In Defense of the World’s Most Loved and Hated Book

When someone denigrates the Bible, I defend it, but I’ve always done so knowing that fighting that battle is not a hill upon which we should die.

The Bible is the instruction book for the godly. God gave it to us to be a lamp for our feet and a light for our path (see Psalm 119:105). While the world walks in darkness, through the Scriptures our path is clearly illuminated—both in this life and in the life to come.

The unsaved don’t see the truths we see. To them, the things of the Spirit God are nothing but foolishness:

“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

So it should be expected that this world would speak of the Bible disparagingly rather than outrightly accepting it as the inspired Word of God.

The early Church didn’t spend time contending with sinners about the validity of the Bible.  One reason for this was because the New Testament hadn’t been compiled, nor had it been printed—because there was no such thing as the printing press, and most people couldn’t read. Neither did they contend about the validity of the Old Testament. They simply quoted it, and let it stand on its own authority.

What then did the early Church contend for?  It was for the gospel. Both their mission and their passion was the proclamation of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is what we should passionately preach and defend.

“While the world walks in darkness, through the Scriptures our path is clearly illuminated—both in this life and in the life to come.”

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I recently heard a well-known atheist say that anyone with the intellect of William Shakespeare (or even “a bit little dumber”), could have written the Bible. His ignorance was amazing, so I produced a YouTube video in defense of the Bible—but one with an important caveat.

Here’s what I said:

“[In defense of the Scriptures], we could talk about the marvelous wisdom of Solomon, the amazing comfort of the Psalms, the unprecedented and breathtaking brilliance of the Sermon on the Mount, the utter uniqueness of the life of Jesus given to us in the four gospels, or the words of the prophets who spoke of history before it came into being.

“We could also talk about the Bible’s specifics regarding our origins, the clear explanation of the existence of suffering, disease, and death, the amazing thread of continuity of hundreds of messianic prophecies, its constant warning of the Day of Judgment Day, the giving of the Ten Commandments—which, four thousand years later are still the basis of civil and criminal law.

“We could mention the Bible’s remarkable preservation down through the ages despite the hatred of evil men, its complete history of the Jewish nation…and of course its immutable promise of everlasting life.

“We could add the fact that the Scriptures say how God has hidden these things from the proud and arrogant heart, and revealed them to babes. But we won’t. Instead, let’s take heed to the wise words of Charles Spurgeon. He said,

‘Defend the Bible! I would as soon, defend a lion.’

“We don’t need to defend God’s Word. It can take care of itself against pseudo intellectuals, who take great delight in deceiving the hearts of the simple.

“Instead, we should continue to do what Jesus told us to do.  To go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature (see Mark 16:15). So don’t be distracted from this divine commission, because it’s the gospel that is the power of God to salvation. It’s the means by which God brings lost and dying sinners out of darkness into light.”