“I knew that the cross was simultaneously, the point of greatest suffering, the point of death and transformation, and the symbolic centre of the world”
Jordan Peterson, 12 Rules for Life
“Who is Jordan Peterson?” you may ask.
The New Yorker magazine calls him, “one of the most influential—and polarizing—public intellectuals in the English-speaking world” (as a matter of fact, he’s actually a Canadian professor).
I, myself, am only just learning about Peterson, but so far I find him to be one of the most interesting, engaging, and provocative speakers of our generation
He clearly points out the overall positive effect that Christianity has had on the world, writing: “Christianity elevated the individual soul, placing slave and master, commoner and nobleman alike on the same metaphysical footing, rendering them equal before God and the law. It’s nothing short of a miracle.” Yet, he does not claim to be a Christian, nor to believe that the Bible is true.
The obvious question, then, seems like it should be, Is it?
I think it is. Why?
- I have chosen to believe that Jesus is who He said He was.
- Remember that C.S. Lewis wrote: “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell.”
- Matthew 26:63-68, where the high priest accuses Jesus of blasphemy for saying He was the Messiah
- Jesus considered the Bible to be the “Word of God.”
- John 10:35, where Jesus said that the Hebrew “Scriptures”could not be “broken”(the Greek word translated here as “broken” is lyō , which Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines as “to annul, subvert; to do away with; to deprive of authority.”
- The New Testament was written by Jesus’ friends and relatives and people who knew them personally.
- What I find very compelling about these writings is that they often include many instances of Jesus “apostles” doing many uncomplimentary things.
Accepting Jesus as the long-awaited Jewish Messiah (and therefore, the Christ) allows one to find the epistemology, ontology, and even the cosmology of the Bible to be clearly stated, understandable, and comprehensive.
The Bible as “True truth” should be able to stand up against all scrutiny, historically, prophetically, doctrinally, ethically, and morally.
- In The Historical Reliability of the Old Testament, British Bible scholar, Kenneth A. Kitchen, defends the historicity of the Old Testament.
- And in Archaeology and the New Testament, the author tells us that, “Archaeology has played a major role in determining the trustworthiness of the Bible… One of the greatest archaeologists…wrote:
‘I began with a mind unfavorable to it [Acts], …but more recently I found myself often brought into contact with the Book of Acts as an authority for the topography, antiquities, and society of Asia Minor. It was gradually borne in upon me that in various details the narrative showed marvelous truth.’
St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen, By Sir William Mitchell Ramsay, 1896
Simon Peter, a man who knew Jesus well, often considered the leader of the early church, once wrote:
“For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
2 Peter 1:20
This is actually from a very interesting portion of the New Testament:
“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 1:16-21
So what problem are you having with the Bible? If you believe in Christ, but not the Bible, then why?