In our drab and degenerate, postmodern age of subjective “truth,” the once-vibrant colors of the painter’s palette of absolutes have run and blended into fifty shades of unappealing gray relativism. Ours is an incredulous generation—asking, as did Pilate of old, “What is truth?” (John 18:38).[1] Pilate’s skepticism came on the heels of Jesus’ claim that He came into this world in order to “bear witness unto the truth” (John 18:37). That conversation (some two millennia ago) and ours today are practically the same. As Henry observed, “The modern crisis of truth and word is not something historically or culturally unique.”[2] Nonetheless, several reasons for faith in the Bible may be offered to the culturally conceived and cynically birthed unbeliever of today.
First, the Bible itself claims to be authoritative truth. Psalm 119:160 states, “Thy Word is true from the beginning: And every one of Thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.” In the New Testament, Jesus asserted in prayer to God, “Sanctify them through Thy Truth: Thy Word is Truth” (John 17:17). According to the Apostle Paul, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (2 Tim. 3:16). These self-assertions may have been considered hollow boasts were it not for the fact that the claims of Scripture can be objectively tested.
“Psalm 19:7-9,” as MacArthur wrote, “is one of the clearest and most concise sections of Scripture detailing the sufficiency and authority of Scripture.”[3] A careful biographical investigation of its claims (such as, the Word of God has power to convert the soul (v. 7), grant wisdom to the immature (v. 7), rejoice the heart of man (v. 8), bring enlightenment (v. 8), etc.) will show by testimony of hundreds of thousands of believers through the ages (and even in these modern skeptical times) the change that has taken place within the lives of men like slave-trader-turned-preacher, John Newton, who authored the hymn “Amazing Grace.” His testimony is that this total change was effected by the Word of God. Or as another example, famous but blind hymn-writer, Fanny Crosby, attested (in literally hundreds of hymns) the joy she experienced owing to God’s Word. In fact, there are myriads of autobiographical testimony to the reality of the Bible’s claims to change lives. Unlike any other book, the Bible’s ability to transform is hard to dispute.
But in addition to claims of Scripture that are verifiable by human experiences, there remain the traditional and persuasive arguments for the Bible. In short, the Bible is culturally diverse yet congruent. It is accurate in history as well as prophecy. It is geographically precise, scientifically demonstrable, archaeologically verifiable, literarily superior, and perennially popular. For these reasons, and many others, the Bible is a Book to be believed.[4]
In this bleak world of relativistic gray, therefore, the Bible is a refreshing masterpiece of vibrancy—It’s bright rays of truth both illuminate and surprise us as the beauty of an early sunrise on a happy Spring day.
[1] All Scripture is taken from the Authorized (King James) Version of the Bible.
[2] Carl F. H. Henry, God, Revelation, and Authority, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1999), 21.
[3] John MacArthur, Right Thinking in a World Gone Wrong: A Biblical Response to Today’s Most Controversial Issues (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2009), 9.
[4] For another great approach to this topic, see Alex McFarland, The Ten Most Common Objections to Christianity (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2007), 75-112.