BACKGROUND:
What follows is a recent letter to the editor of the daily newspaper in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Our response is intended to give God-pleasing direction to others who, with us, do not appreciate shots taken at the Bible from a “shooter” who purports to be a Christian pastor.
We chose to use the public forum of our local newspaper to respond to a newspaper article by the pastor of Highlands United Presbyterian Church in our city. Regular readers of the newspaper are acquainted with this pastor’s frequent contributions to its “religion” and “op-ed” pages. Whether writing or speaking about politics or religion—he also spearheads the city’s Interfaith Council—this unabashed “liberal progressive” pastor often rubs the feathers of conservatives and/or Bible believers the wrong way.
More often than not we have chosen to keep silence (see Ecclesiastes 3) as often as we have been inclined to respond to newspaper articles which challenge and/or bad mouth the Bible. Yet “a time to speak” comes in defense of the Holy Scriptures, the very basis of our Christian belief system.
Our response is intended to give God-pleasing direction to others who, with us, do not appreciate shots taken at the Bible from a “shooter” who purports to be a Christian pastor.
By the way, the full titles of the books mentioned in the letter—helpful to explain their aim and purpose—are: Does the Bible Contradict Itself?—A discussion of alleged contradictions in the Bible and Bible Difficulties—An examination of passages of the Bible alleged to be irreconcilable with its inspiration. (We assume that these books are available on Amazon or E-bay today.)
To God and His divinely inspired Word alone the glory.
THE LETTER:
Editor—Wyoming Tribune Eagle, December 31, 2013
Seek to defend the words of the Bible
The Religion page column asserting that “Paul and Jesus lead us on different paths” (Dec. 28) calls for a response from one who still believes the Bible is God’s divinely inspired Word, true in all respects.
In our sound-bite era people have little inclination to digest something that is not short and quick (read “shallow”). The quick answer then to the article’s contentions would be Jesus’ assertions that “the Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35) and “Your Word is truth” (John 17:17). On his part, the Apostle Paul asserts, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God…” (2 Timothy 3:16) and God “cannot lie” (Titus 1:2). Yes, despite its critics’ claims, the Bible is free from all errors and contradictions.
The battle for the Bible is nothing new. Even eighty years ago this was said: “…not all have bowed to the supposedly scientific position that the Bible is a book of errors.”
The longer (read “deeper”) response to the article’s assertions demands a book, and many exist which support in great detail the Bible’s divine origin, transmission, inspiration, and reliability. On his shelves this writer has a number of such books including: Does the Bible Contradict Itself? (1926) and its companion: Bible Difficulties (1932). Authored by W. Arndt, these classic books are as apropos today as they were eighty years ago.
The battle for the Bible is nothing new. Even eighty years ago this was said: “The assertion is made with startling frequency…that whoever at this stage of intellectual development in the world still defends the inerrancy of the Bible must sacrifice either his integrity or his intelligence; the thesis that the Scriptures contain erroneous and indefensible statements is glibly put forward as a commonplace with which no one excepting knaves and fools will disagree…yet not all have bowed to the supposedly scientific position that the Bible is a book of errors.” (Preface to Bible Difficulties)
“Fools” then, “fools” today. Name-calling changes nothing about the truth of the matter.
Newspaper readers do well to take any opinion articles that attack the Bible’s authenticity with a large block of salt. Preferably, seek a book written in defense of the Bible as God’s reliable Word even in our “highly advanced” 21st century.
—Paul Fleischer, Pastor
Redeemer Lutheran Church