In this second part of our series, Reason to Believe, we take some time to examine the primary source for our knowledge of the truth: The Scriptures. The Bible is a tough book made even tougher by the things it says. Yet, making a full and comprehensive case for its reliability and trustworthiness is well beyond the scope of a single sermon. In what follows we examine the problem together, talk about what we do believe as followers of Jesus, and build a small case for the reliability of the Gospels. If we can prove those are trustworthy, making the case for the rest of it becomes all the easier. Keep reading for more and stay tuned for next week as we wrestle with the challenge present by the doctrine of Hell.
How We Know It
How many of you spiritual souls would count the Bible as your favorite book? I have a lot of different favorite books depending on the genre. For example, my favorite kids’ book (and author) is The BFG by Roald Dhal. I once considered stealing the library’s copy because I read it so many times. When it comes to history, Larry Schweikart’s A Patriot’s History of the United States is top of my list. In the world of fantasy, I greatly enjoyed Robert Jordan’s immense series, The Wheel of Time. If you want to talk fiction more generally, I would probably rank C. S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce at least near the top of my list. I would count each of these books as my favorites because of the impact they had on me when reading them. I could read them over and over—okay, that’s not entirely true; Schweikart’s history was a pretty intense time commitment, but you know what I mean—and enjoy them every time. There was no part of them that I didn’t like. I suspect most folks who can identify one or two books as their favorite would use similar guidelines for their choices. Read the rest…
The Nexus 