Most of the complaints about the Bible have been answered a long time ago. Its critics have not generally discovered anything that was not brought up AND ANSWEREDin the last century. John W. Haley’s Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible provides a thorough answer to just about any problem an infidel raises in a tract such as The Bible Is God’s Word? Many of Mr. McKinsey’s attacks are superficial or even silly (as noted last week); occasionally, some of them require some thought and research. Below are the rest of his objections to the Bible’s being the inspired Word of God.
15. “Heaven is supposed to be a perfect place. Yet it experienced a war (Rev. 12:7). How can there be a war in a perfect place and if it happened before why couldn’t it happen again?” What Scripture says that heaven has always been a perfect place? It has always been a spiritual place, and the angels God created dwelled there. But, just as man has been given free will, so have the angels–they chose to be obedient to their Creator or to rebel against Him. When Satan decided to challenge God, it furnished the opportunity for all the angels to make a decision–to remain with their Creator or desert to follow a creature who maligned God and promised them something better than heaven itself.
At the end of this world, however, God will forever separate good and evil. Those who have chosen God will be delighted with their reward (they will not repudiate their choice); those who exercised their free will to rebel will forever dwell in the darkness which they craved. They will have their own realm and be totally separated from the God they denied and from all of His blessings.
16. “Believers are told in Mark 16:17-18 that they can drink ‘any deadly thing’ and ‘it shall not hurt’ them.” The answer to this “problem” lies in correctly interpreting the passage by observing that this promise was only made to the apostles (for a fuller treatment of the text, see “Bible Bashing (2): Blindness,” published on September 20th). No reports have ever come in that the apostles were poisoned; this promise was kept.
17. “We are told salvation is obtained by faith alone (John 3:18, 36) yet Jesus told a man to follow the Commandments–Matt. 19:16-18 (saving by works)–if he wanted eternal life.” Being obedient unto God has always been part of God’s plan–in any age. Nowhere does John 3:18 or any other verse of Scripture say that people are saved by “faith only.” They speak of being saved by faith, but never “faith only.” Our atheistic author should press this point with Baptists and other Calvinists, since they are the ones who teach the false, “faith only” doctrine.
18. “According to the text there are 29 cities listed in Joshua 15:21-32 (RSV). One need only count them to see that biblical math is not to be trusted. The total is 36.” What dedication atheists possess to read a text full of cities and count them to be sure the total is correct. But does the atheist not know that the writer could count what he had written, also? He would have to be really dull not to notice his discrepancy. The fact is that seven of the 36 (RSV) were cities listed later as belonging to Simeon (Joshua 19:1-6). Knowing that fact in advance, the writer listed the cities as they were originally assigned, but gave the number for the final tally.
19. “Surely you don’t believe Eccl. 1:9 RSV (‘What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun’)? How many cities had an atomic bomb dropped on them prior to 1945, and how many people walked on the moon before 1969?” Why stop there? Why not mention planes, trains, and automobiles?
The writer is not affirming that there would not be any new discoveries or inventions–that there was nothing new to learn; if anyone knew the potential in these matters, it would be the world’s wisest man. Solomon is referring to the basic fundamental laws of this world. The sun rises and sets each day; the wind patterns follow their usual courses; rivers run into the sea; evaporation occurs, and the cycle repeats itself. That does not mean there cannot be interruptions, such as volcanoes, tornadoes, etc., but everything that God set in motion continues to function.
But nothing in the fleshly world can really satisfy the needs of mankind; observing this world only can lead one to draw the cynical conclusions that Solomon does–that all is vanity under the sun. No matter what knowledge we gain–even putting a man on the moon–how does such help make us better people or satisfy the spiritual needs we have? True value lies in Solomon’s conclusion: “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecc. 12:13).
20. “If the Bible is our moral guide, then how can it make pornographic statements such as. . .” are found in the King James Version of 2 Kings 18:27? “Is that what you want your children reading on Sunday?” The first question the reader should ask is, “Why did Mr. McKinsey suddenly switch to the King James, after consistently citing the RSV?” The reason is that the word the King James translators used for “urine” is one that is now considered vulgar. What he is obligated to show is that the word was considered vulgar at the time of the King James translation. Even then he would only have an indictment against the translators, not the Holy Spirit who used a Hebrew word to convey the concept.
Frequently, the Bible is charged with being pornographic because of its use of words that describe bodily functions or such things as its references to rape, incest, adultery, and fornication. However, the mention of such things does not fit any usual definition of the writings or pictures termed “pornographic.” There are no lurid descriptions of any immoralities mentioned in the Bible. Accounts of sin are matter-of-fact, plain, and brief. The purpose for their being in the Book is not to arouse people or urge them to imitate the things that are clearly condemned. According to the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, pornography is that which is “intended to excite lascivious feelings” (1021), which meaning most already know. The pornography charge against the Bible is absurd.
21. “If God created everything. . .then he did create the world’s evil (Isa. 45:7, Lam. 3:38). Thus, he is responsible.” God is only responsible in the sense that He gave created beings free will. The evil being spoken of in the two verses cited above refers to judgment brought upon evil people. Note that McKinsey did not use the RSV for this passage, either. Various translations use “woe” or “calamity.” Thus, he is dishonest once again, giving the reader the impression that God introduced and is responsible for evil.
Actually, it was mankind that let evil into this world by means of disobedience. The sins and miseries of this world are our fault, not God’s. If this were not bad enough, man became more and more enthralled with sin, which led to the flood and even worse catastrophes for us. Tornadoes, hurricanes, volcanoes, floods, tsunamis, and other destructive forces resulted from the flood; they ought to be called “acts of man” instead of “acts of God,” because our thorough saturation of sin led to their creation (Gen. 7:11).
22. “In Psalm 139:7-11 we are told God is everywhere. If so, why would he need to come down to earth to see a city (Gen. 11:5) when he is already here? And how could Satan leave the presence of the Lord (Job 1:12; 2:7)?”
The Bible often uses accommodative, anthropomorphic language. God is Spirit, but is described as having eyes, ears, hands, etc. These things are not intended to be understood literally; neither is Genesis 11:5. God is pictured as being in the heavens–above the earth, above mankind. He does not literally dwell above the physical earth in the outer atmosphere somewhere. Such confuses the physical creation with a spiritual Being. The idea conveyed is that of position; God is above us in every respect (Isa. 55:8-9).
The description regarding Satan also involves the use of this accommodative language. We do not understand the spiritual realm, since we are physical creatures with numerous limitations. Although Satan could not remove himself entirely from the presence of God, there was a sense in which he could depart God’s immediate presence. In eternity, Satan will be completely removed from the presence of God.
24. The last item on McKinsey’s list involves Acts 20:35. He wants to know how Paul could attribute “It is more blessed to give than to receive” to Jesus when no verse records Jesus as having made such a statement. This one is not too difficult to answer. The fact is that we do not have everything recorded that Jesus ever said. His ministry appears to have lasted three years, but only about 40 days of his entire life are recorded. We know He did many more miracles than are recorded (John 21:25). Are some of His crucial teachings lost then? No, God has preserved what is essential to our salvation.
23. For space purposes this one was saved for last. “For justice to exist, punishment must fit the crime. No matter how many bad deeds one commits in this world, there is a limit. Yet, hell’s punishment is infinitely greater.” Only an atheist could make this argument. One who trusts in God, who believes in His justice, who knows of His great love, could not make such a charge. Only one who does not believe what the Scriptures teach would have the audacity to tell the God he does not believe in that He is unjust because he does not conform to human standards. What this essentially amounts to is, “I don’t think God should be this way; so he is not this way.”
Tell us, Mr. Atheist, how bad is sin, if you know? You only believe in the material world; so how are you going to define a spiritual concept? Furthermore, how will you arrive at the correct punishment for sin? You are trying to draw comparisons from this physical world and apply them to a realm you know nothing about (and do not even believe exists). Has it occurred to you that the two may not be parallel?
Besides, why are you complaining? You have no desire to have any connection with God. You despise the very idea. Your life is spent avoiding every semblance of Deity. You must shrink from singing or even listening to spiritual songs which praise God. Certainly, you never engage in Bible study–unless it would be to find flaws in God’s holy Word. And the microscope you examine it under is defective, since it never lets you see the proofs of its inspiration–only alleged discrepancies. You probably don’t want to be around Christians–unless they are willing to remain quiet about their faith. You have no interest in prayer.
In short, you are spending your life disassociating yourself from God; so why should you complain about hell? You will simply be granted your wish. God will not be there. No one will sing His praises there. Isn’t hell the Paradise you always wanted–the complete absence of God or anything to do with him? Yes, and the duration is not just a few paltry years. You won’t EVER have to be worried about being bothered again! True, the fire and the torment sound a trifle unpleasant, but the essence of hell is that God won’t be there (2 Thess. 1:8).
Why don’t we let someone who knows something about punishment inform us? “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Hell is the appropriate punishment for those who choose to reject God. Jesus knew that the penalty for sin was so great that He was willing to pay the price (separation from the Father on the cross) to keep us from paying it throughout eternity. That demonstration of Divine love convinces us that 1) hell exists (or Jesus would not have agreed to take our punishment), 2) that it is a just punishment, 3) that people who choose it will be granted their yearning of God’s absence, and 4) if we were smart, we would take advantage of the blood Jesus shed for the forgiveness of our sins.
In other words, man’s understanding of spiritual matters is limited by Divine revelation, since such concepts cannot be naturally discerned. We cannot say that God is unjust in punishing the ungrateful and rebellious in hell because we have no expertise in or familiarity with such matters. God is just, and all will agree on the day of judgment that the punishment fits. Now is the time to choose life.
None of the alleged problems in the Bible presented by Mr. McKinsey are sufficient to make us question its inspiration. He, however, has rejected it. Those who keep its lofty precepts make fine husbands and wives, good citizens, helpful neighbors, and inspiring examples for others to follow. Those who follow the morals and ethics taught in the Word of God cause no problems to others, but rather bring joy to them. What does the atheist have to offer people that is in any way superior to these benefits to humanity?