Is the Battle for the Bible Over?
A well-known Christian apologetics ministry denies the accuracy of the biblical genealogies to support an old-earth view. America’s most well-known evangelist and spiritual mentor alleges in a Newsweek article that “I’m not a literalist in the sense that every single jot and tittle is from the Lord…” A leader in the emerging church movement asserts that we must re-examine our claim that Jesus is exclusively the way to heaven for all peoples.
It has been claimed that in our present era, we’ve moved past the need to defend the inerrancy and accuracy of the Bible and into an age in which we must simply make it relevant. Our battles with “modernism,” which seeks to critically and categorically deny the Bible’s truthfulness, is over, according to some. Now we take up the sword against postmodernist reasoning in which the Bible may be viewed as true, but not exclusively so.
I would contend that the battle for the Bible is long from being over. Modernism is not dead in its attempt to question Scripture. Then again, the term “modernism” may be totally inaccurate, considering that the first attempts to question and deny the truthfulness of God’s Word began in the garden of Eden.
The tactic embraced by the emerging church to combat infidelity is to reason with a postmodern world from a postmodern theology - one that may be revisited and redefined a the whims of a questioning world. The problem is that Satan gets to stage the conflict. By engaging in “dialog” about every known question related to the Bible, we may be chasing decoys and allowing the Bible itself exposed.
I believe in having sensible dialog with the unbelieving world about Scripture. In fact, I believe that the Christian faith is both sensible and reasonable. It will certainly stand up to the greatest scrutiny that can be directed its way. But we cannot abandon the effort to bolster belief in the concept of the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Bible. If the battle is over, the war is not, for more battles for for the Bible will ensue until Jesus returns.
The fight for Scripture has not been limited to a five- or six-decade period of the last century. Consider the dark ages when God’s Word was rendered inaccessible to the common person by the Catholic hierarchy so that the church’s authority would become the object of highest respect rather than a supernatural revelation directly given from God. Consider the allegorical schools of Alexandria that sought to turn the Scriptures into a magical fairy tale of confusion. Consider the existentialists who sought to have Scripture interpreted based only on the fanciful emotions of the individual reader.
Manifestations of all of these attacks on Scripture can be seen within the modern evangelical church. Small group Bible studies (which I am not against as a whole) often turn into existentialist discussions as the primary question becomes, “What does this passage say to you?” A postmodern approach to interpretation can be heard from churches that thunder, “this is what we believe, but your church may believe the opposite, and that’s okay.”
I would contend that the battle for the Bible is far from over. In fact, I would contend that we need a revival of emphasis placed on defending the truth of God’s Word. Many authors today will contend that the crying need of the hour is for relevancy and that the church’s greatest threat is becoming useless to the world. I would argue that the crying need today is the same as it has been for multiplied centuries - a restoration of respect for God’s infallible, inerrant Word, no matter its apparent usefulness in this particular moment in history.
We seem to think that if we can’t keep the Bible relevant with each new social development in our rapidly changing culture, we’ll lose our footing. Ultimately, we will lose our footing if we are not grounded in the unchanging Word during such tumultuous times. Brethren, defend the Word! Uphold the truth of the Bible, and thunder its messages from your pulpits with a fresh “thus saith the Lord!”
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