The Tools Of Integrated-Apologetics Course 1.4.2
Analyzing Bible Difficulties
Dr. Johnson C. Philip & Dr. Saneesh Cherian
Chapter — 2
Common Sense About Difficulties In The Bible
Difficulties are bound to arise whenever a difficult subject is discussed. Since the Bible discusses numerous topics, many of which require spiritual discernment for proper understanding, difficulties are to be expected. In the previous chapter we saw the most common types of difficulties and the methods to solve those problems. However, no persons will ever be able to solve every problem that is put to them. This might cause much distress if apologists are not aware of this possibility. To prepare readers in this direction, we shall list some commonsense observations on difficulties in the Bible. These are termed "commonsense" comments because one does not need a theological background to understand the validity of these statements.
1–When Finite Humans Try To Understand The Infinite God And His Actions, Difficulties Are Bound To Arise: A certain minimum amount of intelligence and experience is necessary to understand any subject. What is easy for a doctor or an engineer to understand seems an impossible task for a unlearned person. A similar problem arises when finite humans try to understand the thoughts and deeds of the infinite God. There is no way in which humans can understand everything about God to their full satisfaction. If an uneducated labourer cannot understand the intricacies of Quantum Mechanics, then finite humans should never even dream of understanding everything about the infinite God. This, of course, does not preclude them in any way from gaining an understanding that is sufficient for living an abundant Christian life.
2–The Presence Of Difficulties Or Objections Does Not In Any Way Prove The Bible Untrue: Our understanding of the Bible is growing day by day. Many difficulties and problems which have, in the past, been there have vanished with this kind of development. However, our understanding of the Bible is not complete yet and therefore many problems still remain to be solved. Our past experience with the disappearance of problems shows that the presence of a few unsolved problems does not prove the Bible wrong. We must grant the necessary time to the Bible so that new light might be thrown on alleged difficulties.The past history of criticism of the Bible clearly shows two things:
(I)–Numerous objections have, from time to time, been raised against the Bible, and they seemed to completely destroy the credibility of this Book, but a good number of these difficulties have been solved with our growth in understanding, either of the Bible or of science. This implies that we should wait for some time before pronouncing every problem and difficulty as unsolvable.
(II)–The problems which have vanished from the scene had been due more to the misunderstanding or distortion of science than to the Biblical narratives. For example the currently popular Big-Bang theory is used by some to attack the creation narrative in Genesis. They forget that the Big-Bang is only a theory of science, and that it has not yet been elevated to a fact of science. Since it is only a theory, it might change or might even be abandoned in future. Something that is still as uncertain as this cannot be used legitimately to attack Genesis. This is a distortion of scientific and logical deduction.
3–All Views On Origin Present Problems And Difficulties: There are many views on the origins question, but ultimately all of them fall into two categories: supernatural and natural. No one has witnessed the origin of the universe in a laboratory, and therefore the view of origin accepted by any person is more a matter of faith and less of scientific observation. Both the above viewpoints have their own problems and difficulties, but the natural-origin view has the greatest odds against it.
According to the natural-origin view, the beginning and evolution of the universe has followed from the physics and chemistry of matter and energy. However, scientific studies during the past century have demonstrated that most of the fundamental laws of physics and chemistry preclude the possibility of natural evolution of the Universe and of the life in it. On the other hand, if people accept the Biblical view they face fewer difficulties. The alleged difficulties are being solved one after another. The sixty-six books of the Canon have an amazing unity. The historical, archaeological, scientific and prophetic accuracy of its books are being demonstrated every day. It has a life-changing power which is not seen in any other book or in any scientific procedure. Hence believers in the Bible face fewer problems of logic than believers in evolution do. It is wiser therefore to accept the divine view of origins than the natural view which is plagued with scientific problems.
4–Human Inability To Solve A Difficulty Does Not Imply That The Problem Is Unsolvable: The above statement represents a very common observation of life. When we face a problem for which we seem to arrive at no solution, we do not immediately conclude that the problem cannot be solved. Of course many jump to wrong kinds of conclusions occasionally, but most of the time people have the common sense to look objectively at the issues and conclude that inability to solve does not imply that it is impossible to solve the problem. Instead, it is better to wait for more information. The least that should be granted to the Bible, therefore, is a similar opportunity. If we seem to have no answer to a problem related to the Bible, we should be willing to wait for a justifiable amount of time before jumping to the conclusion that the problem cannot be solved. Unlike all other books the Bible has a greater claim to this kind of treatment because of its excellent track record. All kinds of problems have been raised against the Bible in the past millennia. This phenomenon has intensified in the past two hundred years, to such a level that today hundreds of books and articles come out every year with the sole aim of questioning something or other in the Bible. Yet, many of the problems which seemed incapable of solution a short time ago turned out to be trivial: discoveries in archeology, history, geography, language or science solved them. An honest inquirer should be willing to wait for a reasonable time when facing any kind of a problem. In the case of the Bible this is a must if a person is objective regarding past experiences with this Book.
5–The Apparent Problems In The Bible Become Negligible When They Are Honestly Compared With The Incomparable Excellencies Of The Bible: We have pointed out several times in this book that a few problems are definitely to be expected in the Bible. Even the most committed believers may not find answers to all the questions that come to mind. This is because of the divine nature of the Book, and also because of the prejudices and limitations of human understanding. However, no honest person can ignore the unusual power of this Book to change human lives. Uncountable wretched and wicked persons have been touched by this Book, and in an instant became new persons. There is no other book in the world which has infused or inspired people with new life or hope like this. This fact must always be given due weight when problems and difficulties in the Bible are considered. This in itself is enough to point out that the seeming problem might not be a problem at all if all the facts are available. If people are determined to spend all their time, energy and intelligence only to criticize the seeming difficulties in the Bible, many of which are trivial, while at the same time they overlook the incomparable life-giving aspects of this Book, it is more a deliberate or prejudiced attempt to distort the message of the Bible than a sincere doubt.
6–History Is Our Witness That The Alleged Difficulties Are Given Much More Weight By Superficial Readers Than By Serious Students Of Any Type: A careful examination of the output of people who speak and write frequently against the Bible shows that a good number of them know the Bible only superficially. Most of them have never read the Book even once in its entirety, and they do not have any idea of the history, geography, culture, language, or customs of Bible times and lands. Neither do many of them exhibit, in their studies, a desire to delve deeper. Interestingly, there are many people everywhere who show a greater respect for this Book simply because of the depth of their knowledge. These people are not all believers in the Bible, but they are serious students of the sciences, arts or humanities, and the depth that they have acquired in their respective subjects makes them recognize the manifold character and depth of the Bible. Serious students of any subject will know the value of depth in any kind of studies, and they will avoid occasions to criticize subjects about which they are ignorant. In the past there have been many occasions when critics tried to study either the whole Bible, or parts of it, in more depth. Interestingly, in most cases those critics turned into strong believers in the Bible. The story behind the novel BEN HUR should be known to every Christian. Its author was an infidel, who was challenged to disprove the historicity of the Lord Jesus and His miracles. This man was a genius, and he put all his talent into achieving this end. Gradually the undeniable truth of it all started to dawn on him, and eventually he became a believer in the Lord Jesus. BEN HUR is the story in which he gives expression to his discovery — that Lord Jesus was a historical person !! Shallow people always give great weight to supposed problems whereas well-informed people tend to be cautious in alleging that the Bible contains errors.
7–Many Problems Are Artificially Created By Propagandists And Do Not Have Their Origin In The Scriptures: From time to time every society goes through periods of hostility against and opposition to biblical truths. At such times forceful writers and speakers are able to influence people heavily against the Bible. They successfully sway people against the Bible through the weight of sheer propaganda. Effective propaganda bypasses all that really matters — truth, facts, analysis and rationality — by making a strong appeal to emotions. They manipulate people by playing upon human needs, interests, curiosities, loves, hates, prejudices, fears, lusts, cupidities and amusements. When these techniques are used to attack Biblical faith, the real issues are overlooked while non-issues dominate the air. The tone is emotional, not rational. Unless people understand this strategy of attack, they will not be able to see how propagandists devalue the Bible without any foundation. This subject is quite specialized and vast, and therefore it has elsewhere been treated in detail by the author.
8–Careful And Prayerful Study Will Resolve Many Difficulties: If people try to raise problems against the Bible merely with the aim of discrediting it, they will never arrive at a proper solution. They are already prejudiced against this Book and will not be able to see anything that opposes their own bias. But if a person approaches the Bible with the proper spirit, then many of the apparent difficulties will vanish one by one. However, NOT all the difficulties will ever disappear because humans are finite and limited creatures, while the Bible is the word of the infinite God. Also, our knowledge of the world is incomplete, and therefore some difficulties are bound to continue in those topics which touch upon history, geography, culture etc. However, for sincere seekers, a sufficient number of problems will be solved for them to trust the Bible confidently.
CONCLUSION
No one can solve all the problems in the Bible. But the way in which the alleged problems raised by one generation do become solved in the following generations shows that the Bible is an amazing book. Most of the problems and difficulties arise either because of human ignorance or rebellion. An honest inquirer has to accept that this Book has an amazing integrity which no one has ever been able to discredit. Serious study and investigation of any subject is bound to give rise to some problems and difficulties. In the case of Bible, the presence of difficulties is only natural because it is a divine Book which requires spiritual insight for a proper understanding. When finite humans try to understand the infinite God and His deeds, difficulties are bound to arise. Further, many of the people who study the Bible do so with motives of attacking it and it is natural for such people to come up with a good number of presumed or real difficulties. The presence of difficulties should not surprise anyone. On the contrary, the serious Bible student must be prepared to face the issues honestly.
Analyzing Bible Difficulties
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