2 Pet 3:3
knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the
last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his
coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as
they were from the beginning of creation.”
There are no greater questions than these three: “Does
God exist?” “Is the Bible the true, inspired Word of God?” and, “Is Jesus the
Christ, the Son of God?” One’s answers to these questions determine his or her
answers to all other significant questions.
The Bible’s truth claims are found frequently in its
pages. For example, Paul wrote in Gal 1:20, “Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God
that I am not lying.” Over and over again the writers of Scripture insist that
they are telling the truth, and they distinguish that truth from fables and
tales.
What is a myth?
Greek μῦθος: a tale, story, legend, fable, myth, in
contrast with true accounts.
English “myth,”
from thefreedictionary.com:
1a. a
story about superhuman beings of an earlier age taken by preliterate society to
be a true account, usually of how natural phenomena, social customs, etc., came
into existence
2. a
person or thing whose existence is fictional or unproven
What
does the Bible say about myths?
The Bible not only talks about myths; the
Bible distinguishes between myths and truth.
2 Pet
1:16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths
when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we
were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father,
and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son,
with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for
we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to
which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place,
until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,
20 knowing this first of
all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.
21 For no prophecy was
ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried
along by the Holy Spirit.
Does the Bible predict those who would deny
its truth?
2 Pet
3:1 This is now the second letter that I am
writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by
way of reminder, 2 that you should remember
the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior
through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the
last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.
4 They will say, “Where
is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all
things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”
5 For they deliberately
overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed
out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed
was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist
are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of
the ungodly.
Could Christians
be misled?
1 Ti 1:3
As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia,
remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any
different doctrine, 4 nor to devote themselves to myths and endless
genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God
that is by faith.
1 Ti 4:7
Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly
myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;
Tit 1:13
This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them
sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, 14 not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands
of people who turn away from the truth.
2 Ti 4:1
I charge you in the presence of God and of
Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and
his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be
ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience
and teaching. 3 For the time is coming
when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will
accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,
4 and will turn away from
listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
Why would people treat the Bible as myth?
Itching
ears. 2 Tim 4:1-4
Desire
for autonomy, to be God, not serve God. Gen 3
Dislike of
the Bible’s teachings about sin, God’s wrath, hell, etc.
Desire
to be free of moral restrictions.
Love of
the world and pleasure. 1 Jn 2:15-17; 2 Tim 3:1ff
Desire to
“eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”
Trust in
human wisdom, reason, and ability.
Confidence
in science, medicine, technology, money.
Belief that
science has disproven the Bible.
Sense of
enlightenment: “We have arrived!”
Pre-disposition
against the existence of God, the possibility of miracles, and the inspiration
of Scripture.
Belief that
man’s view of God has evolved and that man no longer needs God.
Belief that
ancient people were gullible and naïve.
Constant
bombardment by all kinds of media.
How does
our culture attack the Bible as truth?
Depicting
biblical faith as weak, useless, or outdated.
Painting
Bible believers as “right-wing extremists.”
Rewriting
our nation’s (and the world’s) history.
Promoting
the evolutionary timetable as fact.
Indoctrinating
the young – the very young.
Highlighting
celebrities who live immoral lives.
Using
museums, zoos, movies, books, documentaries.
Ignoring
indisputable facts about origins.
Silencing
Bible-believing scientists, historians, archaeologists, researchers,
professors, politicians, etc.
What are the results?
There is
no objective basis for defining morality.
The
basis of law, morality, ethics, and values is removed.
There is
no objective standard of right and wrong.
Anything
goes in one’s private life. Between consenting adults any behavior is acceptable.
Self is
God. Choice is God. Freedom is God. Sin is God.
Human
life has no unique “image-of-God” value.
We have
no verified information as to our origin.
Difference between killing a man and killing
a squirrel.
Abortion, infanticide, euthanasia.
There is
no purpose in life.
There is
no basis for marriage or the family.
Marriage can be redefined or eliminated.
There is
no basis for altruism (good for its own sake).
There is
no limit to bio-medical research or techniques.
Cloning to provide spare parts.
Embryonic stem cell research.
There is
no life after death, as the Bible describes it.
There is
no ultimate justice beyond this life.
But of course, again, there is no actual
good or evil.
People
may do whatever they can get away with doing.
Laws
must be multiplied to enforced external behavior. Guns, etc.
Large drug companies have paid off generic
companies not to produce competing products at a lower price. Time for a new
law!
The
ultimate breakdown of the family, the school, the community, and the nation.
Our
inner moral compass – the conscience – is useless.
What evidence shows that the Bible is not
myth?
Undeniable
historical realities:
There
was a man named Jesus from Nazareth.
He died
during the days of Pontius Pilate.
His body
has never been found.
The
church began early in the first century …
In the
city where Jesus lived and died …
Within a
very short period after those claimed events.
Baptism
reenacted His death, burial, and resurrection.
Christianity
spread throughout the first-century world.
Those who
claimed to be witnesses were persecuted, tried, tortured, and put to death for
their faith.
Elements
once denied by unbelievers, but no longer!
Camels
Gen 12:16
Hittites
Ex 23:23
Solomon’s
navy and cavalry 1 Kgs 9:26; 10:26
Sargon
Isa 20:1
Belshazzar
Dan 5:7
Iconium
Acts 14:6
David’s
existence and rule
The Tel-Dan Stele (monument)
“House
of David”
Mid-9th-century
BC
Found in
Dan, 1993/94 (in the Golan Heights)
This inscribed
basalt stone contains the oldest reference to King David outside of
the Bible. Roughly a foot tall. Written in Aramaic. The text actually refers to
the “house of David,” meaning his royal family. Now located in the Israel Museum.
King
David’s palace found at Khirbet Qeiyafa 7/13
The project covered about 18 miles of
excavation over a seven-year period.
The site is located about 20 miles southwest
of Jerusalem, and it borders the Elah Valley. This valley is one of the major
thoroughfares between the coastal plan, where the Philistines lived, and the
hill-country, where the Israelites settled and had their capital city of
Jerusalem. It was in the Elah Valley that David defeated the Philistine
champion Goliath (1 Sam. 17).
Excavations at the site have uncovered a
well-planned fortified city from the late 11th-/early 10th-century B.C. This is
the period in which many historians place David’s rule over Israel. In the
central area of the site, archaeologists unearthed remains of a
10,000-square-foot palatial structure. To the north of the palace, they found a
pillared building that was perhaps used as an administrative store-room for the
palace. The archaeologists argue that the city is the best example of a
fortified town from the time of King David.
One of the buildings was identified as a
palace, while the other is believed to be a very large royal storeroom.
The storeroom contains evidence that can
help researchers date the site.
“This is the only site in which organic
material was found — including olive seeds — that can be carbon-14 dated [to King
David’s time],” Israel Antiquities Authority spokeswoman Yoli
Schwartz told The Times of Israel.
From Time Magazine
The
December 1974 issue of Time stated, “The Bible is often surprisingly accurate
in historical particulars, more so than earlier generations of scholars ever suspected.”
It went
on to say, “After more than two centuries of facing the heaviest scientific
guns that could be brought to bear, the Bible has survived – and is perhaps the
better for the siege.”
From U.S. News & World Report
“A wave
of archaeological discoveries is altering old ideas about the roots of
Christianity and Judaism – and affirming that the Bible is more historically
accurate than many scholars thought.” U.S. News, “New Finds Cast Fresh
Light on the Bible,” 8/24/81
From the Tennessean newspaper:
“[Recent]
discoveries have provided the first hard evidence for a number of biblical figures
and events, many of which had been widely dismissed as myths and moral tales.” The
Tennessean,
“Archaeologists’ finds fit Bible’s account of past,” 12/96. Such as:
· Site of ancient Shechem found, where Genesis 12:6-7 says Abraham built an
altar to God. Archaeologists have confirmed an organized community there 4,000
years ago.
· Discoveries of fire-blackened stone in a
trench on a hot, barren mountainside fit with the Bible’s claim that Joshua
destroyed ancient Hazor with fire, as recorded in Joshua 11.
· Archaeologists in 1996 found a stone tablet
with a Phoenician inscription bearing the name Ekron, an ancient Philistine
city. See Josh 13:3.
· An ivory pomegranate, with words, “Holy to
the priests, belonging to the temple of Yahweh [the LORD],” may be first relic
ever recovered from Solomon’s temple, 950 BC.
· In 1996, in a 2,000-year-old garbage dump
at Masada, wine jug found, inscribed with name of King Herod. First object ever
found with his name. See Matt 2:1.
· The discovery of ancient Egyptian forts
near the Mediterranean reveals why God sent the Israelites to Canaan by an
indirect route. Ex 13:17-18
The Bible itself: unity.
It contains 66 books, written by about 40 people (farmers,
fishermen, kings, shepherds), over a period of 1600 years, on 3 continents
(Africa, Asia, Europe), in 3 languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek). Yet it is a single
volume … the Bible (Greek for “book”).
Imagine 10 writers on any subject whose works form a unit (not
just a collection).
Imagine three independent sculptors, each with a product, who come
together to find that their pieces fit together perfectly and form one statue.
What would you conclude?
· Unity
of Theme · Unity of Structure · Unity of Focus
The Need of Redemption, Promise of
Redemption, Prophecy of Redemption, Realization of Redemption, Publication of
Redemption, Application of Redemption, and Fulfillment of Redemption
The Bible itself: accuracy.
Not only were the Bible’s anticipations of modern science unknown
in ancient times; they flatly contradicted the “medical” writings of Egypt,
where Moses was reared.
Do Not Eat Blood - Lev
17:12,14
Do Not Eat Pork, Scavengers - Lev
11
Diagnosing Leprosy - Lev 13
Burning Contaminated Clothes -
Lev 13:52
Washing and Bathing - Lev
17:15
Disposing of Human Waste -
Deut 23:13
Without such instruction, the Israelites would have perished in
the wilderness.
The Bible itself: predictive prophecy.
· Early in time · Specific in scope · Unmistakable in
fulfillment
Jesus
Jesus’
identity: legend, liar, lunatic, or Lord?
Jesus’
resurrection: no other option.
Jesus’
teaching: proven by practice.
Jesus’
influence: attested by history.
In fact, isn’t evolution itself actually a
myth?
According to the “scientific method,” if you cannot see it, taste
it, smell it, or see it, then “it” is not confirmed truth!
“Matter is eternal.” “An accident caused a Big Bang.” “The Earth
is 4.6 billion years old.” “Non-living material came to life on its own.” “One
tiny, living cell ultimately produced all forms of life that exist today.” “There
is no design(er).”
“DNA is the result of infinite millions of accidents.” “Human
personality came from non-personal causes.”
Note the specific detail and authoritative tone with which the “evolutionary
timetable” is presented. Then note the disclaimer: “Dates are approximate!”
Resources
Notes,
outline, and audio from this presentation: http://coryhcollins.blogspot.com/2013/08/is-it-all-myth.html
Other
blog posts: http://coryhcollins.blogspot.com/
Click on
“Evidences.”
“Samson
Strikes Again”
“Charles
Darwin Attacked by Bombardier Beetle”
“Who
Invited Job to Jurassic Park?”
Convicted,
Brad Harrub, Ph.D., Focus Press, 2009.
Dinosaurs
Unleashed, Kyle Butt and Eric Lyons, Apologetics Press, 2004
Why the
Bible is Number 1, Kenny Barfield, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1997.
What If
Jesus Had Never Been Born, D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe, Thomas
Nelson Publishers, 1994
What If
the Bible Had Never Been Written, D. James Kennedy and Jerry
Newcombe, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998
Bible
and Archaeology - Online Museum
Fifty
items in approximate chronological order.
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