9-25-23<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Holy Bible is comprised of many books written by many hands over many centuries in many locations. Most of the writers did not know each other; neither did they dream of how their texts would be joined or bequeathed through subsequent history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact some of the books were written frankly to record events; some were written to inform and instruct other believers; some were written in the clear belief of writers that they were transcribing God\u2019s words and warnings and commandments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All the writers, however, were inspired. Consider that word literally: in-spired; as per respiration and other words, the root is \u201cbreathing.\u201d So the Holy Spirit of God, by common belief of all the scribes, believed that the Lord \u201cbreathed in\u201d to their hearts. As our Creator-God, He did such things. In these later times and by other ways, He still whispers His truths to us\u2026 He speaks to us in answered prayer, and inspired thoughts. Like no other deity in other \u201creligions,\u201d His words are confirmed multiplied times over, through the ages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The \u201charmony of Scripture\u201d and \u201cunity of the Gospel\u201d are therefore truths that reassure believers, and astonish mathematicians, among others. Think about the probabilities of disparate people agreeing with others whom they did not know; or confirming facts about which they had no tangible clues; or sharing predictions and prophecies that happened, as it turned out, \u201cto the letter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These people \u201crecorded\u201d as the Spirit of God dictated to their hearts, things that sometimes made no sense, or seemed irrelevant at the times\u2026 but of course have powerful relevance to humankind. Scientists and archaeologists today are discovering places and persons in ancient Scripture that were recently thought to be poetry or fantasy or fiction\u2026 but \u2013 we discover that those kings, those battles, those cities were real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Bible tells us so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, despite the stubborn secularists and agnostics who regard it all as a fable or insider-conspiracy or poetic nonsense, we stand in awe of the Holy Bible as history (\u201cHis story\u201d); as wisdom and guidance; as a Love Letter from God Almighty. Between its covers are not random contents and disputes and admonitions, but exceedingly precise, intentional words for our comings-and-goings. And for our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are nit-pickers, some of whom seem sincere, and some of whom have huff-and-puff scholarly manners, who tell of minute differences between, say, accounts in the Gospels \u2013 just how many<\/em> things did Jesus say when hanging on the cross? Or renewed skepticism when their \u201cproofs\u201d against, say, a Great Flood or the actual existence of an ancient Biblical kingdom, have been upended. If they spent one one-thousandth of the time studying the truths in God\u2019s Word, as they do searching for contradictions\u2026 Again, my point \u2013 and my willingness to raise such issues \u2013 is that we as humankind are face-to-face with God\u2019s existence, Jesus\u2019s reality, and the Holy Spirit\u2019s essential role in our lives. Yes\u2026 the devil can be in details, sometimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We need to keep our eyes on Heaven, and our feet on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know Jesus is real because I have met Him. He mightily has intervened in my life, and that of my family. He has worked miracles that no other person, no other power, could do. Can I explain this to skeptics. No, not really\u2026 it is for everyone to experience. And I would say that it is not so important that we love Him \u2013 it is to our salvation; yes, but what is most important to grasp is that He loves us<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If we had to order a priority (and it is not really a priority: both things are true and essential), but I would plead to those who have not yet accepted Salvation to grasp the fact<\/em> that God so loved the world that He allowed His Son to take our sins upon Him\u2026 that we may be one with the Father. That makes the Bible \u2013 however else the world debates it \u2013 a thousand translations; the source of debates; the essence of holy wisdom; a handbook for conducting one\u2019s life; a record of miracles; prophecies of end times \u2013 when all is said and done, a love story. Yes, Jesus Loves Me. The Bible tells me so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n + + +<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They, and the world, might be better off.
If we look hard enough, anyone can see what they want to see, or miss what they want to miss. I was on the editorial team of the republication of the 1599 Geneva Bible<\/em>, which was in fact the translation of John Calvin that (among other significance) Pilgrims brought to the colonies; not the King James version. It lives in history as the \u201cBreeches\u201d Bible because translators handled the account in Genesis 3:7, where Adam sewed fig leaves together to cover his nakedness, and called the garment \u201cbreeches.\u201d Somehow mankind seemed to pay as much attention to that, as to the entirety of Scripture.
There are other tempests in teapots \u2013 or angels dancing on heads of pins. The Apocrypha is, or is not, regarded as canon; and portions of Daniel and Esther are regarded by some Christians as \u201cDeuterocanonical\u201d \u2013 added or discovered at dates later than \u201caccepted\u201d Scripture. Martin Luther doubted the authority of the Book of James. I recently have been studying the movement of the early church father Marcion, who held unorthodox views on the relevance of the Old Testament, and establishment of the Apostolic church, to Christ\u2019s mission and message. Some view him as heretical, but without his movement, we might not have some of New Testament Scripture and traditions.
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I think we cannot fall in love with God fully until we are aware of the awesome fact that the Creator of the Universe knows and loves you and me. The Bible is God\u2019s love letter to us; love<\/em> is in every word, every verse, every chapter, every book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n