Newspaper Article: Unbelief

Question: The following is a response to an article which appeared recently in a local newspaper. It invites others to contribute, but not quite as I have! The writer mocks and derides the Bible, calling on others to do the same. “Come out of the closet,” he says. Write and tell us what in the Bible you are unsure of, or do not believe.” I have written instead to defend the Word of God. How would you have answered him?

Answer: On April 12, 2007, an article appeared in The Lloydminster Source written by Norman Laird of Grace United Church. The writer presents a rambling attack on the Bible, making a number of sweeping and unsubstantiated claims. They deserve a response.

Mr. Laird begins, “To say, ‘The Bible is the word of God’ is a statement of faith, not of fact. To say ‘the Bible is not the word of God’ is also a statement of faith, not of fact.” Very well. Then let me be counted as one who believes the Bible to be, in its entirety, the inspired, infallible Word of the living God. (And I convinced this is a “fact.”)

The Bible certainly claims to be the revelation of God. Over 2,000 times in the Old Testament alone we read phrases such as “and God said,” or “thus saith the Lord.” And the Bible declares that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God [literally, it is God-breathed]” (II Tim. 3:16). And that, “Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (II Pet. 1:21).

But having positioned himself among those who dismiss (or doubt) the divine origin of the Scriptures, the author makes this absolute assertion: “There is no one who believes everything in the Bible is true.” What? No one? Has Mr. Laird questioned all six billion of us to find out? Hardly! Many individuals I know personally would reject his claim. But he goes on, “Even those who say the Bible is the inerrant word of God ignore certain passages.” Again, has he questioned us all on this? Obviously not. But rather than put words in the mouths of others, and if I may be forgiven for the personal references, let me speak of my own experience.

I have been studying the Bible intensively for about half a century, and have read it through from Genesis to Revelation many times over. I have written my own (unpublished) commentary on all 1,189 chapters of the Bible. (It is now at about 250,000 words, and still growing daily.) I have preached thousands of sermons, and taught the Scriptures for years in the college classroom. I write a devotional newspaper column that has appeared for years in several newspapers, and a have website through which I receive and answer Bible questions from all over the world. No verse or passage has been “ignored.” Yet all those years of study have only served to confirm the trustworthiness and divine authority of the Bible over and over.

Mr. Laird next proposes to give us proof of how fallible the Bible is, citing First Corinthians 15:22 as his “clearest example.” The verse says, “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” The writer comments, “I have been told that the word ‘all’ in the first part of the verse means every person that has ever lived and will ever live. There are no exceptions. On the other hand, the same word later in the verse means only those people who have accepted Jesus as saviour. Many exceptions. The definition of the word ‘all’ changes mid-sentence to suit the believer.”

This mishandling of the text is both sad and silly. Sad, because it totally misses a wonderful truth that affects the eternal destiny of each human being–including Norman Laird. And silly because it fashions an argument using mere smoke and mirrors. “All” means all! It translates precisely the same Greek word (pas) in each case. It is the two phrases–all in Adam, all in Christ–that are in contrast, not the word all.

Let us turn to the Book. The Bible records how the Lord formed Adam of the dust of the earth, and breathed life into him (Gen. 2:7). He was the first human being, the crown of God’s creation (Ps. 8:5-6). All of humanity comes from him. In Eden, God tested Adam’s willingness to believe and obey Him. But he sinned against his Maker and reaped the promised judgment (Gen. 2:17; 5:5). Not only did Adam begin to age and die physically the moment he sinned, but in his fallen state he was in danger of eternal separation from God. This is true of all of us, since sin’s corrupting effects have been passed on to the whole human race through Adam (Rom. 5:12).

That is the bad news. But the text so maligned by Mr. Laird also gives us the good news–that God, in His amazing grace, has provided a remedy for sin. God the Son took on our humanity and walked among us (Jn. 1:1, 14). His purpose in coming was “to give His life a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:45). Norman Laird says he does not believe “that Jesus’ death was a sacrifice for sin atonement.” That is his choice. But “what if some [do] not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar” (Rom. 3:3-4).

Of the work of Christ the Word of God says, “Christ died for our sins” (I Cor. 15:3). “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7). “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (I Pet. 3:18). That is the gospel (a word meaning good news!)–that God has provided an answer for all who will receive it by faith. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16). “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23).

Each one who trusts in the saving work of Christ is placed into Christ as to his legal standing before God. That is, God views him as having been “in Christ” when He paid sin’s penalty, just as surely as he experienced sin’s corruption “in Adam.” Those who are “in Christ” are credited with His righteousness. “For He [God the Father] made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”(II Cor. 5:21). And “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new” (II Cor. 5:17). This is “the righteousness of God, through faith in Christ Jesus, to all and on all who believe” (Rom. 3:22).

Norman Laird’s article includes a dozen other things in the Bible which he says he does not believe. I cannot take the time to respond to them all here, but have tried to deal with his “clearest example.” A careful handling of the text, and a diligent comparing Scripture with Scripture, will answer every one of his concerns. The problem is not with the Bible, but with the spiritual perception of the one who purports to explain it away.