Christian Debate: Why Bible Isn’t Inspired by God?
April 6, 2018
By Xiaocaof
Pondering in silent night:
Brothers and sisters, is everybody here? Here’s a question I really can’t figure it out. Today I want to seek your understanding of it.
In 2 Timothy 3:16, Brother Paul said, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.” I, as well as many brothers and sisters, think that all words in the Bible are given by inspiration of God and they are all God’s words, and we never doubt it. However, recently when I read the Bible, I found some contradictions in it unexpectedly. The Bible says: “Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem” (2 Chronicles 36:9). But it also says: “Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem three months” (2 Kings 24:8). From the two verses we can see 2 Chronicles says it was at eight that Jehoiachin began to reign while 2 Kings says it was at eighteen. What’s more, 2 Chronicles says he reigned three months and ten days while 2 Kings says he reigned three months. If all the words in the Bible are God’s words and given by inspiration of God, then one thing should be recorded the same, and there should be no contradictions. Why are there different versions of the same thing? I am confused whether or not the Bible is given by inspiration of God now.
Faithful love for life:
Well, you got me. Isn’t the Bible given by inspiration of God? Since all the words in the Bible are God’s words, how can there be contradictions? I am also confused now.
Kong Mingdao:
Thank the Lord! All believers in the Lord know that the Bible is the canon of Christianity, with the highest authority. For two thousand years, the religious community has always been believing that the Bible is given by inspiration of God and all the words in the Bible are God’s words. This has been my belief since I believed in God. I don’t expect you to be doubtful about it. It is true that there are contradictions in the Bible about Jehociachin’s reign and I don’t know why, but it is Paul who said that all scripture is given by inspiration of God. Can you deny it?
Bugs Bunny:
Yep, why are you making such a big fuss over it? Now that Brother Paul said that all scripture is given by inspiration of God, then it proves that all the words in the Bible are God’s words. Every Christian acknowledges that. We just simply believe and accept it. There is no need to study if it is true or false! It’s so tiring!
Doing with heart and soul:
It’s so lively here! Thank the Lord! If there is anything we don’t understand, we can discuss it together. The more we debate, the clearer our understanding of the truth becomes. As to the topic you are discussing that all scripture is given by inspiration of God, I have a different understanding and I want to fellowship with you. Let’s learn from each other.
We all know that the saying “All scripture is given by inspiration of God” is spoken by Paul, not the Lord Jesus Himself. Then unavoidably, there’re mixtures of human ideas in it. Paul is just an apostle to spread the gospel. His words can’t represent God’s words. We should use the Lord Jesus’ words to evaluate if Paul’s words conform to God’s will. Moreover, these words were in the letter that apostle Paul wrote to the Timothy Church in 60 A.D. At that time, people could only read the Old Testament. The New Testament hadn’t been compiled into a book, and there were just some letters kept in the churches. After 300 A.D., the leaders of those churches had a meeting together, in which they selected the Four Gospels, the letters of Paul, Peter, John, and others, and Revelation wrote by John after he saw the vision on Patmos Island after 90 A.D. Then, they arranged and organized these books and letters into the New Testament. Subsequently, they combined the New Testament and the Old Testament to become the Old and New Testament we read today. From this it can be seen that the book of Timothy was written by Paul after 60 A.D., while the New Testament was formed after 300 A.D. They are more than 200 years apart. Therefore, we should know that when Paul said that all scripture was given by inspiration of God, he referred to the Old Testament, not the whole Bible. The view that the whole Bible is given by inspiration of God is inconsistent with the background of Paul saying these words. Additionally, the saying “All scripture is given by inspiration of God” was out of Paul’s mouth. The prophets didn’t say so when they conveyed God’s words. God has never said that the Bible is all given by inspiration of God. The Holy Spirit never testified these words, either. Obviously, Paul’s words are totally groundless. It is his own understanding of the Bible. It doesn’t represent the will of the Lord Jesus, nor of the Holy Spirit. If we hold on to these words of Paul, aren’t we violating God’s will?
Raccoon:
Wow, your fellowship is so brilliant! Now I know that it is under a certain background that Paul spoke the saying. He referred to the Old Testament, not the whole Bible. How come I don’t know it? Alas! How foolish I am! Hey, lurkers! You hear it?
Pondering in silent night:
Oh! I see. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God” is spoken by Paul not by God. Paul’s words are not the truth. The Lord Jesus’ words are the truth. Our faith in God can’t be based on Paul’s words. We should take God’s words as the basis of everything. The Lord Jesus never said that all the words in the Bible are given by inspiration of God. The Holy Spirit never testified that every word in the Bible is the word of God. We should listen to God’s words and not hold on to Paul’s words. Moreover, it was against a certain background that Paul said these words. He said that only the Old Testament was given by inspiration of God, not the Old and New Testament. However, we pay no attention to whether there is any basis in God’s words for Paul’s words and ignore the background when Paul said these words. We just blindly define that all the words in the Bible are given by inspiration of God and are God’s words. We are totally violating God’s will!
Bugs Bunny:
It sounds reasonable. In my opinion, however, now that all the words of prophets and apostles are recorded in the Bible, these words are all given by inspiration of God and are all God’s words. We should fully accept and obey them!
Kong Mingdao:
Thank the Lord! It’s right! The Bible is the canon of Christianity, so all the words in it must be God’s words. This is beyond all doubt!
Doing with heart and soul:
Easy, everybody! As to these questions, I saw a fellowship in a book. I think it will benefit us a lot and I want to share it with you. The book says: “Today, people believe the Bible is God, and that God is the Bible. So, too, do they believe that all the words of the Bible were the only words God spoke, and that they were all said by God. Those who believe in God even think that although all of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testament were written by people, they were all given by inspiration of God, and a record of the utterances of the Holy Spirit. This is the erroneous interpretation of people, and it does not completely accord with the facts. In fact, apart from the books of prophecy, most of the Old Testament is historical record. Some of the epistles of the New Testament come from people’s experiences, and some come from the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit; the Pauline epistles, for example, arose from the work of a man, they were all the result of the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment, and they were written for the churches, were words of exhortation and encouragement for the brothers and sisters of the churches. They were not words spoken by the Holy Spirit—Paul could not speak on behalf of the Holy Spirit, and neither was he a prophet, much less did he see visions. His epistles were written for the churches of Ephesus, Philadelphia, Galatia, and other churches” (“Concerning the Bible (3)”). From this passage I see it is an erroneous interpretation of people that the Bible is all given by inspiration of God. It is not in accordance with the truth at all. In the Old Testament, there are the predictions of the prophets as well as the historical records of God’s work. All the predictions of the prophets were given by inspiration of God. They were written by the prophets after they saw the visions, heard the voice and gained revelation from God. In addition, we can see from the Bible that the scripture given by inspiration of God is all marked in the beginning with “the vision of Apostle so-and-so” or “To Apostle so-and-so the word of God came.” For example, Isaiah 1:1, “The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.” And Jeremiah 1:2, “To whom the word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.” Then it goes to Malachi, it says: “The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.” We can say that in the Old Testament, no one will find similar hints except in the books of the prophets. Besides, in Revelation, the vision that John saw on Patmos Island was revealed by God, too. That’s to say, except the books of prophecy, other part of the Old Testament can be seen as historical record.
In addition, most of the epistles of the New Testament are from man’s experiences. They are not all God’s words. Some of the Pauline epistles, for example, are from Paul’s work experience, and some are from the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. But they cannot be called God’s words nor the revelation of the Holy Spirit. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:17: “That which I speak, I speak it not after the Lord, but as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting;” 1 Corinthians 7:25: “Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that has obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.” It is clear that Paul’s words represent his own experience, seeing and knowledge. His words are not directly instructed by God and are different from the inspiration the prophets received. If what he said was absolutely the word of God coming to him, then he would dare not say, “as it were foolishly, in this confidence of boasting,” or “I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment….” In the Bible, apart from the predictions of the prophets in the Old Testament, only a few verses of the Four Gospels in the New Testament are God’s words. Just as the Lord Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you,” or “I say to you,” or “Jesus said,” all of them are God’s words. For example, “And Jesus said to them, Come you after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men” (Mark 1:17); “And he said to them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent” (Luke 4:43), etc. All of the words with “Jesus said” are God’s words. Similarly, some scriptures were God’s words and were written by people with inspiration of Jehovah. For example, the LORD said: “for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17); “And the LORD said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that fears God, and eschews evil?” (Job 1:8); “Now the LORD had said to Abram, Get you out of your country, and from your kindred, and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1), etc. From these words we can see that no matter of the Lord Jesus or of the LORD God, these words are marked with “the Lord Jesus said” or “the LORD said.” The words which are not marked with that are not God’s words.
Raccoon:
ㄟ(≧◇≦)ㄏ Wow, well said! I agree! Now I know that the predictions of the prophets are God’s words, as well as the words which are directly spoken by God. Besides, those words that are not marked with “Jesus said” or “the LORD said” are not God’s words. Neither the historical records, people’s experiences, nor the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit is God’s words! Your fellowship is incredibly clear! I’ve never heard anyone explain the inside story of the Bible so thoroughly! Are you a pastor or an elder and which church do you belong to? @Doing with heart and soul
Doing with heart and soul
I’m not a pastor or an elder. It is by the enlightenment of God that I can have some pure acceptance. All the glory be to God! Just now we communicated which words in the Bible are God’s words. Besides these words, whose words are there in the Bible? Let’s look at Genesis, the LORD God said: “For in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.” And the serpent said to the woman, “You shall not surely die”; Job 1:7: “And the LORD said to Satan, From where come you? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it”; Numbers 22:30: “And the ass said to Balaam, Am not I your ass, on which you have ridden ever since I was your to this day? was I ever wont to do so to you? And he said, No”; Matthew 4:9-10: “And said to him, All these things will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me. Then said Jesus to him, Get you hence, Satan”; Luke 6:2: “And certain of the Pharisees said to them, Why do you that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?” From these words recorded in the Bible, we can see that these words include dialogues between God and Satan, and the words of demon’s tempting Jesus, of Pharisees’ condemnation of Jesus, of an ass, etc. The fact proves that not all the words in the Bible are given by inspiration of God. They are not all God’s words, either.
Pondering in silent night:
Yes. In the Bible, apart from the words of God, there are words of the Pharisees, of Satan, of the animals, etc. How can we say that all the words in the Bible are God’s words? Isn’t it blasphemous to God? Why haven’t we seen such an obvious question? What you’ve said makes a lot of sense. How pitiful it is for us not understanding the truth!
Faithful love for life:
What a clear communication! Seeing your detailed fellowship, I’m much clearer. Having believed in the Lord for many years, I have been holding on that everything in the Bible is the word of God. How ridiculous is this belief! It’s not until today that I wake up and realize how good it is to understand the truth. Brother Kong, do you understand now?
Kong Mingdao:
Um… well, it’s good fellowship. Bugs Bunny, aren’t we still have something to do? Should we go first?
Bugs Bunny:
Um… you go first. I wanna listen more. It seems that what they said makes sense …
Kong Mingdao:
You … They are not pastors or elders. What’s good listening to them? I’m leaving now!
Pondering in silent night:
God is righteous. The truth is revealed to those who thirst for it. Will the pastors and elders surely give good sermons?
Doing with heart and soul:
Brothers and sisters, let’s go on communicating? Now let’s discern whether all the words in the Bible are God’s words from a different perspective. If all the words in the Bible are God’s words and given by inspiration of God, then there shouldn’t be any contradiction. However, in the Bible, there are many things which are recorded in different versions. For example, one verse reads: “Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you, That this night, before the cock crow, you shall deny me thrice” (Matthew 26:34). But there is a different version of it: “And Jesus said to him, Truly I say to you, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, you shall deny me thrice” (Mark 14:30). Here we can see that Mark recorded “before the cock crow twice,” but Matthew recorded “before the cock crow.” Which one is true? Moreover, it was recorded in Matthew 27:5: “And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.” But Acts 1:18 records: “Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the middle, and all his bowels gushed out.” They are two versions of Judas’ death. Mark said Judas hang himself while Paul said he burst asunder in the middle. What is the explanation for this? Besides, “Pondering in silent night” has noticed before that there are two versions of the age when Jehoiachin reigned. Why is it so? If there are no mixtures of people’s ideas in these books and they are all given by inspiration of God, why are there two versions of the same thing? Could there be something wrong in God’s words? Absolutely not! It’s because people have different experiences and knowledge; their levels of education and caliber vary, too. Therefore, what they recorded are different. For example, in the Four Gospels, Matthew’s, Mark’s, Luke’s, and John’s versions of the work of the Lord Jesus are different, each with its own characteristics. They are all recorded by man, so we can’t say that what they recorded are all given by inspiration of God.
@Pondering in Silent night, through our fellowship, have you gained discernment about that not all scripture is given by inspiration of God and that not all the words in the Bible are God’s words? But today I’m not proclaiming that the Bible is totally valueless by fellowshiping the inside story and the substance of the Bible. Rather, I’m trying to give you a correct view of the Bible. We should know clearly that God’s words are God’s words, which we should pay attention to experiencing and practicing; man’s words are man’s words, which we cannot compare to nor regard as God’s words. It is utterly wrong to regard man’s words as God’s words. It is blasphemous to God! Because man’s words are never the truth. At most they are the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit and personal understanding. Only God’s words are the truth. Just as the Lord Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).
Pondering in silent night:
Thank the Lord! Through such fellowship, my confusion was completely solved. I also understand the truth of this aspect. I have gained discernment of Paul’s words. There are many facts prove that Paul’s words are absolutely groundless and are from his erroneous understanding. We should have a correct view of the Bible!
Faithful love for life:
I never expect to have such a great gain in the forum today. Really thank the Lord! It seems that there are too many truths that we don’t understand. We really need such communications!
Doing with heart and soul:
God’s words are the truth. No matter what questions we have, we can find all the answers in God’s words. I hope that we can explore the Bible together again. Thank the Lord! Bye!
Raccoon:
Thank the Lord! Bye~Bye~
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