Category Archives: Authority of Scripture

Pithy sayings — they may make you think, but are they always right?

Posted on January 16, 2010 by Bob Mathews.

Some of you Twitter. Some of you probably don’t know what that is. (Twitter is a “mini-blog” service that lets you post status updates of 140 characters or less. Each one of these short status updates is called a tweet. Incidentally, the green “retweet” button you see on our posts lets you re-post — “re-tweet” — this post to your own Twitter followers.)

You can pick up some pretty good information on Twitter. Some of these tweets are informational; others just help you set your mood for the day. Take these, for example, that I read this morning:

“Jesus, take my hand, and hold it tight! Give me boldness to accept the risks and childlike joy as I step into your good plans for me.”

If you have ever been reduced to God as your only hope – you’re in a good place!

My heart is breaking 4those in Haiti. I love seeing scores of Americans rushing 2help in so many ways. Proud of this country’s heart & hands

Some tweets are just dumb: “Getting ready to eat an ice cream cone.” As if anyone cared.

What made me think about writing this post though, were tweets like these:

Asking my forgiveness is making me responsible for the consequences of your actions

nothing is completely wrong. Even a broken watch is right twice a day

Oh really?

As Christians, Who is our Authority? (Hint: Matthew 28:18). When we hear or read something that otherwise makes half-sense, but contradicts other things we believe, who’s right? Is there any ultimate truth, or does the real truth lie within each one of us, to interpret however we desire?

Questions

What’s your reaction to the last 2 quotes in the shaded area above? Does asking your forgiveness make you responsible for my actions? Is it really true that “nothing is completely wrong”? I’d love to hear your comments.

What about “scribal errors”?

Posted on May 29, 2009 by Bob Mathews.

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I don’t know what sort of opposition you face from skeptics on a daily basis. Such opposition is certainly real though. You’ll hear about the numerous “contradictions” in the Bible. Among these alleged discrepancies are what believers tend to chalk up as “scribal errors” because they can’t seem to explain them any other way. The trouble is, if you believe the Bible can stand up to scrutiny (as I believe), and if you believe the Bible does not contradict itself (as I believe), then there are certain passages that just can’t be explained other than as “scribal errors”. They simply must be the result of an honest error committed by an overworked, honest, dedicated scribe who gave his life to copying Scripture. Right?

For example, compare 1 Kings 4:26 and 2 Chronicles 9:25, & 2 Samuel 21:19 and 1 Chronicles 20:5.

Surely you must have wondered about these “scribal errors”. Isn’t that just a cop-out by mind-numbed believers who can’t explain a true contradiction any other way?

In a word — no.

Scribal errors were a real eventuality of the early centuries of Scripture. So why is this not a simple, easy way out for dedicated believers desperately wanting a logical explanation for what is truly a real contradiction?

The reality of scribal errors

First, let me state that I will not give a complete explanation here of scribal errors. That’s not a cop out; that’s a choice I made in order to keep blog posts to a reasonable size. I will though, direct you to an excellent reference by Eric Lyons of Apologetics Press. Eric has a 2-volume compendium of alleged Bible discrepancies titled “Anvil Rings: Answers to Alleged Bible Discrepancies“. This 2-volume set is a great addition to the library of those who believe the Bible to be 100% inspired and 100% without error, yet who may have difficulty resolving the meaning of certain passages that appear to be contradictory. (Scribal, or “copyists”, errors are among the topics Eric deals with in Volume 1.)

In Eric’s books, as well as in his articles, he does a masterful job of not only acknowledging the difficulty of certain passages, but also of explaining how things such as scribal errors occurred, given all the safeguards that were in place to prevent such errors.

A double standard?

Consider this (from Lyons, Vol 1, pg. 142):

Over 5,300 New Testament manuscripts are extant today, with the most complete dated at roughly A.D. 350, the earliest dating roughly A.D. 120, and writers quoting New Testament documents as early as A.D. 90.
There are only 643 copies of Homer’s Iliad manuscripts, undeniably the most famous book of ancient Greece.
No one doubts the authenticity of Julius Caesars Gallic Wars, but we have only 10 copies of it, the latest copy dating 1,000 years after the original was written.

So why does the world accept secular documents with very little assurance of no scribal error, but it makes excuses why the multiplicity of earlier documents is unreliable? Certainly the sheer number of manuscripts alone doesn’t prove anything, does it? No, but the fact that the 5,300 New Testament manuscripts are in remarkable (though not 100%) agreement with each other is certainly a point in the Bible’s favor.

Faith

Let’s be honest — if everything we believe could be proven by the scientific method, it wouldn’t be called “faith”. The inerrancy of the Bible though, is something that not only should we accept on faith, but we can accept on faith that has adequate evidence in early manuscripts.

Remember, faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

What do you think?

Are “scribal errors” things that believers invent in order to explain away a flimsy substance-weak faith? Or are they a a reality of an early, pre-press culture that did the best it humanly could?

“I am a way, not the only truth, and one of many lives.”

Posted on June 24, 2008 by Bob Mathews.

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Was this the claim of Jesus? (John 14-6). Is He just one way to God? Evidently this is what most Evangelicals believe, according to an extensive study reported Monday by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. I found many of the results to be surprising, if not totally appalling. For example:

41% of those classified as Jewish are “absolutely certain” of their belief in God.
Of those classified as Protestants, only 46% believed the Bible to be the Word of God, and is to be taken literally, word for word.
To the statement, “There is only ONE true way to interpret the teachings of my religion”, 41% of Evangelicals answered in the affirmative, as did 19% of Catholics, 54% of Mormons, and 33% of Muslims.
In a similar question respondents were asked, “Which comes closer to your own views even if neither is exactly right? First/nextâ€¦My religion is the one, true faith leading to eternal life, OR Many religions can lead to eternal life.” Taking the “one true faith” route were 27% of the Protestants, 16% of Catholics, 57% of Mormons, 80% Jehovah’s Witnesses, 5% Jewish, and 33% Muslim.
“Do you think abortion should be legal in all cases?” Nine percent of Evangelicals, 16% of Catholics, 40% of the Jewish faith, and 13% of the Muslims answered “Sure; why not?”. (Oh by the way, 41% of the atheists answered “yes”, too.)
“Homosexuality is a way of life that should be accepted by society.” Agreeing with that statement were 38% of the Protestants, 31% of the Baptists, 51% of the Methodists, 53% of the Lutherans, 52% of the Presbyterians, and 20% of the Pentecostals.

The report is very detailed, with breakdown by denomination, state, etc. Being a member of the Church of Christ, naturally I was curious how “our group” responded, so here we are… With a margin of error deep into the single digits, of the members of the Church of Christ 88% are “absolutely certain” there is a God, 50% of us believe the Bible is the literal Word of God, 40% believe there is only one true way to interpret “the teachings of my religion”, 39% agreed that “my religion is the one, true faith leading to eternal life”, 9% of us believe abortion should be legal in all cases, and 31% believe homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle.

Frankly I’m embarrassed at those findings. I do realize though, that interpretation of the question has a great deal to do with the response. Take, for example, this question:

Which comes closest to your view? The Bible is the word of God, OR the Bible is a book written by men and is not the word of God? [IF BELIEVE BIBLE IS WORD OF GOD, ASK:] And would you say that the Bible is to be taken literally, word for word, OR Not everything in the Bible should be taken literally, word for word?

That’s the exact question asked of Christians and those unaffiliated with any religion. “The Torah” was substituted for “the Bible” for those of Jewish faith, “the Koran” for Muslims, etc. I don’t have any problem interpreting that question, but I can see that some, hearing the phrase “the Bible” would interpret that to mean “the physical translation of the Bible that you hold in your hand”. Personally I use the NIV translation, and am happy with it overall, but there are a few places where I believe the translators totally missed the mark. Comparing particular New Testament passages with the Greek text, for example, I sometimes come to a different conclusion for the meaning of a text than what’s printed in the NIV. So if I interpret that question to mean “do you believe the text of the NIV is word-for-word the Word of God”, then no. I don’t. So I’m hoping that the other 50% of the Church of Christ members responding to the study were thinking just that.

This post is already long enough, but I would encourage you, no matter what your faith, to download the full report (which is available at no charge from the link above). Draw your own conclusions, then decide what we can do to change the results for the better.

Be Diligent…

…to present yourself approved to God. (2 Tim 2:15)