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Shop Now<\/i><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nI\u2019ll first note that I don\u2019t know everything there is to know about Christianity.<\/p>\n
I was raised as a Christian, but lately have been doubting what my family and church have taught me for many years.<\/p>\n
The editors of this site seem to be very intelligent people. That said, can nobody see how much faith people put onto one book? Now I\u2019m not saying that most Christian morals are not well taught, but it\u2019s just one document that we can only assume was -really- written by God.<\/p>\n
So basically, how on earth do we know that the Bible is really what we are told it is? And is any Christian theory\/fact applicaple without resorting to a book we don\u2019t know anything about?<\/p>\n
With no disrespect,
\n\u2014M. B., US<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nAlthough we have faith that the Bible really is the Word of God, it is not a \u201cblind\u201d faith or a mere assumption. It is something we can know for certain.1<\/a>\u00a0We can know this by the impossibility of the contrary. That is, if the Bible were not the Word of God, we couldn\u2019t really know anything at all! Let me explain:<\/p>\n
First, the Bible itself claims to be the inspired Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16<\/a><\/cite>). For some reason, many people seem to dismiss this as if such internal evidence doesn\u2019t count.2<\/a>\u00a0But this is a\u00a0double standard<\/em>\u00a0that they would not apply to most other books. Consider my book\u00a0Taking Back Astronomy<\/i><\/a>. This book claims to have been written by me, and most people would accept that it really is written by me\u00a0simply because it says so.<\/em>\u00a0So, why do some people arbitrarily reject the Bible\u2019s internal claim? This is the fallacy of\u00a0special pleading<\/em>\u00a0and may indicate an anti-God bias that is part of our fallen nature.<\/p>\n
HOW ELSE WOULD WE KNOW THAT THE BIBLE IS WRITTEN BY INSPIRATION OF GOD UNLESS IT SAID SO?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Granted, the fact that the Bible claims to be the Word of God does not\u00a0by itself<\/em>\u00a0prove that it is. But for any other document, the internal claim of authorship is usually accepted on its own merit. So, the Bible\u2019s self-authenticating claim should not be simply dismissed. After all, how else would we know that the Bible is written by inspiration of God unless it said so?<\/p>\n
I suppose God could have attached a yellow sticky note to the Bible that said, \u201cThis really is my Word\u2014God.\u201d But then we\u2019d have to ask the question, \u201cHow do we know for sure that the\u00a0sticky note<\/em>\u00a0was really written by God?\u201d And then I suppose God could attach another sticky note to the first sticky note that says, \u201cThe first sticky note was really written by Me\u2014God.\u201d But then we\u2019d have to ask how we know for certain that the second sticky note was really written by God, and .\u00a0.\u00a0. well, you see where this is going.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, the Bible must be self-attesting\u2014and it is. It claims to be the Word of God, and a person must either accept or reject that claim. And that choice will have consequences. It is these\u00a0consequences<\/em>\u00a0that allow us to know for certain that the Bible\u2019s claim about itself is true. And this brings me to my second point:<\/p>\n
Rejecting the claim that the Bible really is God\u2019s Word will inevitably lead to the absurd consequence that knowledge would be impossible. Any alternative to the Bible is \u201csinking sand\u201d and will not support a rational worldview (Matthew 7:24\u201327<\/a><\/cite>). This is because only the biblical worldview can account for those things necessary for knowledge. These are things most people take for granted, like laws of logic (as shown in\u00a0Atheism: An Irrational Worldview<\/a>), the ability of the human mind to be rational, and the basic reliability of our sensory perceptions.<\/p>\n
These things all make sense if God created and sustains everything as the Bible teaches but cannot be rationally explained in a non-biblical worldview. In a random-chance, evolutionary universe, why would we expect the mind to be rational or our senses to be reliable? If the Bible were wrong about God creating the universe, then why would we expect the universe to be orderly and comprehensible? Science depends upon the regular operation of the universe in order to be successful. Yet, only the Bible can account for this.<\/p>\n
For example, God has promised a certain degree of uniformity in the future\u2014in terms of the cycles of nature (Genesis 8:22<\/a><\/cite>). Such consistency of natural law throughout time is what makes science possible. It\u2019s one of the things required for knowledge as shown here:\u00a0Evolution: The Anti-Science<\/a>. But\u00a0only God<\/em>\u00a0is in a position to tell us on His own authority about the future because He alone is beyond time. None of us has experienced the future. And so, it is only on the basis of\u00a0God\u2019s revelation<\/em>\u00a0in the Bible that scientific knowledge has an objective, rational foundation. Apart from the biblical worldview, there would be no good reason to believe in the methods of science.3<\/a><\/p>\n