How Do You Know the Scriptures are from God? One Testimony in the Early Church
It probably comes as no surprise that the most common question I receive from both Christians and non-Christians is “How do I know the Bible is the Word of God?” And the reason this question is at the top of the list is not hard to determine. The authority of the Bible is the foundation for everything that we believe as Christians. It is the source of our doctrine and our ethics. Thus, we need to be able to answer this question when asked.
Let me say from the outset that there is not just one answer to this question. I think there are many ways that Christians can come … Continue reading...
Top Ten Books on the Authority of Scripture (and Honorable Mentions)
Over at The Gospel Coalition, they have published my article on the top ten book on the authority of Scripture. I go through what I think are the best modern (Reformation and later) treatments of this issue from a theological perspective (as opposed to just historical). I then give a paragraph description of each book.
Here is the bare list (you will have to go to TGC to get the full article):
10. D. A. Carson and John Woodbridge, eds., Scripture and Truth (Baker, 1983); idem, Hermeneutics, Authority, and Canon (Zondervan, 1986).
9. Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics: Prolegomena (vol. 1): Part IV: Revelation (Baker Academic, 2003).
8. E. J. … Continue reading...
Do Christians Make the Bible an Idol?
For some reason, the Christian commitment to the Bible as the word of God is a confusing concept for non-Christians. They see it as a strange, antiquated, quasi-idolatrous devotion that is out of sync with the modern world. After all, people today are no longer dogmatically devoted to absolute authorities. Are they?
In a recent article on the Huffington Post, evolutionary naturalist Michael Dowd makes the argument that Christianity’s biggest liability is, well, the Bible. The problem with the Bible (or at least how Christians use the Bible) is that (a) it is seen as absolute, dogmatic, and unchanging (science, on the other hand, is something that will “expand and … Continue reading...