Responding to Modern-Day Sadducees

Today’s article is taken from a new blog I discovered through the Fellowship of Christian Bloggers. It’s called History for the Christian Faith, and is a companion blog to Science for the Christian Faith.  Rick Habecker is a former TV crime reporter who became a private investigator.

There’s no key verse today, but instead allusions to many, many verses you will recognize. This information is very practical, and I hope you will allow these principles to become part of you so that you can respond to the modern-day Sadducees that we inevitably encounter.  While the text appears below as always, you’re encouraged to click the title to read at source.

Modern Sadducees & Taking the Holy Bible Literally

Even 2000 years ago there were those who declared portions of God’s law shouldn’t be taken literally.  They were the counterparts to today’s Liberal Protestants.  Who were they?  Why they were the infamous Sadducees!

They ran things in the Temple.  They were the money changers, wealthy and corrupt.  They outwardly hated the Romans but secretly cut deals with them.  They had a low view of the Hebrew Bible accepting only the parts of it they watered down.  They questioned or rejected the writings of the prophets.  They had a secret admiration for Greek philosophy.  In short they were the rationalist, liberal theologians of their day.  They didn’t believe in miracles, the virgin birth, the Christ’s resurrection, nor in angels, the Holy Spirit, or Hell.

Like the Sadducees modern day Liberal Protestants, or Pseudo Christians, teach that the bible is filled with myths.  They deny the infallibility of scripture and in effect undercut the authority of the Gospel they say they believe. They reject that Hell is eternal, or that non-believers will go there.  They promote universalism believing there are many ways to paradise which leads to things like abortion and homosexuality.

Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, despised and condemned them then as He will do to all like them now.  Don’t be caught dead siding or following anyone who calls or implies that God is a liar or believing their answer to the question: “Should we take the Holy Bible literally?”

Below are a few of the dominate criticisms to the word of God with all responses from Dr. Curt D. Daniel, pastor of Faith Bible Church, of Springfield, Illinois, faithbibleonline.net

“The Bible contains many errors. It is neither infallible nor inerrant.” But: Jesus said, “Thy Word is truth” (John 17:17) and “Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35).  The Bible testifies of its own essential truth. “The sum of Thy Word is truth” (Psa. 119:160). “Thou art God and Thy Words are truth” (2 Sam. 7:28).  It is the Word of “God who cannot lie” (Tit. 1:2).  Every Word of God is pure (Psa. 12:6), and “Thy Word is very pure” (Psa. 119:140).  It is “the Word of truth” (Psa. 119:43; 2 Cor. 6:7; 2 Tim. 2:15).  “Thy Word is true from the beginning”, that is, from eternity (Psa. 119:160).   It is purer than refined gold (Psa. 18:30, 19:8, 10; 2 Sam. 22:31).  God says of His Bible, “These words are faithful and true” (Rev. 21:5).  It is infallible and inerrant in all areas, earthly as well as spiritual (John 3:12). To deny the inherent truth and inerrancy of Scripture is to call God a liar (I John 5:12). Those who do are the liars.

“The Bible contradicts itself.” But: Truth never contradicts truth. There are many paradoxes and mysteries in Scripture (e.g., Mark 8:35; John 11:25-26), but not a single contradiction, either in doctrine, history or principle. God is a God of order, not confusion (I Cor. 14:33). Contradiction is confusion. Liberals are in mental confusion because they contradict Scripture and imagine contradictions in the Bible.

“The Bible contains myths, sagas, legends and fairy tales.  We need to de-mythologize the Bible”. But Christianity would be the true religion even if all of its teachings were non-historical myths.” But: This is the very heart of Liberalism, what Gordon Clark exposed as “doctrine without facts.” Scripture itself warns against myths (I Tim. 1:4, 4:7; Tit. 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16). Scripture contains no myths or other such lore. It is all historically true. If it were not, then we would be hopelessly lost in our sins (I Cor. 15). Liberalism is the real mythology and we need to remove it from us.

“The Bible is a collection of old campfire stories told by old Jewish nomads,- retold and reshaped for centuries until someone wrote them down in a form vaguely resembling the original story.” But: The Bible nowhere teaches such nonsense. It is a total fabrication and romantic skepticism. The idea of “campfire stories” is that of myths and legends. Scripture also warns against “old wives’ tales” (I Tim. 4:7) – the gender equivalent of old men’s campfire stories. Instead, God spoke through dreams, visions and even angels (Heb. 1:1-2), not through the superstitious ramblings of desert nomads. By contrast, Liberal theories closely resemble those tall tales.

“The use of the Bible as the final authority is bibliolatry (book-worship).” But: All theories are to be tested by Scripture and Scripture alone (I Thess. 5:21). The Bereans were commended for this (Acts 17:11).  Jesus Himself appealed to the Bible as the final authority of truth (Matt 4, 22:29; John 10:35).  There is no higher authority than God.  Since Scripture is the Word of God, it alone is the highest authority to which we can appeal. “Thus saith the Lord” and “It is written” settle a matter.  The Bible is no “paper pope”, as Liberals scoff.  It is the Word of God.

“The Bible contains the Word of God, but is not the Word of God itself.” But: This is not taught in the Bible.  The Bible says that it is the Word of God, not merely contains it.  A cup can contain coffee without being coffee.  The very nature of Scripture is that it is the very Word of God, not the word of Man (cf. I Thess. 2:13).

“The Bible becomes the Word of God when we believe it.” But: Scripture does not say that it “becomes” the Word of God.  It is already the Word of God whether anyone believes in it or not.  We merely need faith and illumination to believe what it already is (cf. Rom. 10:17; Eph. 1:17-18).  But our faith cannot make it what it is not already by nature.

“The Bible bears witness to the Word of God, but is not the Word of God itself.” But: This too is not what Scripture says about itself.  The Bible is God’s Word!  Liberals often say that God’s “saving acts in history” are alone the Word-of God, to which the Bible witnesses.  It is correct that in these special acts and miracles, God communicates to Man. But they are not verbal communication. Scripture alone is the verbal Word of God and takes precedence even over miracles (Luke 16:31).

“Jesus, not the Bible, is the Word of God.” But: It is not a matter of either/or but both/and: Jesus is the personal, incarnate Word of God (John 1:1, 14; Rev. 19:13).  But Jesus Himself also referred to the Bible as the Word of God (Matt. 4:4; John 10:35, 17:17). Jesus testified to Scripture, and in turn Scripture testifies to Jesus (Luke 24:44, 46; Acts 10:43; John 5:46).  Liberals would reject both testimonies.

“The Bible is ‘a Word of God’ together with preaching.” But: Only the inspired preaching of the prophets and apostles could ever be considered ‘a Word of God’ comparable to Scripture, and even then they based their preaching on special divine revelation. We do not receive this direct divine revelation any more (cf. Heb. 1:1-2), and so our preaching is qualitatively different from Scripture. It is used by God only insofar as it is faithful to the message of Scripture. Liberal preaching is not even that.

Christianity Isn’t Afraid of Questions

^{NIV Ecc.  12:9} Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. ¹⁰ The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.

Today’s reading comes from The Catch, the blog of author and musician John Fischer, where it appeared originally under the title The improbable Truth.  John ends with a quote from The Message Bible where “the teacher” is translated as “the quester.”  Christianity isn’t afraid of questions.

Has it ever made anyone curious why the Bible questions its own answers? Take the book of Ecclesiastes, for instance — twelve chapters dedicated to the propagation of the meaninglessness of life. And this is not just the author having a bad hair day. This is an investment of a wise king’s entire life seeking the meaning of his existence. Every attempt to answer the big question is meticulously pursued, and with all the resources to make it legitimate. If Solomon wanted to pursue wealth, he had wealth to exceed the richest kings at the time. If he wanted to pursue pleasure, he had thousands of concubines at his bidding. And in his pursuit of wisdom, his wisdom was unparalleled in human history.

King Solomon was no armchair philosopher. He had the opportunity to try out each one of his solutions, and every time he came up with the same conclusion: “Meaningless, meaningless… Everything is meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). And even when he does concede, in the end, that the only reasonable thing to do is to fear God and keep His commandments, it’s not like he’s ready to celebrate this final discovery (Ecclesiastes 12:13). In fact, it reads like a resignation. You finish this book and you want to go, “When’s the next Tony Robbins seminar? I need some cheering up!”

Actually, the fact that Ecclesiastes is in the Bible does two things for me. First, it gives me confidence that the rest of the Bible is true. If Christianity were a construct of the human mind, you wouldn’t find this stuff in its portfolio, that’s for sure. What propaganda features differing views? Who includes the opposing arguments in their literature, and even makes them look good? And yet the Bible declares life meaningless, it shows bad people having a good time and good people having a miserable time. The hero of the whole book dies a brutal death in the end, for heaven’s sake, and then He calls His followers to come and die with Him! Well, whoopee! Where do I sign up? I’m sorry, but to all those who say someone made up Christianity, I have to say, based on what? Certainly nothing I know of in human nature.

Secondly, it makes me look more deeply into things. Maybe the reason following Christ doesn’t magically make this life a party is because there is something more than this life to consider. And maybe Solomon was so old and spent by the time he finally got to it that he couldn’t really enjoy what was enjoyable about what he found. And maybe, just maybe, the reason God put his story there was for us to benefit from his life’s search, take his word for it, and start living where he left off.
_______________________

Besides being wise himself, the Quester also taught others knowledge. He weighed, examined, and arranged many proverbs. The Quester did his best to find the right words and write the plain truth.

The words of the wise prod us to live well. They’re like nails hammered home, holding life together. They are given by God, the one Shepherd.

But regarding anything beyond this, dear friend, go easy. There’s no end to the publishing of books, and constant study wears you out so you’re no good for anything else. The last and final word is this:

Fear God.
Do what he tells you.

Ecclesiastes 12:9-13 (The Message)

When Bible Verses are Coupled

I have to confess that I’ve always read this verse:

1 Peter 3:15
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect

In the light of this verse:

Luke 12:11-12
“When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”

But then on the weekend I was reading the former verse and realized I was reading it as “always be ready,” when in fact it is saying, “always be prepared.” These verses may find themselves coupled into the same sermon — and rightly so — but they are dealing with two very different things.

Being prepared requires preparation.

As someone who has spent the majority of his time in an Evangelical environment, I know that sometimes we tend to “wing it.” Some Evangelicals, Pentecostals and Charismatics even abhor the idea of printed prayers or scripted sermons.

Make no mistake, there is a time for that. The second passage indicates that when you are suddenly thrust into the spotlight; when you suddenly find yourself defending your faith; in those times you have to lean on the Holy Spirit for supernatural help.

This happens to me in my particular ministry. People arrive without warning and I am suddenly in the middle of a conversation that I had no forewarning about even thirty seconds previous. At those times I have to breathe a quick, silent prayer, “Holy Spirit help me.”

Actually that’s the short version. The long version is, “Holy Spirit help me to say only what you want said, and not to say anything that is of me. Help me not to get in the way and screw things up!”

But even those situations are grounded in preparation that has taken place before. It involves study, for sure; but that study will be motivated by a passion for the subject matter at hand; a passion for the unknown, potential person with whom you might share any given insight.

That passion is often missing among Christ-followers. In our town, we’re currently having a series of five “discussions” with the atheist and agnostic community. Several of them have come, and there are many people there from the organizing committee and what you might call the host church (even though they’re using a public space). But there are entire churches not represented at all; and without being too judgmental, it disturbs me that there isn’t one person in those churches who would turn up out of passion for apologetics.

I can’t finish unpacking the I Peter passage however without underlining that it says, “do this with gentleness and respect.” I think of some of the people who gain much U.S. media attention who have missed this whole aspect of witness. You have to display a loving kindness and a respect toward the people you want to reach. It’s not about winning an argument, and even if it were, nobody wins a debate based on the volume of their words.

In this case, it’s more about the gentleness of their spirit.

~PW

Hank Hanegraaff Answers Your Questions

^{(NIRV) I Peter 3:15} But make sure in your hearts that Christ is Lord. Always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you about the hope you have. Be ready to give the reason for it. But do it gently and with respect.

Not everybody agrees with Hank, and Hank doesn’t agree with everybody. So that makes a rather perfect symmetry. But he does his job well, as an author, as host of the Bible Answer Man radio show,  as President of Christian Research Institute,  and considered one of the foremost conservative Evangelical Christian apologists. 

Apologetics in Action

I could write pages and pages about apologetics, but unless you have seen a skilled apologist in action, you don’t really know what it is.

First of all, apologetics is not evangelism, but it may be a thread that runs through evangelism. In the example below, Tony Miano shares with a student. In many ways, Tony is guiding and leading the conversation.

In apologetics, the other person is guiding or leading the conversation; it is the non-Christian that is asking the questions or making the challenge. There is no time for advance preparation in the sense of knowing ahead of time where the dialog is going, but there is perhaps a greater need for preparation of the broadest type. Ravi Zacharias takes questions from the widest mix of people — you can order his Q&A sessions online — and in this particular case, answers questions from Muslim university students.

The body of Christ needs people following both callings. But every Christian is called to always be ready to give an account for those who ask you concerning the hope within you. Or as the NLT has it

^{I Peter 3:15} Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. ^(NLT)

Today’s question: Where does your greater calling  lie, as an evangelist or an apologist?