I recently read two articles; one was titled “10 Bible verses that were changed in translation,” and “10 dark and ungodly christian beliefs.” Both are written in a deceivingly winsome style, but the intent is not so innocent. The first leads some to think the Bible is untrustworthy and the second is an attack on the Christian faith predicated on the Scriptures.
People attack the Bible and the Christian faith founded upon it for a host of reasons. It is even fashionable to do so in the culture we live in now. The motives can range from genuine questions about matters of faith to viciously maligning the Scriptures believers embrace as sacred.
I have been an ardent student of the Bible for over forty-five years and I am currently in my fifty-third reading through the Scriptures. The issues raised in these two articles are nothing new, and the only reason I address them here is because those who are uninformed may be misled by them.
I cogently, albeit inductively, addressed the issue of textual corruption over the long period of translation over three years ago in an article entitled Providential Preservation (Christian Concepts, January 2015), the issue raised in the first article above.
I can’t address the twenty issues raised in this article in my brief response here, but I question the means they used to reach their conclusions.
The word “church” is first introduced in the Scriptures by Jesus in Matthew 16:18. It is an entirely New Testament term understood within the context of what Christ has said about it and His apostles. When one tries to draw an understanding of practices in the church based upon Levitical ceremonies of the Old Testament, while ignoring the historical context of each misleads readers.
It is nothing more than cherry-picking verses out of the Bible to create what is known in logic as a “straw-man argument.” That is, one makes up a weak argument that misrepresents the real issue so it can be easily refuted. Skeptics do it all the time when it comes to God’s Word, and simpleminded readers fall for it all the time. It’s a very popular tactic among critics of the Scriptures and those who read them.
The religious leaders in Jesus’ day questioned whether His teaching was from God. Jesus answered, “If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from Myself.” (John 7:17). The truth of whether the Scriptures are of God lies in what we experience when we do as God says, not an empty argument.
Some will accuse me of having “blind faith” in the Bible because I defend it here. I maintain there is a great difference between faith and blind faith; but to those who accuse me of having blind faith in the Bible I ask, what kind of faith is one exercising when one believes what critics say about the Bible?