Chase the Setting Sun...: The Bible: Did it really happen?

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The Bible: Did it really happen?

8:18 PM | Posted by Joe Garrison | Edit Post

Through some recent conversations I have realized something that I have known all along, but have come to a deeper and weightier realization...people just do not take Scripture seriously.

Ok, so that is a pretty obvious statement. Many of us, although we would confess to be Christian, do not take Scripture as the absolute God breathed truth. Instead of Scripture informing our world view we so often let our world view inform Scripture.

Think about the stories of the parting of the Red Sea, the burning bush, Jonah and the Whale, Jesus raising the dead, Jesus feeding 5000 with a couple fish and a loaf of bread, Jesus casting out demons etc. Do you believe that these things actually happened? What impact does it have on our faith if we do, or do not believe these things?

I think there are a few different ways of looking at these events.

1. These things did not happen and could not have happened.

This is the most dangerous view point. First of all it implies that God lied somehow in the Bible. Of course it is possible that these stories were just added to the Bible for teaching purposes (like a parable) and for God to make a point. However, if we believe that these things could not have happened we dangerously put God in a box as a "small God" incapable of miraculous things. We limit God's power in our minds and therefore limit what he is capable of doing in our own lives.

2. These things did not happen but could have happened.

This is a little better than view point #1. This viewpoint holds the belief that God is of course powerful enough to do anything, yet He chose to use illustrations of events that didn't happen for teaching purposes within the Bible. This allows in our minds the power that God truly has but comes short of saying that the Bible is historical and accurate.

3. These things did happen just as the Bible says they did.

This viewpoint holds that God is powerful enough to perform any miracle told throughout Scripture and holds the Bible as an historical document that can be trusted as absolute truth.

What view do you hold? I personally fall into viewpoint number three... that these amazing things in Scripture truly did occur. That the Red Sea was parted, three dudes were untouched while standing in a fire, Jesus fed 5000 people with almost nothing and that a guy got swallowed by a giant fish.

Here is why I believe that...

So often we want to hold ourselves as the all knowing creatures of the world. We know what can, and cannot, happen. We understand all things. We are smart enough and scientific enough to tell God that certain Biblical "stories" aren't true or are not fair. We give ourselves too much credit.

Who are we to say that something in Scripture cannot be true? As Christians we believe that Scripture is the Word of God. If Scripture is truly the Word of God can it really be our place to decide what is true and not true in Scripture or decide what events really happened or not? I don't think so. History and science often fail us, God does not and never has.

As Christians it is our job to read Scripture and apply it to our lives. We should be the ones to conform to Scriptural teaching, not Scripture conforming to our world view. Too many times we want to see Scripture through the filter of our own world view instead of letting Scripture, and therefore God, tell us what our world view should be.

How would your life change if you took Scripture at its word, if you stopped viewing it through a filter and took it as absolute truth?

Labels: God Breathed, Scripture, The Bible, World Views

7 comments:

DavidT said...: So, a "Jesus Seminar" rainbow-letter Bible isn't the best gift for you? :); March 30, 2011 at 11:54 AM
Kyle Dinwiddie said...: If I started viewing Scripture as absolute truth, I would have quit being Christian a long time ago. We get to a point in our spiritual lives where we doubt. This doubt either leads to the rejection of scripture as literal absolute truth(EX such as 7 day creation was longer than that).

What happens when we see the fossil evidence that greatly seems to contradict this idea of 7 day creation? We have to begin re-evaluating what is important to my faith. Did God put dinosaur bones down to try to trick us into believing the world is really older than it is? For some reason, I doubt he'd do that.

I feel that science, reason, and logic are all gifts that God has given us. While the Bible has in it what God's will has lead it to have in it, I do not think that it is some literal piece of absolute scripture. Every other religion has to claim that- I don't think Christians do. The Bible, for me, is a collection of stories on faith and God that God uses to teach us and speak to us through. If I start making my faith more about the Bible and less about Jesus, I feel like I'm getting some problems.

Interesting post though! I definitely like more in #2. I believe God has the power to do everything written in the Bible, but using the tools that God has given us, I start to care less and less about the literalism of the Old Testament and more about the truth behind it.

thanks; March 30, 2011 at 2:12 PM
Kyle Dinwiddie said...: I'm not an advocate for evolution, but I am definitely an advocate for having an open mind. I haven't been convinced that we evolved from apes, but 6000 year creation seems unlikely with evidence that I can see. I reckon that I may never have a belief towards evolution since it's something I'm never going to go study in depth, and by the nature of what it is, it's not something that I will ever be able to see with my own eyes. Luckily, I'm not really bothered by that too much; March 30, 2011 at 2:18 PM
Joe Garrison said...: Kyle thanks for the comment and taking the time to read my post.

I want to be clear that I am not a wacko who's saying that science is a crock or unreliable. I do believe that God is bigger than the science we know at this point. The 7 day creation thing doesn't really bother me. I don't know how long a day was back then and honestly, I don't really care haha.

I do believe this world is set up with certain scientific structures with physics, biology etc. I also believe that God fully has the power to break that structure.

Therefore, if I believe God has the power to break our scientific rules, how can I definitively say that God did NOT do certain things in the Bible?

My biggest worry in not taking scripture as authoritative truth is that we start to explain away events and miracles in the Bible by our own logic. In doing that we take away the power of God. Eventually, we explain away so much that we no longer believe in a God that is capable of anything more than we are, and therefore not worthy of our worship.

I think we try to lock God into science and logic way too much. We also get upset about maybe God "tricking" us because our science doesn't line up with the Biblical story. If history has taught us anything, it's that what we "know" is constantly changing.

If we honestly believe in a loving God that cares for us we have to trust that what he has placed on earth for us to interact with he placed here for a reason. Maybe we don't understand it or think it was "mean" or "unfair", but maybe that's where we just have to trust him and get over it (and ourselves).

Thanks again for your thoughts. I'll be the first to admit I don't have everything figured out and I love the conversation.; March 30, 2011 at 2:36 PM
Kyle Dinwiddie said...: you asked "how can I definitively say that God did NOT do certain things in the Bible?"

We can't... I'm not sure that we can ever, 100%, know anything. Using our logic though, we get to 99.99% certainty that is worth believing in.

I'm not saying what God did or didn't do. I'm saying what the logical evidence we have leads me to believe. I full heartedly believe that God can and does perform miracles.

But just because something is written in the Bible it doesn't mean, in my opinion, that we should make it a definitive, absolute, and literal belief. The Bible is truth... but just because something didn't literally happen doesn't necessarily mean it now lacks truth. (EX: Adam & Eve. My interpretation is that it could be literal, but the most important concept is that I understand the truth from it: God created us, gave us free will, and we chose to break his commands.)

Your fear of people explaining away glory belonging to God is justified because it often happens. However, it doesn't have to happen that way. Even if our understanding of the world changes, God is always the source of good and will always be worthy of praise.. at least from me. PEACE!; March 30, 2011 at 4:16 PM
Joe Garrison said...: Kyle, Thanks again for the comment!

When it all comes down to it, the important thing is that we know Jesus Christ and his love for us, that he died for our sins. The rest is not nearly as crucial.

I think point #2 is fairly legit. As long as you believe that God has the power to do anything, even things that are physically impossible on this earth for us, it might not matter if you believe that He really did every single thing that is in the Bible.

My caution is to avoid explaining away God to the point where He is manageable and powerless. At that point, is He really a God worth worshipping? (I'm not saying you are doing this, I don't think you are...just a general thought for this post).; March 31, 2011 at 9:38 AM
Kyle Dinwiddie said...: "My caution is to avoid explaining away God to the point where He is manageable and powerless."

We are in agreeance on that for sure. I take great pleasure in knowing that I can't know or completely fathom my God. I wouldn't have it any other way.; March 31, 2011 at 11:27 AM

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