3.  From Belief in God
to Belief in the God of the bible.

So, here we are talking about the Bible and I am a little surprised.  Not long ago I was writing off the Bible as an old book, out of touch with what our world  has become.  Why would I be interested in discussing the Bible?  I am not saying its not a good book…but, we just don’t need it.  I don’t.  I think I don’t.  But, lets talk about that.    First, you got me thinking about Truth.   Just because I think it is subjective and situational, maybe it is not!  No one should limit reality to  what we have learned and think and like.  Like the Greek philospher’s concept of Good: it may be something to discover more than something to determine for myself.  God may be something/ someone to discover.  I understand why people believe in God.  I admit, my doubting  really has been the result of not thinking much about it.  But, dissbelief does not make much sense.  Something does not come from nothing. Order from disorder, life from non life, are long shots.  I can believe in God… but to think that one religion has got it right and all the others don’t - is not reasonable.

I understand.  Not often is there just one right way to do anything.  There are many good diets, many good exercise routines, many good study habits – why not many good religions: to each his own,… if not the “buffet approach” of taking just what you want from each one?

Exactly!  You can live by the Bible.  And maybe it is more impressive than the Book of Mormon,  but you can only make that call for yourself.

And why should I be in judgment over a person who is finding satisfaction in their religion?  More than that: - over traditions that have been affirmed for generations and generations? 

There you go!  We are in agreement.  Tolerance and living with respect for people different from ourselves!  Its not as though there is just one way to find God.

Hmm.

Why do you say “hmm?”

I really have just been going along with you.  Religions can have a human source.  Jesus cautioned against tradition based religion (Matthew 15.9)  The Bible, which you say is worthy of respect, says something different about “tolerance” and  “finding God.”

I expect it to.  I expect that from all religions.  Even the Baha’is  who claim roots in several eastern and western religions still believe they alone are the final authority.  Every restaurant claims to be the best…but we make that choice. 

If just one restaurant served balanced meals of whole foods and the others served processed foods high in fats and sugars, then I could make a case for one being the best – and it would not rest on the longest lines or best review but on dietary facts.

Sure, but that is a bad analogy.  Restaurants are not like religions and sacred scriptures.

It’s a good analogy if I can make a case for a significant different between the Bible and other religious authorities.

Go ahead!

It helps if the document first claims inspiration and authority rather than to have us just conclude it afterwards.  And it does!  It’s the product of prophets, “moved by the Holy Spirit, spoke from God.” 2 Peter 1.20.  “All Scripture is inspired by God.”  2 Timothy 3:16  Jesus told us to “live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”  Matthew 4.4   “My Word shall not return to me empty.”  Isaiah 55 

God did not come down and write a Bible.  If He did, - fine – its inspired. But He did not.   Instead,  we have a collection of writings from mostly troubled men, Job to John, 1700 years.  Some scribe detailing a battle or a genaeolgy  is not my idea of  “God transcribing a holy book.”

You are right in that many times people do not know the significance of their writings, or their lives – not until later.  Still don’t.  None of them could know they were just one of many writing about Messiah and the nation to which He was sent.  None of them knew that their disclosures about the attributes of God and mankind, would be consistent with all the others.  We say the Holy Spirit used 40 human authors to deliver the message.

Then why is it like reading a phone book?  Genesis starts well and then runs out of steam with too many details and people I do not need to know about.  Leviticus is not long but it is brutal.  And those geneolgies…

In those genealogies is the identity of the Messiah.   It is easy to miss it because He is referred to as “the Blessing,” the Scepter, the Son of David, the Root,  the lion of Judah and the Anointed and so on.    Daniel 9 tells us when he would live.  Micah 5: He would be born in Bethlehem.  Isaiah 53 and Zecheriah 11 describe his death for our sins…which is why we have Leviticus!  God gave the Jews ceremonies to teach us all about the seriousness of our separation from Him and subsequent rebellion.

…which means something to those who accept Christianity.

Remember what we said a couple of visits ago?  There is no break from logic to say, “Truths exist,”  whether  I acknowledge them or not.  Ultimately, Truths are reasonable.   To help us believe Scripture is Truth there are  fulfilled prophesies.  Moses taught that a prophet had to be 100% accurate or we should dismiss him, permanently.  The Bible correctly prophesied the future of kings and nations, which ones would be restored and which ones would not.  Why?  So that we would get the point that this is a remarkable collection of writings. 

Even if I accept that, it does not prove anything.  It just leaves me impressed.

Exactly!  And that is by design.  Even the prophets – the people with the most evidence of God, had to live  by faith.  From the beginning God has our relationship with Him to be governed by faith.  Faith grounded on evidence.   Once I understand we have strong and convincing evidence Il accept the necessity of faith. 

Again, I am impressed, but don’t see the Bible as entirely unique.  Other sacred scripture claim inspiration… and report affirming miracles – miracles that can’t be proven – just like those in the Bible.  We will never really know if an Eqyptian army drowned in the Red Sea or if the first woman ate the forbidden fruit.

What if a completely trustworthy person told you they were true?

Like who?

Jesus.

No.  Jesus is like Daniel in the Lion’s Den and Joshua at Jericho.  They are all the same.  No disrespect.  They are great spiritual leaders but its not like God coming down.

It is!

I know, because you have faith it is.

We do not have faith in faith.  That is called fidism and that is as empty as a bird’s nest in winter.  Remember earlier we talked about faith and reason going together.  The New Testament was written in many ways like a historical document detailing the life of Jesus,  especially His resurrection.      Many skeptics have gone before us and studied the evidence for Jesus’ death and resurrection.   The empty tomb, the frightened followers, the changed lives of the eye witnesses, the absence of other explanations at the time, the establishment of new religious patterns, the evidence of signs and a new force in the people lives more than meet the threshold of reliability.  Faith has to connect with fact, at least in Christianity.  Christianity is faith in the truth and you can be satisfied that it is indeed true. 

…So, because Jesus rose from the dead, he was the Messiah.  Because He was Messiah, his words are true.  Because His words are true, what he said about Moses and Genesis and all the Old Testament is true.  I follow.  But the New Testament never got Jesus’ stamp of approval.  Churches put that together hundreds of years later.  Again, no disrespect to Paul, even though I do not like what he teaches, but he was no prophet.  If the New Testament was so important don’t you think God would be a little more deliberate about putting it together.

I don’t have a problem with that.  Jesus told his disciples the Holy Spirit would teach them and remind them of everything He said (John 14.26).   The result was 4 separate biographies written by people who were there – a historians delight!  The Holy Spirit turned around a Pharisee who became a theologian and missionary and church planter and letter writer.  Just because I would not conclude the Bible with a book loaded with symbolism, does not mean God would not.  God’s ways are not our ways.

I have heard that before.

And we all get used to that once we accept the God of the Bible and the Lordship of Jesus.  Does that excite you or frighten you?

Both.  I know becoming a believer is not – you know – “believing what I know is not true.”    If what you have said is true, the Bible is solid… and Jesus is impressive… and life has order and purpose.  I’ll think about it……..      I don’t know.  Something is holding me back.

We really have much more to talk about.

Like what?

Like why!  So far we have mostly talked about just  believing.  For lots of people believing is a big problem because they think it is subjective, unnecessary and unhelpful.  In stead, believing – that is, faith resting on facts, and Truth -  has been the design.

From the Designer.

Precisely.  It is  “reasonable” to be a person of faith.  Trusting in God and the Bible makes sense.  But that does not persuade me to do it.  We have more cards to flip over.  We need to talk about the implications of trusting God.  Jesus said a person should count the cost before he builds a tower.  There are more details to God’s plan.  Before a person chooses to get on God’s page, they should know more about  His thoughts on life andwhat they are getting into and why. Can we have one more conversation?

Sure.