Every Word That Comes From the Mouth of God
The argument goes something like this: “The Bible is not really the Word of God. Jesus is.”
Of course, such a statement is nothing more than a pretext for something like this: “We don’t need to follow what the Bible says on every single point. We need to follow Jesus.”
And, finally, the initial argument and the follow-up statements are supposedly bolstered by points like this: “The Bible isn’t God. We shouldn’t worship it.” Or, “The Bible isn’t perfect, Jesus is.” Or, “We follow Jesus, not words written by sinful men.” Or, “God is bigger than the Bible.”
As if the Bible and Jesus were somehow at odds.
As if the Bible was only relevant when we decide it is.
As if any Christian anywhere actually worships the Bible as a member of the Trinity.
(This, my friends, is almost the textbook definition of a strawman argument. Whenever you’re arguing against a point nobody is actually making in order to make your case, you are deploying the strawman. And the strawman is evidence of falseness. Always.)
And here’s the catch: the living Word of God Himself, Jesus Christ, believed the Bible was infallible, authoritative, and holy. “Scripture cannot be broken,” He said (John 10:35). “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God,” He replied to the Sadducees who were trying to trap Him (Matthew 22:29). And, when tempted by Satan, He didn’t appeal to His own authority as the Son of God, but replied with, “It is written…”
Don’t miss it: God Himself declared the Scriptures to be an absolute authority. No, He didn’t bow down and worship the texts. No Christian does. But He elevated them far, far beyond our simplistic, modern, so-called progressive notions of “texts written by sinful men.”
Watch out for this argument. It is nothing more than a pretext for undercutting and rejecting the very words of God that Jesus Himself said were absolute, unbreakable, and from God’s own mouth.
“The Bible is not perfect,” Brian Zahnd, John Pavlovitz, Relevant Magazine and the Red Letter Christians write.
“The law of the Lord is perfect,” David, the man after God’s own heart, writes.
“No prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit,” Peter, the man who saw Christ transfigured, crucified, and resurrected writes.
“All Scripture is God-breathed,” Paul, the man who was taken up into Heaven writes.
When it comes to who you’re going to agree with, choose wisely.
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