Thoughts for the Day

All scripture is God-breathed …                     2 Timothy 3:16

At some point reading the Bible, we all come across statements that do not sit easily with us, even after checking the context and looking at other translations for nuances of meaning.  We have reached a “Did God really say?” moment, though we are more likely to express it in terms of questioning the reliability of the book, author or particular scripture.  Pivotal to answering this question is our view of the authority of the Bible, and fundamentally this is a matter of faith.  All Christians believe in an Almighty God whose ways and thoughts are higher than ours.  It follows that we can only know Him through what He chooses to reveal of Himself to us, and this is primarily recorded for us in the Bible.  If we decide to filter what the Bible says of God through our own intellect or cultural perspective, we put our thoughts above His, which seems to contradict that starting point.

But is it that simple?  Most of the Bible was not dictated by God but was written over some 1500 years in a range of genres by some 40 fallible, human authors.  Can we really trust everything all of them wrote?  Today’s verse reminds us of the Bible’s claim that all scripture is God-breathed, that we can trust it because authors wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  500 years ago, Martin Luther stood up to the unbiblical practice of the sale of papal indulgences and sparked the Protestant Reformation.  The supreme authority of the Bible as the Word of God was a central principle for which the Reformation fought.  Today, words such as “inerrant” and “infallible” continue to be used to express that authority.

So, is that an authority you and I are comfortable to accept?  We will pick this up for one more day tomorrow!