"Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared..." ~ 1 Timothy 4:1-2The doctrines of demons are infiltrating our churches and the enemy is beginning to push back the barriers and front line of an ongoing battle that was hard won by Christians (or at least should've been and appeared to be). They are lobbing mortars (incendiaries; explosives) over the walls that they have erected between Truth and this world's culture and mindset. Besides the infighting of non-essential interdenominational squabbles we now have the enemy heading right for one of the support beams of our faith. The postmodernists have figured out that if they can undermine and toss mortars into the rudimentary and foundational facts and doctrine of the Christian faith, they have unraveled the entire faith. Some of the case-in-points: The claim that the Bible is not correct or it is contradictory(inerrancy) and the Bible is not clear (perspicuity).
I have heard people recently saying that the idea of the inerrancy of the Bible is something new. Created by evangelicals over the last century or so. This is nonsense. Some extra biblical texts that totally blow this statement out of the water are as follows.
Thomas Aquinas: "Nothing false can underlie the literal sense of Scripture" -Summa Theologica, 1, 1, 10 ad 3.
Martin Luther: The Scriptures have never erred", "The Scriptures cannot err" -Works of Luther, XV:1481; XIX:1073.
John Calvin: In his Institutes "Error never can be eradicated from the heart of man until true knowledge or God (through Scripture) has been implanted in it" -Book I, Chapter 6.
John Wesley: "Nay, if there be any mistakes in the Bible there may as well be a thousand. If there is one falsehood in that book it did not come from the God of truth (Journal VI, 117).
Inerrancy is not a recent invention of the post-reformation period or by theologians of the 19th or 20th century.
"Inerrancy is not in the Bible", is the next claim. By name, no, it is not. Neither is the Trinity but the concept is, just like the Trinity. Not named but the truths that lead to this concept are clear.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness ~2 Timothy 3:16
The Bible emphasizes that everything God has uttered through His prophets, kings and through His Son is true.
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. ~John 17:17
New? Not a chance. Errant? Only if you misinterpret deliberately in an effort to find fake faults or enter into the text without the Holy Spirit. These types of people often enter into the text with twisted presuppositions and mean to degrade and deconstruct in an effort to create faults that don't exist. Only if you come in with a presupposition that is contradictory to the truths in the Bible to destroy can you walk away doubting its clarity and inerrancy. Only if you hold to faulty doctrine or try to contemporize or modernize (revisionism) the text by fraudulently removing the Word from its context and make the Scripture fit into a 21st Century worldview when it was clearly written 2000 years ago or more.
I originally came into the faith to find the contradictions and faults by actually reading the Scripture with an honest evaluation...to prove it wrong. Instead I found it so accurate it was uncanny and it revolutionized the way I thought and saw the world. The more I read it the more I find just the opposite of error and contradiction. I find a solidifying continuous whole that could only be divinely inspired. Those that say it is antiquated, incorrect, or contradictory are being disingenuous in their assessment of themselves assessing the Bible. There is no way a rational intelligent human being that goes into the Bible and interprets it correctly and honestly can come away making a statement such as, "It is full of errors" or "it's an old fictional book that doesn't apply anymore".
The only reasons the Bible would be unclear or imperspicuous to people is because either they've made no honest effort to read it and understand its contents or they are being disingenuous when they say they have tried to understand (i.e.: they are not making and honest effort because they view it from a worldview that is non-biblical). Worst of all, as is the case with many charlatans and false prophets, they have misinterpreted or taken things out of context.
Some of the root of the belief that the Bible is errant lies in the fact that it is claimed that it is not clear, if it is not clear how can someone be expected to understand it correctly. This is a fallacy of logic called "begging the question" or circular reasoning [petitio principii]. The fallacy is committed "when a proposition which requires proof is assumed without proof." In other words, "begging the question" [petitio principii] refers to arguing for a conclusion that has already been assumed in the premise. The fallacy may be committed in various ways. The argument then ends up being an argument based solely on the arguers assumptions about the Bible that are untrue, not based in facts or proofs based in unbiased and honest observations of the Bible. I have found that once you present the person in error with their error they then begin to argue based solely on emotions and unfounded opinions which is usually all a postmodernist has left to argue with because they have already denied "truths". They will then attack you directly which is an "ad hominem" argument and "take it to the man" or create a "straw man". Often times I have noticed they do this without even realizing it because they are trying to win the debate between their ideas and your ideas. What they fail to realize (and Christians need to take note of this), it is possible to win the argument...but lose the person.
We in the faith should be applying more mortar (concrete) to strengthen the foundation stones of our faith by applying truth to those that try to destroy it. We should do this to build up others and do it for ourselves. Applying mortar to help repel mortars.
"Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord." ~Jude 3-4
We need to refute these deceptive practices of the enemy that are not only on our doorsteps, they have entered right through the front doors. Most do not even realize they are deceived when carrying this false doctrine. They are infected with the false teaching and are contagious to others that do not have a strong immune system to this spiritual disease. They need to be identified, quarantined and cured of this malady based in confusion. We need to also live as an example of what people should be in Christ. To say the Bible is unclear or worse, to say it is wrong undermines the entire faith. For the enemy, it is the easiest way to gain the upper-hand in the battle of truth. The modern world has gotten real good at doing this by denying that there is even absolute truths. To say the foundation of our faith (the Bible) is subject to question, makes everything else subject to question. We need to shore up the foundations and stop the attack by refuting it with the truth wherever and whenever the enemy shows up. If we continue to allow them an "open season" on our faith, sooner or later they will end up causing damage to someone by causing them to doubt.
Ironically, this confusion is not caused by the Bible that they claim is wrong but it is caused by the worlds postmodern philosophy which is wrong. Sadly, they would not even allow me to claim that something is wrong...because its a truth claim. Nobody is wrong, nobody is right, everyone is the same. Everyone's identity is the same. Moral ambiguity. In an attempt to not make a correct absolute "truth" claim they end up making an absolute incorrect "wrong" claim. A philosophy that says we cannot know anything for sure and that all absolute truth claims are subject to questioning means that nothing can be wrong, even mass slaughters of human beings. If we cannot make them realize that the exact thing they are claiming is wrong is actually the cure they will wander as carriers of this contagion of confusion infecting others.
The only cure for an untruth is absolute truth (Jesus Christ). The only cure for error is fact. The only cure for ambiguity and confusion is clarity and perspicuity. All of which we find IN the Bible and IN Christ. The world doesn't allow either in society anymore. It is no wonder we are so lost in an engulfing darkness that becomes more pervasive daily. Society no longer accepts absolute truth and rarely if ever accepted Christ. We need to assure both remain in society. How? Living as true Christians exhorting truth. Walking the Walk and talking the talk while we carry, read and proclaim the truth from Christ in the Bible.
To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. ~Luke 1:78-80
Thanks Steve. I've joined yours also :)
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