The Bible has been under attack since its beginning. Every generation brings with it a new cadre of characters set on undermining the credibility of the Bible. Some resort to ridicule, while others attempt a refutation. Consequently, this has caused many students to doubt God’s word.
There are three broad challenges to the Bible. Each focuses on a different aspect of Scripture. There are historical challenges, moral challenges, and scientific challenges.
First, the Bible is unreliable.
Many skeptics boldly assert that the Bible is historically unreliable, and, therefore, we cannot trust it. We’re told it has been changed through countless revisions, additions, and translations. They point to textual differences and apparent contradictions to bolster their claim. New Testament textual critic Bart Ehrman writes in Jesus Interrupted,
The Bible is filled with discrepancies, many of them irreconcilable contradictions.... The historical narratives of the Old Testament are filled with legendary fabrications and the book of Acts in the New Testament contains historically unreliable information about the life and teachings of Paul.
Conversely, we’re convinced the Bible is an accurate account of what happened in the past. More than that, we stake our lives on its historical truth.
Second, the Bible is immoral.
The Bible is sometimes referred to as “The Good Book.” Ironically, this is precisely what many argue it cannot be. After all, the Bible contains content that offends our culture’s moral sensibilities. Atheist Sam Harris writes in Letter to a Christian Nation,
The idea that the Bible is a perfect guide to morality is simply astounding, given the contents of the book.... Consider the question of slavery. The entire civilized world now agrees that slavery is an abomination. What moral instruction do we get from the God of Abraham on this subject? Consult the Bible, and you will discover that the creator of the universe clearly expects us to keep slaves.
So, the Bible is outdated at best, and dangerous at worst.
Yet, we’re convinced the Bible is perfectly good (Ps. 19:7) and profitable for training in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16).
Third, the Bible is unscientific.
The Bible describes stories about a talking snake (Gen. 3:1–4), a global flood that wipes out nearly all of mankind (Gen. 6–9), a burning bush that is never consumed (Ex. 3:1–3), a virgin conception (Matt. 1:18–20), water being turned to wine (John 2:1–11), a man walking on water (Matt. 14:22–33), and a man rising from the dead (John 11:38–44). Atheist Richard Dawkins says these kinds of events are “palpably anti-scientific.”
However, we’re convinced science and the Bible are compatible. In fact, science strengthens our confidence in God and His Word.
Despite each of these challenges, the word of our God still stands (Isa. 40:8). How is that possible? Simply put, these attacks have good answers.
That’s why we are excited to tell you about this year’s reTHINK Apologetics Student Conference. The theme this year is “Has God Spoken?” and we’ve invited some of the top Christian apologists to respond to these kinds of challenges. Speakers like J. Warner Wallace, Frank Turek, and Jason Jimenez, as well as a host of others, will help your students reTHINK the Bible.
So join us in Dallas, Texas at Cottonwood Creek Church on March 29-30, 2019 and Birmingham, Alabama at Briarwood Presbyterian Church on April 26-27, 2019, and find out why we’re convinced God has spoken and why that changes everything.
Be sure to visit reTHINKapologetics.com for more information. Register today, and we’ll see you there.