BiblicalInsights.net

     I have been reading an interesting book in the field of Christian Apologetics.  The book was written by John J. Blunt and is titled, Undesigned Coincidences in the writings of both the Old and New Testament.  The book is an argument for the veracity of the Scriptures.  One of the interesting examples of undesigned coincidences is the scriptural record of the miracles of the feeding of the five thousand and the four thousand.  All four evangelists record the miracle of the five thousand (Matt. 14:20; Mark 6:43; Luke 9:17 and John 6:13).  All four, without variation, use the word kophinous (plural form of kophinos) to indicate the baskets taken up.  There were twelve baskets taken up after the multitude was fed.  The miracle of the feeding of the four thousand is recorded by two of the evangelists (Matt. 15:37; Mark 8:8).  The phrase, “hepta spuridas” is used to indicate the seven baskets taken up after the multitude was fed.  There must have been a marked difference in the two baskets.  Kophinos is invariably used when the miracle of the five thousand is referenced and spuris is invariably used when the miracle of the four thousand is referenced.  Jesus refers to both of these miracles in Matt. 16:9-10.  “Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?  Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?”  Jesus used the same terms, kophinos and spuris respectively, when speaking of the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand and the miracle of the feeding of the four thousand.
     In Acts 9:25, Paul was let down by the wall in a basket to escape a plot to take his life.  The basket (spuris) was large enough for a man to get into.  This is the basket that was used to take up the fragments of food left over after the feeding of the four thousand.  The spuris was a large basket whereas the kophinos was a smaller basket.  So, even though there were fewer baskets taken up (seven verses twelve), the baskets were larger.
     The point of the coincidence is the precise difference of the vessels and the uniform application of the term kophinos to the basket of the miracle of the five thousand and the uniform application of spuris to the miracle of the four thousand.  The words are never used interchangeably.  The two miracles were distinctly impressed upon the minds of the evangelists and of Jesus as real events.
     If the minute details of the miracle accounts are true, then what about the miracles related in the account?  If the details are so well preserved and validated, then what about the miracle itself?  The miracle must also be true and points to something greater. 
     Jesus is the “bread of life” (John 6:35).   ”Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4).  “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).  While physical bread sustains physical life, only the “bread from heaven” (Jesus Christ) can give spiritual life that leads to eternal life!

     Lee Strobel in his book, The Case For Christ, sets forth the evidence for the truth about the life of Christ, i.e. His death, burial and resurrection.  Strobel gives the results of thirteen interviews from a variety of biblical scholars each proficient in their respective fields of study.  One of the interviews was with John McRay who specializes in biblical archaeology.  This interview focused on the archaeological support for the accuracy of the New Testament documents.  Strobel writes, “One promient archaeologist carefully examined Luke’s references to thirty-two countries, fifty-four cities, and nine islands, finding not a single mistake” (Strobel, p. 98 (quoting from Geisler and Howe, When Critics Ask, 385).
     Contrast this fact with the Book of Mormon.  Archaeology has repeatedly failed to substantiate the claims of the Book of Mormon.  No Book of Mormon cities have ever been located.  No Book of Mormon persons,  places, nations or names have ever been found.  No Book of Mormon artifacts have ever been found.  No Book of Mormon inscriptions have ever been found.  Nothing which demonstrates the Book of Mormon is anything other than myth or invention has ever been found (Strobel, p. 107).
     This is an amazing contrast.  Where the New Testament can be tested for accuracy, archaeology has verified its contents.  Whereas, the Book of Mormon has no archaeological support.  The New Testament is clearly established as being truthful.  The Book of Mormon is merely myth!

     As a follow-up to the previous blog, I wanted to give you some information from the book Already Gone written by Ken Ham and Britt Beemer.  A survey of 1,000 20-somethings who regularly attended church as children and teens, were asked, “Did you often attend Sunday School?”  In reply, 61 percent said yes; and 39 percent said no.  The survey found that “Sunday school is actually more likely to be detrimental to the spiritual and moral health of our children” (p. 38).  Children who regularly attend Sunday School are actually:
     1.  More likely NOT to believe that all the accounts/stories in the Bible are true/accurate.
     2.  More likely to doubt the Bible because it was written by men.
     3.  More likely to doubt the Bible because it was not translated correctly.
    4.  More likely to defend premarital sex.
     5.  More likely to defend that abortion should continue to be legal.
     6.  More likely to accept that gay marriage should be legal.
     7.  More likely to believe that God used evolution to change one kind of animal into another.
     8.  More likely NOT to believe the earth is less than 10,000 years old.
     9.  More likely to question the Bible because they believe the earth is not less than 10,000 years old.
    10.  More likely to doubt the Bible because of secular dates of billions of years for the age of the earth.
    11.  More likely to have heard a minister/Sunday school teacher teach Christians could believe in millions/billions of years.
    12.  More likely to question the earth is young and the days of creation are 24 hours each.
    13.  More likely to believe that dinosaurs died out before people were on the planet.
    14.  More likely to view the Church as hypocritical.
    15.  More likely to have become anti-church through the years.
    16.  More likely to believe that good people don’t need to go to church.    (see p. 39 of Already Gone)
     Belief in the Bible as the Word of God is diminshing among many young people, even those who have attended Bible classes or Sunday School.  These young people are rejecting the historical accuracy of the Bible.  They are rejecting the inspiration and authority of the Word of God.  Why?  Secular humanism (denial of God and His Word) and postmodernism (rejection of an objective standard of truth) have taken their toll on the faith of many children.  What they are taught in the classrooms of our schools is slowly winning out over what they are taught in Bible classes. 
     What can we do about this situation?  Spiritual leaders must continue to teach and to defend the Word of God.  We must be able to prove the case for the inspiration and authority of God’s Word.  Bible classes must not only teach the content of Scripture, but must also provide evidence for the veracity of Scripture.  Bible classes must not be “play time” and “chat times.”  They need to be rooted and grounded in Scripture with an emphasis on the evidences that show Scripture to be valid and believable.

     I have just uploaded a new book review.  The book is titled, Already Gone and is written by Ken Ham and Britt Beemer with collaborator Todd Hillard.  This book explores the reasons why 20 somethings are leaving mainline religious groups and becoming inactive.  One thousand individuals were surveyed from fifteen different religious groups including some from the church of Christ. Two different groups of those becoming inactive were discovered.  One of these groups did not have faith in the Bible’s historical record of events and another lost confidence in churches that did not live the Word of God.  Ham and Beemer discovered that young people were buying into secular humanism and postmodernism (relevancy of truth, feelings over reason). 
    The authors recommend a remedy of teaching the Word of God, defending the Word of God and living the Word of God.  This book is worth reading for an understanding of how secular humanism and postmodernism undermine confidence in God’s Word.

     Recently, Dan Barker (atheist) debated Kyle Butt (theist) on the proposition, “Does the God of the Bible exist?”  The debate is available from Apologetics Press.org. on DVD.  When Barker began his remarks, he listed 14 alleged contradictions that he believed refuted the notion that the God of the Bible existed.  These alleged contradictions can be properly explained and have been many times, but they seem to trouble some people.
     Wayne Jackson in his new book, The Bible on Trial, discusses what  a contradiction is and then proceeds to show that many of the alleged contradictions in the Bible are no more than semantic problems, time problems, or people problems.  Jackson states, “When one is confronted with an alleged contradiction, he must ask himself these questions: (1) Is the same thing or person under consideration?  (2) Is the same time period in view? (3) Is the language that seems to be self-contradictory employed in the same sense?” (The Bible on Trial, 60).
     Jackson illustrates the problem by analyzing two statements: Robert is rich.  Robert is poor. “Do these statements contradict one another?  The answer is–not necessarily!  First, two different people named Robert could be under consideration.  Second, two different time frames might be in view; Robert could have been rich, but, due to financial disaster, he became poor.  Third, the terms “rich” and “poor” might have been used in different senses: Robert could be spiritually rich but economically poor.  The point is this: it never is proper to assume a contradiction exists until every possible means of harmonization has been fully exhausted” (The Bible on Trial, 61).
     For example, Kyle Butt dealt with one of the proposed contradictions made by Dan Barker.  Jesus said, “If Ibear witness of myself, my witness is not true” (John 5:31).  Jesus said, “…Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true:” (John 8:14).  The explanation for this alleged contradiction is easily made.  There is a special sense in which Jesus uses the word “true” (John 5:31).  He uses it in the Jewish legal sense that a matter can be established to be true in the mouth of two or three witnesses (Deut. 17:6).  This does not mean that the personal testimony of one was necessarily false.  It does mean that the legal minimum required to establish a matter to be true was at least two witnesses.  In John 5, Jesus gives five witnesses to His true identity as God’s Son and as Messiah (John the baptist, the miracles He did, His Father, the Scriptures and Moses)!  Of course, He told the truth about Himself as well.
     All skeptics of the Bible need to take note.  You cannot prove that the God of the Bible does not exist by using these alleged contradictions.