What you believe about the Bible matters. Your theology matters! The crazy thing is, most of us have never thought too much about what we believe about the Bible. Even those of us who read the Bible every single day often haven’t thought much about why we believe what we believe about the Bible. Take this quick quiz:
- Do you believe the Bible is totally true, mostly true, or full of errors?
- Can you explain why there are different translations of the Bible?
- Did God inspire every word of Scripture like dictation or did He just inspire the general ideas that the human authors wrote?
- Do you believe that the Bible is authoritative or inspirational or both?
What you believe about the Bible is important.
My goal here is not necessarily to tell you what to believe but to inspire you to think for yourself about what you believe, search the Scriptures, and find out why you believe what you believe. Here’s why: You have an enemy that seeks to deceive you. If he can get you to believe that your view of Scripture doesn’t really matter, he’ll have you where he wants you. Or worse, if he can get you to not even pay attention to your theology of Scripture at all, he won’t have to worry much about you beyond that.
Here are a few basic facts to start you off on developing a theology of Scripture:
- The Bible was written by 40+ eyewitnesses over 1600 years.
- There are 39 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books.
- The books were originally written in Hebrew, Greek, and a little Aramaic.
- Chapter and verse numbers weren’t added until much later (900-1551).
- The Hebrew OT and Greek NT are said to be 99.5% accurate.
- There are NO original manuscripts of the Bible in existence today. NONE.
So how do we know what the Bible originally said?
We have tons of copies. Some copies are copies of the entire book. Others are pages, while still others are just little pieces of papyrus. But when archaeologists and scholars and theologians have compared all of these pieces and copies side by side, they’ve seen the same consistent material over and over again. There is agreement among the copies – enough agreement that we can be certain that the Bible we hold in our hands today is accurate. In fact, no other piece of ancient literature is as widely accepted as accurate as The Bible.
So why does this matter? Your theology of Scripture lays the foundation for your entire belief system. In other words, what you believe about the Bible affects what you believe about everything else.
A few examples for you:
You suffer the death of someone close to you, so you turn to the Bible, but it seems like empty platitudes because you don’t believe the Bible is totally true for all times and all people.
Someone you love is facing a battle with chronic illness so you turn to the Bible and find some comfort in the Psalms. You pick and choose Bible verses and look for the ones that apply to your situation, but don’t find much comfort in Scripture as a whole.
You’re burdened by what you see on the news. You don’t understand how people can believe the things they seem to believe in so strongly. The Bible doesn’t address politics and riots and social movements specifically so you form your opinions based on what you hear, read, and see.
Your theology of Scripture lays the foundation for your entire belief system.
What you believe about Scripture influences everything you believe about everything else.
If you believe the Bible is totally true for all times and in all places and for all people, you will be able to stand firm with a Kingdom perspective on current events. Your belief that the Bible is totally true, you can face illness and death with eternity in mind. Your belief that the Bible is totally true will influence every other area of your life.
If you are feeling worried, anxious, and afraid, I’d like to make a suggestion. Think about your theology of Scripture. Do you believe that the Bible is true? Every word? If you say you believe every word is true, try reading it like it really is true. You’ll be amazed at how your mindset about the Bible’s truthfulness colors the way you read it.
If you’re not so sure the Bible is totally true, I want to encourage you to do a little more research. Reach out to me here or in real life – I’d love to walk with you through your journey! Follow the links below to learn a little more about inerrancy and why your theology matters.
