Is the bible the word of God?

On page 231 of The Da Vinci Code, the fictitious character Teabing argues:

"The bible did not arrive by fax from heaven...The Bible is a product of man, my dear. Not of God. The Bible did not fall magically from the clouds. Man created it as a historical record of tumultuous times, and it has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definitive version of the book..."

But around the year 100 AD one of the first Christians wrote in 2nd Timothy 2:13 -

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the person of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

And around 70 AD one of the first Christians wrote in Hebrews 4:12 -

"... the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."

So which is it ? The problem is that the words Brown puts in Teabing's mouth create a false dichotomy. Christians agree that the bible is a historical document written using human language and culture. Different parts of it were written at different times. The question is not whether the bible is the Word of God or a collection of human historical documents. The question is - 'Can it be both at the same time?' A foundational belief of Christianity is that Jesus is both fully human and fully God - both at the same time. If he was fully human there were times when he sweated and needed a bath. If he was fully God, he was sinless and could have the supernatural power to rise from the dead and save us from our sins. Could it be that the bible has the same dual nature - it is both a historical human document and the living breathing Word of God? If so, we would expect it to have characteristics of both.

Like all physical objects in the physical world, the bible does have rough edges. Does this mean it can't be trusted? No, actually it proves how trustworthy it is! How can that be?

The Dead Sea Scrolls

One of the arguments often made is "How can you trust it, if, as Teabing says, it has evolved through countless copies and changes over the years?" Well, what does the actual historical evidence tell us? Here is an example. Up until the 1940's we had a copy of the book of Isaiah from the Old Testament that we thought was reliable. Then one day a boy threw a stone into a cave and heard the sound of pottery breaking. Inside the cave were what was to become known as the Dead Sea Scrolls - ancient scrolls that had been stored in earthen jars. One of these scrolls was a copy of the book of Isaiah and it was 1000 years older than the oldest copy we had up until that point. Think of it, 1000 years of hand copying from one scroll to another - talk about whisper down the lane! And yet what did we discover when these two scrolls were compared? They were virtually the same. The same stories, the same message, the same meaning, the same truth. Were they EXACTLY the same ? No, there were minor variations. And this is the case with all books of the bible - we have many, many copies of varying ages and they basically all say the same thing, have the same message, convey the same truth. Are they EXACTLY the same ? No. There are variations. For example, when we look at the ancient manuscripts for John 3:15, we are not completely sure if it should be read "all who believe IN him will have eternal life..." or "all who believe ON him will have eternal life..." There is some mystery here. Does it change any Christian doctrine? No, for the very next verse, John 3:16 which appears virtually unchanged in all significant manuscripts restates the truth of John 3:15 in different words:

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life"

In fact, if you cut out every verse where there are questions, not one Christian doctrine would change. So does the fact that there are minor variations improve or take away from the confidence we have in the witness of the Bible ? It increases it. Why?

Imagine you were called in to talk to a group of people who had witnessed a crime. Your goal was to figure out what actually happened. Imagine 3 different outcomes. In the first, everyone's story was completely different - there were so few consistencies that your confidence would be very low that you could actually piece together what happened. Next, imagine that everyone's story was exactly identical, so identical that they actually described the crime with the exact same sentences word for word. Would your confidence be high or low ? Low, because in the real world, nothing is exact, everyone has a slightly different way of expressing things. You would fear that someone has been tampering with the witnesses, trying to smooth the rough edges, trying to clean up the messy parts, trying to make a story too clear and consistent to be the true story. But imagine you found that everyone told the same basic story, but in their own words, from their own perspectives. The meaning was the same, but the words used were slightly different. Your confidence would be sky high, much higher than if they had said exactly the same thing. So too, the various witnesses of the bible say the same story in slightly different ways. This is a strong proof that political powers have not re-written history, that the message has remained intact over the years, that you can trust the bible.

Can you trust the bible with your life? Is it that trustworthy? Well, imagine we were going rock climbing. From the top of a cliff you look 70 feet down the sheer face to the ground below and then stare at the 11mm rope that is supposed to hold you. Can you trust it with your life? Well, if it has a big gash in it so only a few threads are still left, that would be a bad idea. But if it has a few scuffs that shows you it has already proven itself in the test of time then that is a reasonable idea. But even more important is this - who is holding the other end of the rope? Even if the rope is strong and trustworthy, what really matters is whether the person at the other end has the skills and the strength to know how to use it to get you safely down to the bottom.

The rope by itself is lifeless - it just lays there. By itself, it cant save me. But when it is in the hands of the belayer, the person on the other end of the rope, it becomes the means by which he guides and protects me. I can trust my life to the rope because it is in good shape, but even more importantly because of who is holding the other end. Laying on the ground, the rope is lifeless, like words on a page - like the human, historical document aspect of the bible. In the hands of the living God, it vibrates with purpose and intention and power - like the bible as the living, breathing word of God. This dual nature maps with the way many people actually experience the bible. Sometimes it just seems like words on a page, just a past tense story from long ago. But other times God breathes his Holy Spirit into those ancient words and they become alive - they are His present tense message to YOU right now.

All of a sudden, it is not so much that we are reading the bible, but rather our character and our soul are being read by God.

The only way to know for sure if the bible is the word of God is to jump and see if the rope can hold you. If you have never had the bible become alive for you before, if you have never had the sense that the God who is here was actually speaking to you personally through it's words, try this experiment. Try praying and asking God to open his Word to you to help you hear his voice and what he would say to you. Then try reading a short book of the bible like the book of Philippians. As you read it, listen for a phrase that grabs you, that stands out and seems to be a challenge for you where you are right now in your life. Meditate on it and think about how it might apply to your life. Here is the one that most recently became alive for me:

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus" Philippians 2:3-5

Right now, in my life today - these are words that convict and haunt me - I truly believe they are God's own words to me challenging me in the way I need right now. Philippians is full of such phrases. Pray for insight, carefully read, and find a phrase that is speaking to your own life right now. Then write it down, memorize it, spend a week looking for it to connect with what is happening in your everyday life. See if God does not whisper or shout to you in his word!

Is the bible really the Word of God ?