A letter to the editor appeared in this morning’s paper and was headed “Difficulties with the Bible“.
It read as follows:

I attend church regularly but can’t accept parts of the Bible. I’m told I should do so. Can someone assist me? Three ministers have failed to give clear answers. One refused to even try.

My difficulties are with:

~ Lot’s offer to the men of Sodom that they were welcome to use his daughters rather than his male guests;
~ Anyone smiting his father should be put to death;
~ If a son be rebellious he shall be stoned to death;
~ Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live;
~ If two men fight and one’s wife tries to help by taking hold of one by the “secrets”, she shall have her hand cut off.

My adult children call this a load of rubbish. Fundamentalist Christians call it the word of God. How can I explain to my family that going to church is important to me and persuade them to return to the Christian faith?

It is not surprising that people have become sceptics. A lot of what is generally believed (but falsely so) about God, and about what is written in the Bible, is not actually believable. Often it makes far more sense not to believe it. Then on top of that, some of what really is found in the Bible creates difficulties caused simply by a gross lack of knowledge. It is like expecting someone to understand the workings of calculus when they have not yet been taught basic arithmetic.

Instead of understanding that God created us in His own image, a great many people go off the rails by reversing the idea and trying to create God in their own image instead. How often have you heard “I don’t believe God would do that!” or “I wouldn’t, therefore I don’t think God would either!” ? The misconceptions that people devise usually ignore and deny a great deal of what God has revealed about Himself. They come close to the human creation of a false god instead. One would be quite right not to believe in an errant inadequate image of God, one that did not truthfully match God’s revelation of Himself. Mistaking the misconception for the real thing justifies the lack of belief, but the ignorance of one’s own error often puts an end to further inquiry.

After disbelieving a false image of God, having presumed it to be the real thing, the next compounding error is to quote odd Bible verses out of context, or to be so vague as in “Doesn’t the Bible say something about…?” and “I thought that..” and “I’m sure it says somewhere that…” that no critical thinking seems apparent at all.

Then I commonly hear the advice given as a supposed solution to doubt “but you need to have faith”. The assumption is that faith is blind, that it takes the place of real evidence, that it is irrational and unreasonable therefore somehow fits, and that it accepts as true what simply cannot be true. Fortunately that is not the case. The Greek word for “faith” as used in the New Testament is “pistis“. As a noun, pistis is a word that was used as a technical rhetorical term for forensic proof - as in real hard evidence! One does not need “blind faith” and the faith spoken of is certainly not blind - far from it. To follow up on this click here.

Then comes those questions like the ones up above. They arise out of a pure lack of knowledge. Yes, there are proper answers for each of them and if the writer is correct in saying that three ministers she asked were unable to answer them, it is really not one bit surprising that people walk away from Christianity calling it “a load of rubbish”. Having just read of a pastor who said that he was not really looking forward to heaven as he thought it would be boring, sitting around on clouds and playing a harp all day, I can quite well believe the writer’s experience. Where in the Bible did that pastor discover that bizarre image? Nowhere. It is a cultural creation, not a true Biblical one. To hear that from just anyone is one thing, but from a Christian pastor it is really quite shocking.

The problem is the lack of teaching in matters of our faith. There is a huge degree of Biblical illiteracy not just among the general public, but among church-going Christians as well. On top of that, there is a lack of theological knowledge - not just what the Bible says, but a knowledge of “background” to give a proper understanding of the context and meaning as well. Fortunately, there is considerable Christian apologia available that provides a substantial case for the Gospel message, and answers to questions such as those above. Look to the left-hand side-bar of this page and there you will see links to many good websites providing this knowledge. As C.S. Lewis wrote in Surprised by Joy, “A young man who wishes to remain a sound aetheist cannot be too careful of his reading.” That comment back in 1955 was made well before there was any Internet for the easy proliferation of knowledge. Look around and you will be well rewarded for your efforts.