Is the Bible Inspired?
Christians claim that although the books of the Bible were actually
written by different people, these people were inspired and guided
by God as they wrote. While contemporary Christians make this
claim, the ancient authors of the Bible never did. For example Luke
says at the beginning of his Gospel:
Insomuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the
things which have been accomplished among us.....it seemed good to
me also having followed all things closely for some time past, to
write an orderly account for you..... (Lk 1:1-3).
Nothing about being filled with the spirit of God either before or
while he wrote, he simply says that others had written accounts of
the life of Jesus so he thought it might be a good idea if he wrote
something also. If he really was inspired by God to write the
Gospel why didn't he say so? But the claim of inspiration is not
just unsubstantiated, it also raises a very serious problem.
Christians are always claiming that in prayer God speaks to them,
gives them advice and tells them what to do. They claim that his
voice is very direct, very clear and very real. But if they really
have no doubt that God is communicating with them surely his words
should be recorded and included in the Bible. The Bible contains
words God spoke to Moses, Joshua, Matthew, Mark Peter and Paul so
why shouldn't the words he speaks to modern day Christians be
included also? Christians will balk at such a suggestion which
indicates that they are not so convinced that the words they hear
in their hearts really do come from God after all.
One Bible or Several?
In ancient times there was no standardized version of the Old
Testament. Different Jewish groups and different regions had their
own versions. There were the Septuagint, the Aquila, Theodotion's
version and Symmachu's version, all containing different text and
different numbers of books. The Old Testament used by modern
Christians is based on the Massonetic version which only appeared
after the Jamnia Synod at the end of the 1st century AD. The New
Testament did not appear in its present form until the year 404 AD,
nearly four hundred years after the death of Jesus. Before that
time, the Gospels of Thomas, the Gospel of Nicodemus, the Acts of
Peter, the Acts of Paul and a dozen other books were included in
the Bible. In 404 AD these books were simply cut out of the Bible
because they contained teachings that were contrary to Christian
theology of that time. One of the oldest existing Bibles, The Codex
Sinaiticus, includes the Epistle of Barnabas, a book that is not
included in the modern Bible. If these books were considered to be
revelation by early Christians why don't modern Christians consider
them to be revelation?
When we look at the Bibles used by modern Christians we find that
there are several different versions. The Bible used by the
Ethiopian Church, one of the most ancient of all churches, contains
the Books of Enoch and the Shepherd of Hermas which are not found
in the versions used by Catholics and Protestants. The Bible used
in the Catholic Church contains the books of Judith, Tobias,
Banuch, etc which have been cut out of the Bible used in Protestant
churches. Prof. H.L. Drummingwright of the Southwestern Baptist
Theological Seminary in his introduction to the Bible explains how
these books came to be cut out of the Bible used by the
Protestants. These books were, he says, "in most Protestant Bibles
until the 19th century, when publishers, led by the British and
Foreign Bible Society voluntarily began to omit them". Once again,
these books contained ideas which the churches did not like so they
just cut them out. How can a book like Judith be the infallible
word of God one moment and not the next? Why are there so many
different versions of the Bible? And which version is the
infallible word of God?
Are There Mistakes in the Bible?
We have seen previously that there are many mistakes in the Bible
but we will have a look at three more examples of its inaccuracies.
Today, even schoolchildren know that the earth moves; it moves on
its axis and at the same time it moves around the sun. We also know
that the tectonic plates on the earth's surface move also. The
Bible however, clearly states that the earth does not move. In 1
Chronicles 16:30 the Bible says, "The world is firmly established,
it cannot be moved." (See also Ps 93:1, 96:10 and 104:5).
Here, and in many places, the Bible contradicts scientific fact.
Moreover the Bible does not just contradict scientific fact it also
contradicts itself. Let us have a look at the creation story. In
the first book of the Bible it says that God created all the plants
and trees on the third day (Gen 1:11-13), all birds, animals and
fish on the fifth day (Gen 1:20-23) and finally, man and woman on
the sixth day (Gen 1:26-27). Yet a little further on the Bible
gives a different version of the creation story saying that God
created man first (Gen 2:7), then all plants and trees (Gen 2:9),
after that all birds and animals (Gen 2:19) and only then did God
create woman (Gen 2:21-22). These two versions of the creation
story clearly contradict each other.
Now let us have a look at the story of Noah's Ark. In one place in
the Bible we are told that Noah took two of every animal and put
them in the ark (Gen 6;19). Later the Bible says Noah took seven
pairs of all clean animals and birds and two of all other creatures
and put them in the ark (Gen 7:2). Again the Bible is contradicting
itself Christians will object to this saying that these and the
numerous other mistakes in the Bible are only small and of no
significance. However, only one mistake is required to show that
the Bible is not infallible. Also, if mistakes can be made in small
matters they can be made in important matters. And, finally, one
mistake is proof either that the Bible is not the word of God or
that God is capable of mistakes.
