February 13, 2022, A Sunday.
Modified February 14th.
Is the Bible God breathed? A definitive authority from which the Christian faith builds its foundation?
1st, what do we mean by "God-Breathed?" Hebrew word for breath, that is the breath of God is Ruach. The Greek word is pneuma, this is then the breath of God that gives life to 1st man, that is Adam.
Therefore, another meaning being The Spirit of God. The Spirit of God, then, aids the biblical writers to write the books, letters and proverbs and psalms which make up the Holy Bible. This we believe, correct? I have attached a video I created when i took Hermeneutics back in 2020. I am not all that proud of the video; it was a task I had to complete for the sake of a grade. An assignment. The video does give some insight to what a class like Hermeneutics teaches a Christians studies major about critical analysis of scripture. Somehow, I got an A in the class, but I have to be honest, I am not too keen on these methods. Why? Because I believe that the Bible is TRUTH! So, what does this mean for the Bible student or anyone who loves the Bible and believes it to be truth in the face of those that question the "truthfulness" of the Bible? It means one must be prepared to defend the Bible against the doubters.
Talking to someone in our churches about the Bible, one does not normally face a doubter. Yet, one will meet one along the way, and defending the Bible as truth means being prepared, keeping one's cool, and being firm in our hearts that, even if our words fail, God and The Bibe has not failed or fallen short. Every generation (since Jesus gathered disciples and came against opposition in the Temple and from the Pharisee and Sadducees) has had to stand firm for what they believed to be truth. This is WHY I often tell people; the Bible requires a commitment to examination, study and then reexamination and further study. One must KNOW the Word of God, one must know what to expect will be the arguments of the doubter, and what one must be prepared to say in response. Paul writes to the church Corinth telling them "The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18, NIV).
This statement was true in the 1st century, this statement was true in the 15th century, this statement was true during the enlightment, and this message was true against Nietzsche.
So, what does that mean to you and I? It means, being prepared to defend the Bible, we may just fail to convince the doubter otherwise. The Bible is Inerrant Truth in that without God in your heart and mind, the Bible will not make sense. It is beyond reason, it is a matter of faith, of hope, and a matter of LOVE.
"Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now, we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
~1 Corinthians 13:8-13
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