Is it possible that the church has not been as effective as it could be because we have ignored an important biblical truth? Is there a secret formula to reaching the lost? I suggest there is. And it’s been right there in the text of Scripture all along.
Our critic this week is David, who is so adamantly against biblical creation that he recommended protesting one of my speaking engagements. Interestingly, David professes to be a Christian and yet strongly opposes our defense of biblical creation. I found his comments to be highly ironic as he is basically criticizing Christians for teaching what the Bible says.
Racism continues to be a problem in the world today. Prejudice or discrimination due to skin color or other ethnic characteristics is a violation of biblical law. Yet the problem persists, and unfortunately is even found within the church. As is often the case, the solution to this problem is found in Genesis.
Last week, I had the privilege of attending the eighth International Conference on Creationism (ICC). This conference is a “meeting of the minds” in which several hundred creation scientists, Bible scholars, and other creation advocates can present and critique their research in various fields, including biology, geology, astronomy, physics, archeology, and biblical studies.
How did we get the Bible? How do we know that it is God’s Word, and what does that really mean anyway? If the Bible has been copied and translated so many times, can we have any confidence in modern translations? How do we know that the right books got included, and have any been left out? Doesn’t the Bible have contradictions and other errors? What about other books that claim to be from God? These are the questions that skeptics ask. Yet, many Christians do not have satisfying answers.
In terms of the number of manuscripts and the shortness of the time between the writing of a biblical book and its discovery, the Bible is more authentic than any ancient text by far. But the Bible’s uniqueness and authenticity do not – by themselves – prove that the Bible is true or that it is the Word of God. And what about the Bible’s translation? Can we trust that our modern English translations are faithful to the original?