04: The Uniqueness of the Bible
The Uniqueness of the Bible In the last lesson we determined that Christianity was unique from all other religions, ancient or modern. In this lesson we will attempt to show that the Bible is unique from any other book, ancient or modern. This is a necessary step in our defense of the Christian faith, because Christianity is based entirely on the Bible as the Word of God. If the Bible can be shown to be just another religious book of human origin, then Christianity becomes meaningless. In future lessons we will attempt to test the Bible’s reliability in order to determine whether it is really the Word of God as it claims. We will start in this lesson, however, by examining the unique features of the Bible. The Bible is unique from all other books or religious writings in the following ways: Its Exclusive Claims
Just as the Bible makes exclusive claims about Christianity, it makes some very exclusive claims about itself. These claims rule out the possibility that the Bible is just another "good" book. For if the Bible is not the Word of God as it claims to be, then it, like Christianity, is simply a fraud.
It claims to be divinely inspired (i.e., the Word of God). Both the Old and New Testaments are claimed to be the divinely inspired Word of God.
Old Testament claims:
Old Testament writers frequently claim to be recording the very words of the Lord. For instance such statements as "The word of the Lord came unto me, saying..." or "The Lord spake unto Moses, saying ..." are found throughout the Old Testament. If one would attempt to count these claims of inspiration in the Old Testament, he would come up with the following approximate figures: [1] * Pentateuch: 680 claims of inspiration * Prophetic books: 1,307 claims of inspiration * Historical books: 418 claims of inspiration * Poetical books: 195 claims of inspiration * Entire Old Testament: 2,600 claims of inspiration
Some of the best Old Testament passages on the inspiration of the Bible include: Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:2; 2 Samuel 23:2; Psalms 19:7-11; Psalms 119:89; Jeremiah 26:2 New Testament Claims: To the inspiration of the Old Testament. New Testament writers frequently acknowledge the divine inspiration of the Old Testament. For instance they often appeal to the authority of the Old Testament with such statements as "It is written...", "For the Scripture saith...", etc. In fact, there are over 320 quotations from the Old Testament recorded in the New Testament as well as over 1000 clear references to it. [2] Furthermore, it is obvious from the contexts that the writers of the New Testament believed that the Old Testament was the authoritative and accurate Word of God, not simply a collection of religious stories. For instance, Jesus Himself taught the truths of specific Old Testament events such as the creation (Matthew 19:4-5), Noah’s flood (Luke 17:27), Jonah and the great fish (Matthew 12:40), etc. It is obvious from these accounts that Christ accepted the Old Testament as divinely inspired and historically accurate. To the inspiration of the New Testament. The New Testament also predicts the divine inspiration of itself when Christ promises to send the Holy Spirit to help the disciples remember His teachings and guide them into "all truth" (John 14:26; John 16:13). This prediction explains why every book of the New Testament was either written by an apostle or confirmed by apostolic authority. Furthermore, at least one New Testament writer refers to another portion of the New Testament as "Scripture" (See 2 Peter 3:15-16). To the inspiration of Scripture in general. In addition to references to the inspiration of specific parts of Scripture, the New Testament contains great passages about the inspiration of Scripture in general. For instance 2 Timothy 3:15-16 and 2 Peter 1:19-21 are two of the clearest passages on the doctrine of inspiration. And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (2 Timothy 3:15-16). This passage claims that all Scriptures are inspired (literally "God-breathed") by God. Thus, Holy Scripture has both divine and human authors. The ultimate origin, however, is clearly God. This is also seen in 2 Peter 1:20-21.
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (2 Peter 1:20-21). So from these passages we see that the Bible claims to have been directly inspired by God, while allowing for the talents and personalities of human authors. In other words, the Bible never claims to have been mechanically dictated from God, but it does claim to have been inspired fully and verbally. This type of inspiration is often referred to as verbal (i.e., every word) plenary (i.e., full) inspiration. Reformed theologian, B. B. Warfield gives a classic definition of this type of inspiration. The doctrine of plenary inspiration holds that the original documents of the Bible were written by men, who, though permitted to exercise their own personalities and literary talents, yet wrote under the control and guidance of the Spirit of God, the result being in every word of the original documents a perfect and errorless recording of the exact message which God desired to give to man. [3]
We would expect that a book that claimed to be "God-breathed" should also claim to be inerrant (without error) since God would certainly not be the source of a fallible or erroneous revelation of Himself. Indeed, the Bible does make such claims of itself. For instance, in John 10:35 Christ states that the Scriptures "cannot be broken". In Matthew 5:18 He stated that "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." In John 17:17 He said "thy word is truth". Old Testament passages such as Psalms 19:7 ("The law of the LORD is perfect...") and Psalms 119:89 ("For ever, O Lord, thy Word is settled in heaven") also teach the inerrancy of Scripture. It is interesting to note that both Christ and the apostle Paul based entire arguments on single words from the Old Testament Scriptures! (See Matthew 22:31-32, Matthew 22:45; John 10:35; Galatians 3:16). In Galatians 3:16, Paul based his entire argument on the fact that the word "seed" was singular and not plural in the Old Testament promises to Abraham! Obviously, both Christ and the apostle Paul held to the inerrancy of the Old Testament. Its claims to be the only special revelation from God. Not only does the Bible claim to be inspired of God, it also claims to be the one and only source of divinely-inspired special revelation from God. For instance Jude 3 tells us that the faith was "once delivered" (i.e., once for all; it never changes). Deuteronomy 4:2 and Revelation 22:18-19 contain warnings about adding to or taking from the Words of Scripture. Isaiah 8:20 is a warning that any true revelation must conform to previously revealed revelation in Scripture. Galatians 1:8-9 and 2 John 1:9-10 are warnings about those who would preach any gospel other than that proclaimed by the apostles. All of these warnings would rule out the possibility of any extra-Biblical revelation from God. Furthermore, John 14:26 and John 16:13 are promises that the apostles will be guided into all truth. In other words, with the death of the last apostle (John) we should have a completed revelation from God. Even if for the sake of argument we allow for further revelation from God, this revelation must conform to the previously revealed Word of God. This is one way in which all other sources of "revelation" such as the Book of Mormon, the Koran, and other such religious works fall short, for they contradict the Bible and proclaim a different gospel. Its Unity The incredible unity and of the Scriptures is one of its most unique qualities. Consider the following facts:
* It was written over a 1500-year span.
* It was written by over 40 different authors who lived in different time periods and were from every walk of life. For instance, David and Solomon were kings, Peter and John were fisherman, Moses and Amos were shepherds, Luke was a physician, Paul was an ex-pharisee and a theologian, Matthew was a tax-collector, Daniel was a statesman, Joshua was a general, etc.
* It was written from different places.
* It was written in three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek).
* It speaks of literally hundreds of controversial topics.
Yet, in spite of these facts, not once does the Bible contradict itself. Not once does one writer disagree with another. From cover to cover, the Bible exhibits a remarkable unity and continuity. It begins with the creation of the present world and ends with the creation of the new heavens and the new earth. In the midst it unfolds the great doctrines such as the nature of God, the doctrine of sin, the depravity of man, the doctrine of salvation, etc. From Genesis to Revelation, however, Scripture revolves around the central theme of the redemption of mankind. "The Old Testament is the preparation (Isaiah 40:3). The Gospels are the manifestation (John 1:29). The Book of Acts is the propagation (Acts 1:8). The epistles give the explanation (Colossians 1:27). The Book of Revelation is the consummation (Revelation 1:7). The Bible is all about Jesus." [4] In fact, it is impossible to fully understand the New Testament without understanding its Old Testament foundations (i.e., the creation, the fall of man, the Messianic prophesies, the law which revealed to man his depravity, etc.). Doctrines are introduced in elementary form and developed progressively throughout Scripture (for instance note the first gospel message in Genesis 3:15). Type is followed by antitype, prophecy by fulfilled prophecy. The Bible is such an amazing book that we can say: To account for such an amazing book with its continuity of development on natural means would demand a greater miracle than inspiration itself. [5] Its Fulfilled Prophecy
Although we will discuss the subject of fulfilled prophecy in great detail in chapter 8, it is significant to note here that the Bible is unique from all other religious books on this important point. Although there are other religious writings that have made vague forecasts, there is nothing comparable to the vast number of specific prophetic predictions found in the Bible. There are literally hundreds of Old Testament prophesies that have found their fulfillment in history. Furthermore, there are literally scores of Messianic prophesies that were fulfilled by the birth, life and death of Christ. It is interesting to note that the Bible itself gives the test for determining if a prophet is a true one or a false one. According to Deuteronomy 18:20-22 a prophet from God will always be infallible. In other words his prophesies will always come true. The Bible is the only Book in all of history that provides such an objective way to verify its validity. In essence it challenges the reader to verify its validity through the means of fulfilled prophecy! Its Circulation The Bible has been read by more people, published in more languages, and circulated more thoroughly than any book in history. More copies of the Bible have been produced than any other book in history. Furthermore it has been translated into more languages than any book in history. Although these facts do not prove that it is the Word of God, they certainly do prove that it is unique! Its Survival
Survival through time. The Bible’s remarkable ability to survive over the centuries also makes it unique from all other religious books or literature. For one thing there is far more manuscript evidence for the text of the New Testament than any other book in ancient history. In addition, we know that Jewish scribes used remarkable methods to ensure accurate transmission of the Old Testament manuscripts. These topics will be discussed more thoroughly in Chapter 4 (The Reliability of the Bible).
Survival through persecution. In addition to survival through time, the Bible has survived through intense periods of persecution. Roman emperors sought to destroy it (most notably Diocletian, who by royal edict in 303 AD, demanded that every copy of the Bible be destroyed). The Catholic Church often tried to suppress it from the common man by discouraging laymen from owning it or reading it (note for instance the Council at Toulouse [Southern France] in 1229: laity were forbidden to possess complete copies of the Bible and vernacular translations were forbidden). In one interesting note from history the noted French infidel, Voltaire, who died in 1778, predicted that Christianity would be extinct within 100 years of his time. But instead, within 50 years of his death the Geneva Bible Society used his house and printing presses to print copies of the Bible! [6] No other book in history has been so hated and so persecuted yet it still survives and thrives today.
Survival through criticism. Finally, the Bible has also survived through vicious attacks from higher criticism. For years the schools of higher criticism have attempted to dissect, disprove, invalidate and otherwise destroy the Bible by attempting to bring it to the level of all other man-made religious books. In the face of this relentless attack the Bible has stood remarkably resilient. Science, archaeology, and ancient history have proven the Bible correct time and time again. In this light, each of the theories of higher criticism about the human origins of the Bible are far harder to believe then the Biblical doctrine of inspiration. In essence, they are postulating a greater miracle than inspiration itself when they postulate that such a remarkable book with its fulfilled prophesies, unity, scientific and historic accuracy was composed solely by human effort. Its Account of Origins
All ancient or modern cosmogonies (theories of origins), with the exception of the book of Genesis, begin with some pre-existing matter or energy. Ancient cosmogonies often begin with a primeval chaos of fire or water which the forces of nature, personified as gods or goddesses, change into the present form of our universe. The modern evolutionary theories also begin with pre-existing matter and energy which evolve by "blind chance" into our present universe. The book of Genesis is the only history of origins that accounts for the origin of matter itself, and the only ancient cosmogony that can be analyzed in relation to modern science. Its Subject Matter The Bible is also unique from all other ancient books with respect to its subject matter. For one, it has the highest moral standards of any book in the ancient world. For another, it speaks authoritatively on matters that are otherwise unknown or unknowable. Furthermore, it is the only book that gives a continuous history from the first man to the present era. It is also the only book that reveals a true purpose for all of history. Finally, it is unique in that it is totally unprejudiced when discussing mankind and his weaknesses. The Bible reveals mankind in his weak, sinful and depraved condition instead of exalting him. The weaknesses, sins and mistakes of the main characters of the Bible are recorded for all to see. What other religious book of human origin so accurately reveals the faults of its leaders, prophets, and founders?
Conclusion: In summation, we must conclude that the Bible is unique from all other religious books. Furthermore, we cannot deny the fact that it claims to be the one and only source of divine revelation. In future chapters we will put this claim to the test and examine the reliability of the Bible. If it does turn out to be reliable in the light of science, archaeology, textual criticism, ancient history, etc. then the honest, open-minded individual should recognize it as the inspired Word of God.