The Need for Biblical Truth

Recently I had the privilege of presenting at a Teacher In-Service for Cornerstone Christian School in the Bellevue, NE area.  The topic I was asked to teach on was "The Need for Biblical Truth."

Here's an edited form of my first major point: Why does biblical truth need my attention? 

Biblical truth needs my attention because of doubt, skepticism, and critique from those outside of evangelicalism

We can get ​​a sense of the questions people are asking and the accusations some are making through a simple survey of the Table of Contents’ of recent evangelical apologetic works. For example:

• Amy Orr-Ewing's book, Is the Bible Intolerant? (2005) includes chapters titled "Isn't the the Bible Out of Date on Sex?"; and "What about All the Wars?"
• Jonathan Morrow's Questioning the Bible​ (2014) includes chapters titled "Aren't the Gospels Full of Contradictions?"; Has the Biblical Text Been Corrupted Over the Centuries?"; and "Is the Bible Sexist, Racist, Homophobic, and Genocidal?"
• Craig Blomberg's Can We Still Believe the Bible? (2014) includes chapters titled "Wasn't the Selection of Books for the Canon Just Political?" and "Don't All the Miracles Make the Bible Mythical?"
• Greg Gilbert's Why Trust the Bible? (2015) includes chapters titled "Copies of Copies of Copies of Copies?"; "But Can I Trust You?" and "So Did It Happen?"

These chapter titles all indicate questions people are asking and issues others are struggling with. Clearly, these questions and issues deal with things like biblical morality, the transmission of the Bible, the contents of the Bible, and the message of the Bible. All of these questions and issues touch closely on biblical truth.

Or consider book titles by those who are more firmly planted outside of evangelicalism - perhaps even antagonistic towards it:​

• Bart Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why (2007)
• Bart Ehrman, Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (and Why We Don’t Know About Them) (2010)
• Bart Ehrman, Jesus Before the Gospels: How the Earliest Christians Remembered, Changed, and Invented their Stories of the Savior (2016)
• Timothy Beal, The Rise and Fall of the Bible: The Unexpected History of an Accidental Book (2012)
• ​Dan Barker, God: The Most Unpleasant Character in All of Fiction (2016)

These book titles reinforce many of the questions and issues mentioned already: What is the nature of the Bible? Can we trust the message of the Bible? How reliable are the contents of our Bible? The way we answer these questions is important - our answers will either undermine our view of biblical truth, or increase our appetite for it.

​The more we give our attention to biblical truth, the more we'll be prepared to process and respond to these questions in a responsible, winsome way.

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Biblical Truth needs my attention because of neglect and erosion within evangelicalism

​Questions and attacks from outside of evangelicalism aren't the only reasons we need to give our attention to biblical truth. The neglect of the Bible within the evangelical church also brings the importance of this material to the surface. 

​​Let’s look first at some broader cultural trends as researched by the Barna Group in their “The Bible in America: 6-Year Trends” (released June 15, 2016). The whole report is worthwhile and does include some hopeful signs. But what I want to focus on here is the trending reality away from the Bible and its authority. Here are some excerpts from the report:

1. 1. 1. 1. • In the last six years alone, we’ve seen unprecedented changes [in terms of how Americans engage the Bible]. Nearly a quarter of a century ago in 1991, 45 percent of American adults told Barna they read the Bible at least once a week. In 2009, 46 percent reported doing so. These percentages were remarkably consistent over the course of nearly two decades. But since 2009, Bible reading has become less widespread, especially among the youngest adults. As more and more Millennials join the ranks of adulthood, the national average continues to weaken. Today, about one-third of all American adults report reading the Bible once a week or more. The percentage is highest among Elders (49%) and lowest among Millennials (24%).”

Or a little further down in the report:

1. 1. 1. 1. • “The Bible remains the top choice among American adults asked to identify sacred literature, and the number of people who choose the Bible, the Koran, the Torah and the Book of Mormon has remained relatively consistent through the years. However, the percentage of Americans who opt for “none of these” has doubled in six years, from 7 percent in 2011 to 14 percent in 2016. This increase is mostly thanks to Millennials (22%) and Gen-Xers (18%), who are significantly more likely than Boomers (8%) and Elders (7%) to say none of the options qualifies as a holy book” (bold emphasis added).

Here's how Barna summarized what the research means:

1. 1. 1. 1. • ‘Even in just the few years Barna has been conducting ‘State of the Bible’ interviews, the data is trending toward Bible skepticism,’ said David Kinnaman, president of Barna and director of the research. ‘With each passing year, the percent of Americans who believe that the Bible is “just another book written by men” increases. So too do the perceptions that the Bible is actually harmful and that people who live by its principles are religious extremists.’ 
            
            
            • “‘Of course, a healthy dose of skepticism means that people are still asking questions of faith, of Christianity and of the Bible,’ Kinnaman continued. “I believe those questions, when asked and answered honestly and from a biblical point of view, can lead to the Spirit’s work in people’s lives.’ 

“‘Thankfully, the data is not all bad news. In fact, our researchers continue to find bright spots that demonstrate the Bible’s cultural staying power and persistent hold on people’s hearts. Each of these realities, among others, is a window of opportunity open to leaders. But these windows are not likely to remain open forever, so we must take full advantage to advocate today for the Bible in our skeptical, self-centered, highly connected world’” (bold emphasis added).

These broader cultural trends have surely infiltrated the church. Consider these comments from Ed Stetzer, until recently the Director of LifeWay Research in an article he wrote, "Dumb and Dumber: How Biblical Illiteracy is Killing Our Nation":

1. 1. 1. • “Study after study in the last quarter-century has revealed that American Christians increasingly don’t read their Bibles, don’t engage their Bibles, and don’t know their Bibles. It’s obvious: We are living in a post-biblically literate culture.”

Or from the same article:

1. 1. 1. • “…a recent LifeWay research study found that only 45 percent of those who regularly attend church read the Bible more than once a week. Over 40 percent of the Bible are reading their Bibles occasionally - maybe once or twice a month, if at all. In fact, 18 percent of attenders say they never read the Bible. 
           
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         • “There is no excuse. It’s not as if we don’t have access. The average American - Christian or not - owns at least three Bibles. Even those that don’t have one in their home can download it for free to their smartphone or ‘steal’ a Gideon Bible from a hotel room. The Word of God is more available than ever. People have died to bring us what has led to modern translations of Scripture, yet we are dying from lack of knowledge.”

Here's the take-away for us: As Christians, we must ​stay vigilant in advocating for the Bible’s central place in our lives, and the lives of those we influence! I think J.I. Packer was right when he wrote, "​To reestablish in people’s minds the truth and wisdom of the biblical message…is perhaps the church’s most urgent task today" (quoted in Leland Ryken, J.I. Packer: An Evangelical Life, p. 256).

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Biblical truth needs my attention because of the nature of biblical revelation.

Briefly: ​​The Bible needs our attention (and deserves our attention!) because of what the Bible is! As the inspired, inerrant revelation of God, we should WANT to be returning to this book, the Bible, again and again and again and again! Just consider these two verses that show us WHAT the Bible is. As we appreciate WHAT the Bible is, WHY we should read it follows naturally.

1. 1. 1. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV): 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

1. 1. 1. Hebrews 4:12 (ESV): 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.