seen every day in America in the 21st century: repeated accusations that the Bible is full of discrepancies. Outspoken critics of the Bible’s supernatural inspiration continue to claim certain Bible passages are contradictory, even though time and again many have heard and seen the passages explained in a clear, logical, and biblically consistent manner. Some skeptics have been in numerous public debates where they made allegations against the Bible writers that were truthfully and logically answered. Yet, the same skeptics continue to repeat the same unproven allegations against the Bible writers in future debates, articles, and books.
FACT: skeptics have sought to undermine confidence in the credibility, historicity, and authenticity of the Bible for 2,000 years. Yet, those who have been “set for the defense of the Gospel” (Philippians 1:17) have successfully answered every challenge with careful analysis of the text of the Bible and demonstrated that the charge was unfounded. The Bible has been shown over and over again to possess the attributes and characteristics of a supernatural production. No alleged discrepancy has gone unanswered. Convincing explanations exist for every allegation ever made.
Why would skeptics continue to cite “contradictory” Bible passages, which at the very least they would have to admit are unproven allegations? It would seem for the same reason many in today’s mainstream media continually press certain stories: the end justifies the means. They care more about their own agendas than the truth.
May God help us always to be truthful with ourselves, our God, and our fellow man.