Have you ever thought about just what makes the Bible such a powerful and life transformational book? Perhaps viewing the Bible from the standpoint of its enemies can help us see the answer. Pastor John MacArthur, on this point, insightfully writes: “Precisely because it is so powerful, the Bible has always had its enemies. Unbelievers challenge its credibility. Skeptics question its accuracy. Moral revisionists depreciate its precepts. Religious liberals dispute its supernatural character. Cultists twist its meaning.”1
As we look at each of MacArthur’s five points I think we will see that the Bible’s power is indeed awesome precisely because it is the divine Word of God.
Unbelievers challenge its credibility
Back in 1955 a German journalist and amateur archaeologist named Werner Keller in his book, The Bible as History, which incidentally has sold over 10 million copies since it was first published, made the following observation: “In view of the overwhelming mass of authentic and well-attested evidence now available, as I thought of the skeptical criticism which from the eighteenth century onward would fain have demolished the Bible altogether, there kept hammering on my brain this one sentence: ‘The Bible is right after all.’”2
My friends, faith in the historical accuracy and credibility of the Bible, is something that archaeologists have clearly put to rest. And because this field of study has proven hundreds of accounts in the Bible to be accurate, I for one am more than willing to believe, even when we don’t have archaeological evidence to support a biblical event, the entire historicity of the Holy Scriptures. The Bible, simply put, is an amazingly accurate book of history. We owe a great debt to the scientific field of archaeology which has shown over the last 150 years hundreds of account mentioned in the Bible are spot on. When people tell me it isn’t credible history I just don’t listen to them.
Skeptics question its accuracy
Skeptics ask how can we trust a 2,000 year-old book – it has been copied over and over again. Many errors must have crept in. On this point I like what theologian Bernard Ramm shared about the people who were responsible for copying the words of Scripture down through the early centuries – the Scribes. According to Ramm: “Jews preserved it as no other manuscript has ever been preserved. With their massora [counting methods] they kept tabs on every letter, syllable, word and paragraph. They had special classes of men within their culture whose sole duty was to preserve and transmit these documents with practically perfect fidelity – scribes, lawyers, massoretes. Whoever counted the letters and syllables and words of Plato or Aristotle? Cicero or Seneca?”3
Moral revisionists depreciate its precepts
We sadly, in America today, live in an age where, the moral precepts taught in Scriptures have been totally trashed and our society has jettisoned the morals that once made our country great. As a result the absolute moral truths of the Bible are now considered relative truths and our society is literally imploding from within. As our society continues to cast aside the moral principles of the Bible is it any wonder that our moral values, that once made America great, are no longer considered by so many as necessary or even correct. Because of this I am afraid to think what our country will look like in the next ten years.
Religious liberals dispute its supernatural character
Today many so-called religious liberals have strived to teach that the miracles taught in Scripture are made up exaggerations of what actually took place. They have cast their lot with those today that belief in naturalism. Naturalism basically teaches that there are no such things as supernatural events and thus they try to strip away the clear teachings of the Bible. And sadly, when they do this they are picking and choosing what they want to believe in the Scriptures. And if the Bible is not a supernatural book then why believe that there even is a God who created our universe. As a result these religious liberals destroy the clear teachings of the Bible and replace them with liberal humanism, evolution, and destroy the character and nature of Jesus Christ.
Cultists twist its meaning
Finally, one of the unique ways to see how powerful the Scriptures really are is to see how all the cults rely on parts of the Bible to justify their beliefs. Winkie Pratney helps us see this point when he shared: “You know, many of the Eastern thought forms use Scripture. That’s because the book is so powerful – you can’t ignore it. If you don’t use it, you can’t capture people’s hearts. God has built life into His Word, and all the strong cults rip it off – steal bites out of the Bible and use it…Just the fact that pieces taken out of context are powerful enough to draw men’s hearts should tell you what the whole Word, used under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit can do!”4
For over 2,000 years mankind has tried everything to destroy our Holy Bible. But the results have been totally unsuccessful. And that to me is one of the main reasons we can have confidence that our Bible is indeed the one and only book of God! If the Bible had merely been a manmade book it never would have survived such intense attempts at its destruction.
In closing, I would like to leave you with one of my favorite quotes about the Bible from, 19th century writer H. L. Hastings, who eloquently shows the unique way the Bible has withstood the attacks of infidels and skeptics:
“Infidels for eighteen hundred years have been refuting and overthrowing this book, and yet it stands today as solid as a rock. Its circulation increases, and it is more loved and cherished and read today than ever before. Infidels, with all their assaults, make about as much impression on this book as a man with a tack hammer would on the Pyramids of Egypt.
“When the French monarch proposed the persecution of the Christians in his dominion, an old statesman and warrior said to him, ‘Sire, the Church of GOD is an anvil that has worn out many hammers.’ So, the hammers of infidels have been pecking away at this book for ages, but the hammers are worn out, and the anvil still endures. If this book had not been the book of GOD, men would have destroyed it long ago. Emperors and popes, kings and priests, princes and rulers have all tried their hand at it; they die and the book still lives.”5
1 181 Quotes About The Bible | ChristianQuotes.info
2 Werner Keller, The Bible as History (New York: Bantam Books, Inc., 1980), Introduction, p. xxv.
3 The Scriptures – Source & History: refs. include Witness Lee, Watchman Nee