Recently, someone I love very much mentioned that one of the reasons he doesn’t believe the Bible is because there are so many versions–which one is right? Today, we’re going to look at that.
In our last blog, we postulated that the Bible, as “True truth,” should be able to stand up against all scrutiny, historically, prophetically, doctrinally, ethically, and morally. And we are going to look at that, but first, we took a look at the agreement of the versions with each other
So, we took it as a hypothesis, and tested it (see below).* What did we find?
hypothesis = "a supposition or proposed explanation made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation" (Bing)
Hypothesis confirmed! The versions and randomly-picked verses were substantially equivalent.
So then, we are ready to move on to the propositions themselves.
In Acts 17:24-27, we see a historical proposition that is unique to the Bible. It is basically making a truth claim that God, not only created the earth, but strategically planned that various cultures and civilizations would exist where and when they did (including their living conditions, economies and the natural resources that would be at their disposal). That’s quite a claim. Yet, if you believe that Jesus is God, if you accept His claims about Himself, then these other claims are not a leap from logic.
truth claim "a hypothesis not yet verified by experience." (Dictionary.com)
In 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, we have a prophecy, which is a kind of a truth claim about the future, and this one is predicting an event called the “catching away,” or rapture. This, too, is not far-fetched if Jesus is indeed the all-powerful Son of God He claimed to be.
rapture = "When Christ returns, all of the elect who have died will be raised and transformed into a glorious state, along with the living elect, and then be caught up to be with Christ." (Catholic.com)
In 2 Timothy 3:16, we have a proposition that the Bible is not only useful, but trustworthy. Why? Because it is far from a collection of writings by smart, holy men. It claims to have been given, that is inspired of or “breathed” (from the Greek word, theópneustos) by God Himself.
In Romans 13:8-9, we see what probably is viewed axiomatically by most people, at least in Western Civilization, “He that loveth his neighbour, hath fulfilled the law.” In fact, the Broadway musical Les Miserables, based on the novel by Frenchman Victor Hugo, includes in one of its songs, the famous line:
“To love another person, is to see the face of God”
Jean Valjean
Another Scripture verse is Ephesians 5:11, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”
This moral proposition might be considered by many, including C.S. Lewis, as part of the Tao.
Tao = "traditional morality, moral law, the knowledge of right and wrong, virtue or the Way. We will call it the Natural Law." (Religion-online.org)
*See Bible Hypothesis Test details below:
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