Beneath The Dirty Hood

The truth that's not enough

From Hungry Heart #8–30:

“…The head may be filled with general theological information without producing one spark of heart-affection for the Lord Jesus, and the soul remains in a state of spiritual emaciation.

"Many have been misled by thinking that by reading the Bible you become like Christ-–transformed; but you will find diligent students of the Word, who may never say anything incorrect in doctrine, yet who never seem to grow in grace and walk in spiritual reality.

"All blessings of this dispensation of grace are wrapped up in a Person, and, by means of the Word of God, we make spiritual progress as our hearts learn to find everything in Him–the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us.”—Charles Andrew Coates

Why I believe the Bible is totally true (part 1)

BUT IT'S RIGHT HERE IN THE BIBLE, she said.  She would visit and tell me about Jesus and my need for Him.  This was about 20 years ago.  And I hesitated and said quietly, Irene, I don’t believe the Bible.  I thought it was circular reasoning; the Bible is true because it says it’s true and since it’s true then what it says about itself is true—something like that. 

BUT WHAT OTHER EVIDENCE (outside the Bible) says it’s true? You have to have another source of authority to prove or disprove it, right?  So I could reject the Bible because I saw no outside evidence to prove it.  Of course, that meant I was putting my trust in the evidence I thought disproved the Bible.  But how would that outside evidence I was trusting be proven credible?  It can’t stand on its own, either; it needs its own outside evidence for proof just like the Bible does.  So every source of proof needs its own source of proof.  But as I demand that everything be verified by some other authoritative source, then at some point I have to stop the process to allow something to be the final authoritative source; otherwise the process goes on indefinitely.  At some point I decide when to stop the process and I choose to trust something as my final authoritative source.  I do it for a lot of different things, with a lot of different sources, usually without thinking about it; parents, books, teachers, science, “experts,” even I’ve always thought that or everyone knows that serve as final authoritative sources.  In the end, everything I believe is based on trust in a final source of truth.

I realize now, that’s how people believe the Bible; they accept it as a final source of truth.

I ACCEPT THE IDEA OF ABSOLUTE TRUTH ALL THE TIME. Water freezes at 32 degrees; eclipses can be perfectly predicted; every year is the same length almost to the second; if I drop a brick on my foot it will hurt; if I’m caught going 30 mph over the speed limit I’ll get a ticket; if I cut off my head I’ll die.  I don’t argue with these absolutes or say it may be true for you but it’s not for me.  I accept them and adjust to them.

I realize now, it’s the same with the Bible.

WHAT I BELIEVE ABOUT THE BIBLE says a lot about what I believe about God.  Maybe God wasn’t able to cause men to record what he wanted recorded.  Maybe he was unable to cause it to be preserved accurately over the years.  Maybe it was OK for its time, but it needs our help to bring it up-to-date.  Maybe God helped the Bible-times people but left us on our own.  Maybe he didn’t know we were going to need it today.  Maybe he thought we wouldn’t be around today.  Maybe we don’t need it today, or it’s not important, or he doesn’t want us to know.  But, if any of these things are true, then the Bible is definitely not totally true, because these things do not describe the God of the Bible.

IS IT REASONABLE to believe the Bible is completely reliable?  It is to me.  It’s reasonable, logical and consistent with how I think about other things.  In fact, if I didn’t think the Bible was completely true, to be consistent I’d probably have to change how I live.  And, to challenge myself to be consistent in my living and thinking I could start by asking myself some questions: 

WHAT IF THE BIBLE is NOT totally true and trustworthy?  Then it lies.  It repeatedly and consistently says it’s telling the truth.  Of course, if I don’t believe the Bible, then what it says doesn’t convince me, any more than I would be convinced if my neighbor said he was the President.  Just because he says it doesn’t make it true.  But if he said it, and insisted on it, I’d have to say he was wrong, even a liar.  If I say the Bible is not totally true then I have to say it’s wrong, that it lies. 

IS A BOOK THAT'S WRONG and that lies a Good Book?  The Bible claims to tell me all about God and myself and about how to live.  The Bible says these are life and death issues.  Are they?  Maybe not if the Bible is wrong.  But if they are life and death issues and the Bible is not trustworthy, then the Bible is actually dangerous.  Why?  Because it could lead me to death instead of life.  If the Bible is NOT totally true and trustworthy then it is NOT a Good Book; it is actually a dangerous book because it could be mistaken about things that have to do with life and death.  If I have to dismantle a bomb, and you tell me the instructions I have to follow are not reliable, that there are mistakes in there, then the instructions become worthless.  Which part isn’t true?  You say this and they say that.  How do I know who’s right?  Trusting those instructions could kill me. 

CAN CHRISTIANITY AND THE TRUTH of the Bible be proven 100%?  No.  But I can still be 100% convinced.

ARE THERE AREAS OF MY LIFE where I’m convinced something is true without 100% proof?  And where I depend on my conviction even in life and death situations?  Why would I do that without 100% proof?  Why would I ride in a car, fly on a plane, go to a doctor, eat in a restaurant, use a cookbook—without proof it was reliable and safe?  Why would I count on my wife’s love for me; how do I know she’ll love me tomorrow?  Is the earth really round?  Did man land on the moon?  Is the pilot drunk?  Is my mom really my mom?  How do I know for sure?

WHY WOULD I TRUST SOMETHING without 100% proof?  Because I believe reasonable evidence.  It’s the same thing I do in every area of life without it being a problem.  Am I sure my car will get me home safe?  Why would I get in and drive if I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t get hurt?  Because I believe the reasonable evidence (in this case, of statistics) that says I’m safe and I act based on faith in that evidence.  I believe my mom is my mom because there’s a birth certificate that eyewitnesses signed and I believe what she told me.

IN MANY AREAS OF LIFE, I believe and trust by faith, based on experience and trust in what others have experienced, observed and recorded.  From cookbooks to repair manuals to the court system to science to all learning in school from kindergarten to grad school; if I demanded the same level of proof for all areas of my life as some do for the Bible, there are a lot of things I wouldn’t believe or do.  I would have to drastically change my whole life.

I HAVE TO MAKE SURE I’m not holding Scripture to an arbitrarily high standard of proof just so I have an excuse to believe what I want.  It’s a trick of the devil; to make me think I’m being logical and intellectual.  But I don’t live the rest of my life that way.  I don’t demand 100% proof any other time to be convinced.  If I did, I’d live a lot different.

I FIND IT EASY TO ACCEPT and believe the Bible when I use the same standard of proof that I use for everything else: when I choose to believe reasonable evidence.  So what is the reasonable evidence that the Bible is totally true and trustworthy?  Does the Bible really say that it’s true?  Is the Bible reliable as a historical document?  That’s part 2. 

Psalm 13

Sofa.  Late.  Quiet.  Dark.  Told God, I love You.  I don't say that to Him often.  For one thing I know my love is feeble compared to His.  Plus, it just feels awkward; all the human expectations of those words and that relationship...

Thanked Him for some things.  Mind wandered.  Tired.  OK, one more minute.  If there's anything You want to say to me, please say it...

And...I love you.  Really small in the mind (as usual; if the TV had been on I wouldn't have heard it), Him to me.  Awkward.  Personal, for me.  Not theology.

Please, Lord, let's make it personal.

The boy of summer

“When you see too many…baseball games, you tend to observe less and less of each.  You begin to lose your sense of detail and even recall.  Who won yesterday?  Ah, yesterday…  Too many games, and the loneliness, the emphatic, crowded loneliness of the itinerant, ravage fantasy.  Nothing on earth, Lardner said, is more depressing than an old baseball writer.”

Why it matters

Here’s why it matters what’s on tv and in films and music.  Why we care what kids watch.  Why it matters who we hang out with and who our kid’s friends are.  Why it matters who wins elections and popularity contests and award shows.  Why heroes matter.  Because…

Influencing influencers

Sometimes you’re THE ONE.  When you're not, that part of you that wants recognition can crave it (while forgetting the burden of visibility, responsibility and blame that go with it). 

Sometimes you’re the one who influences THE ONE.  No one knows who you are, but you’re forever a part of what comes after (and you may never know it)…

The minister did not come that morning; he was snowed up, I suppose. At last, a very thin-looking man,* a shoemaker, or tailor, or something of that sort, went up into the pulpit to preach. Now, it is well that preachers should be instructed; but this man was really stupid. He was obliged to stick to his text, for the simple reason that he had little else to say. The text was,…

Have I watered you enough today?

If not, she wilts.  That’s what she calls it…

…When you don’t pay attention to me...when you’re in your own world…flying solo...when you don’t seem to need me...when you’re wrapped up in your own world…

If I pay attention, I can see the wilting in her face, feel it in her voice, sense it in her whole demeanor.  Of course, if I was paying attention, I wouldn’t let it happen.  When I realize it has, I water her; like I should constantly. 

Maybe the cycle looks like this.

It should look like this.

When things that once mattered, don't

Saw this...

The private celebration included actors Bill Murray and Johnny Depp, rock bands, blowup dolls and plenty of liquor...

Thought of this. 

Impressed, but changed?

He said he knew them all—every Super Bowl score, year and number.  Yeah right...ok, the Cowboys first Super Bowl win: Super Bowl VI, 24–3 over Miami.  Wow, that was fast…uh, Joe Namath: SBIII, Jets 16, Colts 7, 1969.  Mike Ditka: SBXX, 1986, Bears 46, New England 10.  Sam Wyche & the Bengals: 1989, SBXXIII, 20–16 49ers.  Buffalo’s four losses in order, Titan tackled at the goal line to end the game, John Madden, Steel Curtain, even the first Bud Bowl!  He did know them all.  It was almost supernatural.  Spontaneously out of my mouth flew the words Go away from me!  And at that moment I had a miniscule inkling of appreciation of the reaction of a man many years ago when confronted with power and knowledge and diety far beyond him.

But his reaction didn't stop there.  

How to build a WAL-MART (week 11)