This book is written from the standpoint of a believer. We live in a day when neutrality is demanded if one is to be taken seriously. However, when it comes to the Word of God, what does neutrality mean? Does one really suppose that they can sit on the fence of impartiality and judge the Word of God? It’s as ludicrous as the accused in the dock telling the judge he is an impartial observer and he will decide whether the prosecutor or defense is correct! No, we need to let the Word of God judge us.
The Holy Scriptures are divinely inspired. It doesn’t merely contain the Word of God, for it is the Word of God. Furthermore, I believe in the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures. That is to say, the very words are inspired, not just the thoughts. The Apostle Paul in writing to Timothy says: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Tim. 3:16). Notice that Paul says to Timothy, “all Scripture.” This includes, not just the New Testament (which was still being written), but also the Old. In Hebrews, the Apostle confirms this: “The Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that He had said before, This is the covenant that I will make” (Heb. 10:15, quoting Jer. 31:33). When we speak of inspiration, keep in mind that it does not remove the human element; for it is men who were inspired, men whose language and whose minds have been used.1 The Apostle Peter tells us how this came about: “The prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet. 1:21). As to how this so-called human element works with verbal inspiration, I don’t profess to know. Nevertheless, I believe it! This is not simply one being naïve. There are many things we can’t explain and yet we accept them.
As a divinely inspired book, we accept that the entire Bible is true. To suppose that God would be party to a book that was a mix of error and truth is an insult to God — and a lack of faith on our part. On the other hand, the transmission and reproduction of the text — having been left to the responsibility of man — we accept as being imperfect. Despite this, God is faithful, and when we consider the subject in more depth, we will see that we have every reason to be confident in the Word that we hold in our hands.
It is also important to recognize that the Bible is not an historic document to which men have attached a spiritual narrative. To the contrary, the spiritual message it conveys is first and foremost, and the history is secondary. As such, the historical record it contains is accurate though incomplete. Events to which men ascribe greatness may be inconsequential in God’s sight, and contrariwise, things of apparent insignificance may carry great weight with God. Of course, rationalism finds fault with this. So be it! Whenever man tries to dissect the Bible using the scalpel of rationalism, he succeeds in nothing but the mutilation of the book. I will close the subject of inspiration with a quote from C. H. Mackintosh: Rationalism deprives us of the only perfect standard of truth, and conducts us into a region of the most dreary uncertainty. It seeks to undermine the authority of the Book in which we can believe everything, and carries us into a field of speculation in which we can be sure of nothing. Under the dominion of rationalism the soul is like a vessel broken from its safe moorings in the haven of Divine revelation, to be tossed like a cork upon the wild, watery waste of universal skepticism. “The Bible; its sufficiency and supremacy,” should be engraved, in deep and broad characters, upon the tablet of our hearts.2
Part I: The Bible