What "They" Say About the Book

Today I follow What the Book Says with What They Say About the Book. Maybe it should have been reversed, but so be it. First off, in today's commentary, who is "they"? All my life, whenever I said "They ..... whatever." some smart-aleck would say "Who are 'they'?" In this context "they" are of extreme importance! "They" includes Gnostics, agnostics, atheists, Deists, philosophers, Marxists and other Utopian "isms", scientists, psychologists, pagan religions, and those ignorant of most things. Worse yet, many modern Christian churches, sects and heresies are included in "they". Some of the worst antagonists of the Bible are people who attend church!

2 Peter 2:1 "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction."

False prophets would be Christian preachers. By "Christian" I don't mean those who actually are disciples of Christ, but those who pretend to be. Rather than preaching the unadulterated words of the Bible, they  are lax in what they teach, geared more in prestige, power and numbers; than in souls being saved. Many of these preachers have "good" hearts and are well-intended, but they have become mere pawns of Satan because they are overly tolerant of sin.

False teachers are any who would misrepresent what the Bible says and means. They may teach error out of ignorance, pride, tradition, indoctrination, or just plain old corruptness. Some do it for money and some blend the words of God with inspirational writings of others. As Bill "O'Reilly would say "Herrin, what say you about 'they'?

• Some of "them" would portend Christianity to be mythology and the contents of the Bible to be myth. "Myths" are stories passed down by tradition which people accept as factual, but are widely held false beliefs. Those who teach mythology claim that all religions are beyond scientific reasoning and are mythology. Agnostics are skeptics who need proof. Christianity isn't based on "proof", but on "faith". "Faith" by definition is not based on tangible things, but things unseen. Scientists, atheists, etc. are other examples, but many Christian preachers accept the scientific bias over God's Word!
• Others would say that the Bible is mere history. It's factual in it's chronology, but wrong in its spirituality. That's akin to believing that the writers were accurate in their history, but wrong in their theology.
• Even others would claim that it's bad history because it has a spiritual bias.  Many of those thinkers believe that scripture has no credibility when it's wrong on history. For example, King Sargon is mentioned in the Bible. Since historians never heard of King Sargon they claimed that scripture was inaccurate. Later on archaeologists discovered a palace. It turned out that Sargon of of Akkad was the greatest Sumerian king ever! So much for dismissing fact based on ignorance!
• Others say that the Bible isn't scientific. First off, no one has ever disproved the creation story. Neither have they proved the evolution theory. Hypotheses can never be proved. They can only fail to be disproved. Hence, science will never be able to prove the evolution theory! In other words, just like religion, science is based on faith. Both are religions. It's just that one is without a God! Paul said:

Acts 17:23 "For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you."

The Athenian philosophers had no idea who it was that "did" it, but they worshiped that "unknown god", and Paul proclaimed to them the One True God!  Furthermore there are several passages in the Old Testament which state what now is scientific fact long before scientists discovered what God created.

 Columbus had faith that the earth was round because God said it was in  Isaiah 40:22" It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth..." long before Ferdinand Magellan sailed around it in 1522!  

The "hydrologic cycle" was discovered in 1580 A.D. by Bernard Palissy.  God revealed it to Solomon when he said:

Ecclesiastes 1:7 "All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again." 

 Likewise, Solomon new of the jet streams which are warmer that the atmosphere which flow from west to east and flow right over Asia where he was! He knew that the orbit of earth and solar radiation created these streams.  These are mapped today and familiar to even children. God knew about them long ago (before 923 BC), but Wasaburo Oishi found them out in the 1920s. For 2800 years mankind failed to find what Solomon knew because God old him so!  

In 1896 Japan had the first mention of "tsunami" waves. However, God used them to flood the earth in Noah's time! Where did the "extra" water come from? Since the hydrologic cycle is a closed system, we have basically the same water now as was ever there. That meant the extra water came from somewhere! Science just did (this year) propose that the earth has an underground ocean three times the size of the surface oceans. This ocean is 100's of miles beneath the surface (The Guardian: Earth may have underground 'ocean' three times that on surface). 

This is more than enough water to flood the earth allowing the miracle of the flood in Noah's time! There are many other scientific facts within the Bible. It's full of them. Many miracles have been proven possible by merely God using his hand to steer what he made!

Scientists anticipate with various theories that the earth will be destroyed by climate change or a collision with a meteorite. God's word points toward a nuclear destruction with intense heat.

God knows more than science. He creates what science takes ages to discover!

• Others would say that the Bible is philosophy for living and that Jesus was a mere good man with great sayings.
•  Others would say that the Bible is a historical novel and it's to be read as a great tale.
• Many deny the inerrancy of the Bible. "Inerrancy" is that all the facts presented are without error. Even many biblical scholars and many liberal Christian churches and universities contend that the Bible is full of errors, even in the original text. Why would we believe a "book of errors"? They don't!
• Many of the same people propose that the Bible contradicts itself when each "contradiction" can be explained by context. 
• Most say that scripture lacks continuity when it is in fact "all about Jesus" from Genesis through Revelation; from beginning to end. (John Chapter 1).
• Some say that the "original" 1611 King James Version is the only reliable version. Few of those even have a copy of the 1611 version! (It's extremely hard to read!). Furthermore, what are foreign people to read?
• Most say that the Bible is boring to read. How can the actual words spoken by our Creator bore you? It's because of unbelief! If the reader believes in God, that individual will be reading exactly what God did and why! All the questions we dream of asking someone who knows are answered in the Bible! By reading God's Word is how unbelief is conquered and belief arouses joy!
• Most say that they'll read it when they get old. Perhaps these people should play Russian Roulette because no one is assured of old age. How can we know what God has in store for our lives if we wait for our eminent deaths to find out!
• People say they don't read the Bible because they want to live now. Sure, they all want to go to heaven, but without the sacrifice it takes to go there: the self! These folks, if they somehow squeak by, may be a little uncomfortable in a Holy place!
• People say they don't understand the Bible so they don't read it. The reason that we are to read it is so that we can understand it! Preachers are there to help us understand!

Acts 8:30 "And Philip ran thither to him (the eunuch), and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? 31 And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him."

We are without excuse! God is real and scripture is to be read so that we can have faith. With faith we can have eternal life! Let's go back to science: it points toward an Almighty God because the "god of Chance" has no power.

Romans 1:20 "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:"

Being "without excuse" is questioning what we see! We see the marvels around us and we should ask "From where did they come?" Science can't explain that. Theories aren't even fulfilling.  We read the Bible to find out from whence it all came. If we don't even have the initiative to wonder why, we are truly "without excuse". Even in my childhood days I'd look at the green hills of earth, the trees, the crops, the animals, the waters, the stars and the rest of the cosmos; and wonder: "Where did this all come from?" My desire was to find out, and because I found out by God's word, I now have hope. Yes, the Bible is all about "hope"! It's all about Jesus!