the importance of scripture, pt. 2

If Scripture is the source of truth by which all reality is rightly comprehended, how do we know that it is true?

When this question comes up I like to give a 3-fold answer. Here it is:

First, I know Scripture is true because it says so. Go on ahead and tell that to the Academy. They’ll love it. But let me say this, if Scripture is true, then it is absolutely authoritative on the basis that its authority is derived from the supreme authority of God Himself. If this were not the case then we would run into a theological problem if the decision of whether or not Scripture is true is left up to an authority other than the ultimate authority of God. If we allow something else to determine the truth of the words that God has declared to be true then we are setting something else up as an authority and judge of the words of the being which we claim has absolute authority. If God is the final authority then His words cannot be subjected to any other authority.
Obviously, this idea is based upon the presupposition that God is the ultimate authority. Some may charge that such a presupposition is illegitimate, but it should be noted that they have zero basis for their presupposition that God is not the ultimate authority. To deny that the Bible is authoritative is to make a judgment on the basis of something other than Scripture. Whatever that “something other than Scripture” might be, it cannot be proven that it ought to be the final authority on the matter. One can only presuppose that it ought to be the final authority. So, in the end the argument that Scripture is true because it says it is true (the argument of self-attestation) is no more or less circular than any other argument about whether or not Scripture is true.

Second, I can see that Scripture is true because its claims correspond to the reality of the world in which I live and experience daily. If truth is that which corresponds to reality then we ought to be able to know at least some things as true on the basis of experience. The test of whether or not something corresponds to reality is a simple test that we intuitively apply to everything. Every time I leave camp I pass a little yellow sign that says “Speed Bump Ahead.” That sign is not true. I know this because the claim that it makes does not correspond to the reality I experience as I take my truck up the drive. I believe this same simple test can be applied to Scripture and that when Scripture is subjected to the test it is found to be true and dependable. I have not heard or seen a better explanation than the one found in the Bible for what I see in the world.
To illustrate this consider just the first three chapters of Genesis. These chapters, probably more than any other, have been ridiculed and too readily rejected by many. But consider how much of what these chapters explain about our world. In it we see the storyline of history as it is explained in the rest of Scripture. There is the Creation, the Fall, the promise of Redemption, and a picture of the New Creation.
Here I find an explanation of why I can see and experience good things in this world. It is because God has made the world good.
I also find an explanation of all the bad that I see and feel. Sin entered the world through man’s rebellion.
I see an explanation of the universal desire for companionship. God said that it is not good for man to be alone. We were made for companionship as a reflection (or to use the biblical phrase “image”) of the perfect community, love and fellowship that is found among the three persons of the Godhead. This is why there are Lion’s clubs, fraternities, bars, and church fellowships. This is also why people feel bad for orphans and widows. It is the reason why solitary confinement is punishment. We were made to live life with others (see also Coldplay’s “Life is for Living”).
In Genesis 1-3 I also see an explanation of why there is a sense of estrangement in the world. If you don’t believe that people feel that way just listen to some music of almost any genre for a little while. We were meant to have good relationships with God and with other people. We get a glimpse of the pleasure of right relationships at times, but we also ache when that is missing.
I also see an explanation of why there is a sense of discontentment in the world. Scripture explains why people just want to get ahead. It explains why a person can be so unhappy with his life that he would take it. It explains why what some call the American dream is a dream that doesn’t bring fulfillment even when it becomes reality. The life that we live is not the ideal that we were created for.
It explains why time seems to slip away. Time flies when we have fun and drags on when we are in misery. We were made for an eternity of good. So, when we experience good we are aware that it is not currently experienced eternally. When we experience bad, it feels like a miserable eternity because it does not resemble that for which we were made.
In the first three chapters of Genesis we have a basis for valuing life. We also see that there is no basis for racism, but we also see an explanation of why it exists. We were made in the image of God, called sons of God, but we have fallen and now our experience is marked by strife and enmity.
There is an explanation of why there is a universal awareness of the divine. It explains why, in spite of their best efforts, atheists have failed to sell people on atheism even as they have sold many on a naturalistic explanation of the origin of man. Man was made to be in relationship to God. When the relationship is not there it is missed. On the basis of Genesis 1-3 it is no surprise that people universally believe in the divine.
There is an explanation of why work is hard, why childbirth is painful, and why there are no perfect families.
There is an explanation of why universally man likes redemption in his stories. If there is no offer of redemption we take note and often find that it irks us. I think Flannery O’Connor (“A Good Man is Hard to Find”) and Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men) are two authors who provide excellent examples of this truth. There is a longing within us for at least the offer of redemption. There is an implicit recognition of being fallen in our love of redemptive stories.
In Genesis we see God’s grace and His promise of redemption. Thus, we have an explanation for why hope can exist in such a world as the one we see.

Those are just a few of the things that can be learned from reading the first three chapters of Scripture. The more I read the more I see that the Bible explains human existence better than anything else I have found.

Third, I know Scripture is true by faith. Most people hate this answer, but I think it is the best of the three. It would seem that most people in the world who accept Scripture as true do so on the basis that they believe it is true. Now, I realize that this argument does not settle in most people’s minds that Scripture is true. In fact take any other religious book that claims authority (Koran, Book of Mormon...) and I will reject it as authoritative. Why? Because I do not believe it is true. I believe that the Spirit testifies to the truth of Scripture and it is the Spirit who must bring about a heart of faith for one to believe the truth of Scripture.

Here’s the thing, we all approach things with certain presuppositions and beliefs. The idea of a perfectly objective and neutral person is an Enlightenment myth. I do not believe any amount of proofs or arguments ultimately will convince someone who is, as Romans 1:18 states, suppressing the truth. However, I do think that arguments and proofs can be useful for demonstrating both the rationality of belief, and more importantly, the irrationality of disbelief. This irrational and adamant disbelief should not surprise us. People are not just ignorant or unaware. Rather, Scripture tells us that apart from Christ we were the enemies of God. “Enemy” denotes hostility and opposition. We live as a part of a race of man that is fallen and in rebellion. If men can hear the voice of the Father and write it off as thunder (John 12:23-29), and if men can get up off their feet to arrest the man who knocked them over when He uttered the ancient name of God claiming it as His own (John 18:3-14), and if the soldiers who were eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Christ can perpetuate the lie that His disciples stole the body (Matthew 28:11-15), it should not surprise us that people today can hear the very word of God read and spoken to them and casually walk away from it.

Thus, I think it would be naïve for me to believe that I could win someone over to the belief that Scripture is true through arguments. Rather, I must believe the words of the Scripture that I esteem to be true. I must proclaim the Gospel and see it change lives. Arguments and proofs don’t change lives, but the word of God does. That is why Paul declared, “I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:18). So, when I hear someone ask how I know that the Scripture is true I’ll share my three-fold answer. But, I’ll have to realize that the deeper issue is that the one asking needs the Gospel and it is my responsibility to proclaim it. It is Christ through His Word by the working of the Spirit who changes lives. I, and we, must proclaim the Word

That is the good Word. That is the importance of Scripture.