Can We Believe God’s Word is True Because our Parents Told Us?
How do you know the Bible is the Word of God?
Virtually every Christian has heard that question at one time or another. And when we do, our hearts beat faster and we feel a flutter in our stomachs. We want to offer an insightful, sophisticated, and compelling answer. Just something that will keep us from looking foolish.
So, we search our brains for that apologetics talk we heard years ago and the numerous historical data points that were mentioned. But, since we don’t remember the details, we mumble something about the Bible having good “historical evidence” for its truth (hoping no one asks for the details).
But, lurking in … Continue reading...
What Do We Mean When We Say the Bible is ‘Self-Authenticating’?
Even though most Christians believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, very few can give an articulate answer for how Christians know this to be true. We believe it, but we are not sure why we believe it.
Of course, the average non-Christian critic out there is quick to pounce on this problem. “Christians have no reliable basis for knowing whether the Bible is God’s Word,” they might say. “You Christians can believe it if you want to, but you have no grounds for believing it. You are believing it without a reason.”
In order to address precisely this issue, I gave a lecture this past Spring … Continue reading...
Is Tradition the Only Way to Know Which Books are in the Canon?
Over at the Parchment and Pen blog, Michael Patton has objected to the statement of faith of Together for the Gospel (T4G), particularly as it pertains to the relationship between tradition and canon:
…Think of it another way: Without tradition being an authority we would not even have the Scriptures themselves, as it is only through tradition that we know what Scripture is actually Scripture. The Scriptures have no place where there is an inspired list telling us which books belong in the Scripture (we call this the “canon” of Scripture). It is through the traditions of the church that we know which books are the final authority. Therefore, tradition
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