Taking every thought captive for obedience to Christ (2 Corinthians 10.5)

The Question
Hasn’t science disproved the Bible? (3)
We’re dealing with a question believers sometimes hear. Usually it’s not asked seriously, but is merely thrown in our faces as a kind of “Says you!” Certain members of the scientific community have become persuaded that there’s no place for the Bible in the work of science. Indeed, those same outspoken critics would insist that teaching the Bible is a waste of time and can even be dangerous. These folks have gone beyond the view of Sportin’ Life, the scoundrel and skeptic in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, who sang, “It ain’t necessarily so./The things that you’re liable to read in the Bible,/well, it ain’t necessarily so.” Today’s self-assured skeptics declare, “It necessarily is so that science has disproved any need for the Bible.”

It’s that attitude we’re exploring, and that we want to be able to answer.

So far we’ve seen that science has not disproved the fact of the Bible. The Bible remains, generation after generation, one of the most widely distributed and consistently engaged facts of human experience. Ignoring or dismissing the Bible as some fluke of history or relic of a past benighted age simply won’t fly. As a fact, therefore, the Bible falls within the domain of scientific inquiry, up to a point (more on this point later). It should be neither dismissed nor disregarded, but studied carefully and continuously in order to discover what makes it such a resilient fact of our experience.

We’ve also seen that science has not disproved the textual and historical evidence supporting, and in large part, helping to explain the fact of the Bible. With so many copies available, from so close to the actual events; with such consistency between the thousands of complementary documents, in four different languages; and with corroborating testimony from archaeology, history, and early writers concerning the Bible’s reliability, it seems rather unscientific to dismiss the Bible.

We can also confidently respond to this question by reminding the one who asks it that science has not disproved the uniqueness of the Bible. The Bible has been, remains, and always will be a Book unique in the annals of human history. Let me explain.

First, the Bible is unique as to its provenance. The 66 books of the Bible were written or compiled over a period of some 1500 years. They include contributions by people from different walks of life – prophets, farmers, kings, liturgists, fishermen, civil servants, and even a scholar and a physician. Each of these authors, however, explains his work not as some original contribution to human knowledge, but as a gift received from God by mysterious but consistent means of revelation. The claim of Scripture to have come from God, through the agency of God’s self-revelation and His Spirit, is consistent throughout the pages of the Bible. This uniqueness as to the origins of the Bible is further underscored by its 40 or so authors having composed their contributions in three languages – Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek – and having written on three different continents – Africa, Asia, and Europe. For the most part, these authors did not know one another personally.

Second, the Bible is unique as to its compositionand content. The Bible is a very human book, even though one that claims to be of divine provenance. Its books represent a wide range of literary genre – history, biography, legal texts, drama, poetry, song, sermons, and visionary or apocalyptic writing. The forms of literature people have used throughout the ages to express their views or to pursue their interests can be found within the pages of Scripture, thus helping to account for the Bible’s wide and persistent appeal.

As to its content, the Bible speaks to the concerns, interests, and needs of human beings. The Bible is about the life of the mind and the affections. It offers guidance concerning relationships, work, economics, government, the arts, community life, cosmology, and, of course, the spiritual needs of human beings. The authors of Scripture speak directly into everyday human thoughts, feelings, actions, and commitments, providing insights on how the world works, which have no parallel in human letters.

The Bible is unique with respect to its structure as well. One might think that an anthology such as I have described would be hard to weave together into a single, seamless narrative. But this is precisely what we find in the Bible. The books, stories, and teachings of the Bible all fit into an overarching theme, God’s covenant with His creation, and thus add, in their own way and time, to an ongoing narrative that wraps itself around three primary themes: the glory of God as the supreme good, the people of God who glorify Him, and the redemption of God by which He makes His people His own.

Finally – and I am being deliberately brief in all this – the Bible is unique as to its purpose. The purpose of Scripture is to reveal God, especially through Jesus of Nazareth, as Creator, Lord, and Redeemer of the world. Every book, story, and page of the Bible contributes to this end, sometimes clearly and undeniably, at other times obliquely, telling the story of Jesus truly, but slant.

The Bible is unique a se. If no one ever read the Bible, if no one ever testified – as untold millions have, from every age, culture, and place in life – of the great importance of the Bible, and of its restorative and edifying contribution to their lives, the Bible would remain an altogether unique Book, sui generis and a nonpareil among all the world’s literature.

No amount of scientific harrumphing or hubris can change this fact.

For reflection
1.      As you read the Bible, how conscious are you of its overarching themes and message – and not just your own interests or needs? Explain.

2.      How do the unique features of the Bible help to support its claim as being the Word of God?

3.      Do the nonbelievers in your Personal Mission Field understand how unique the Bible is?

Next steps: Create an opportunity this week to talk with an unbelieving friend about why you think the Bible is so important. Be sure to talk about its uniqueness.

T. M. Moore

Our book, Kingdom Documents, helps in outlining the uniqueness of Scripture by describing its various parts and how they relate to one another. You can order a copy by clicking here.

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