Book Review: How Do We Know the Bible Is True?

Posted on by August 18, 2011
1

Here's a brand new apologetics book that I contributed to by writing three chapters and editing most of the others. It also includes chapters from John MacArthur and Ken Ham.

It was a real privilege for me to work on this new apologetics book, especially since there are chapters from two Christian leaders that I really look up to (John MacArthur and Ken Ham). Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge served as the general editors and I had the opportunity to check and edit the content of nearly every chapter.

This 300-page book is the first volume in what is scheduled to be a four-volume set. Each book will address 20–30 of some of the biggest questions that people have about the Bible, the biblical worldview, and science. The book is designed with the average reader in mind so the technical jargon is kept to a minimum.

The three chapters I wrote dealt with the following issues: How Should We Interpret the Bible? (with special attention to Genesis 1—11); What About the Factual Claims in The da Vinci Code?; The Framework Hypothesis (co-authored with Dr. Bob McCabe).

Here is a list of just some of the other topics covered in this first volume (along with the author of the chapter):

  • Is the Old Testament Reliable? Brian Edwards
  • Is the New Testament Reliable? Brian Edwards
  • Did the Physical Resurrection of Christ Really Happen? Dr. Tommy Mitchell
  • Is Genesis a Derivation of Ancient Myths? Steve Ham
  • Is the Trinity Three Different Gods? Dr. Jobe Martin
  • Did Miracles Really Happen? Paul Taylor
  • Are There Contradictions in the Bible? Dr. Jason Lisle
  • Polygamy in the Light of Scripture by Roger Patterson
  • Other Religious Writings—Can They Be from God too? Bodie Hodge
  • Why I Am Committed to Teaching the Bible by Dr. John MacArthur
  • How to Properly View Evidence by Ken Ham

There are several more important subjects covered in this book dealing with many of the latest attacks on the Word of God. So besides the fact that this book deals with a large number of the most recent attacks, what makes it any different than most of the apologetics books on the market? How Do We Know the Bible Is True? approaches the issues from a presuppositional point of view, whereas most works on apologetics come from an evidentialist perspective. This doesn’t mean that we don’t provide any evidence for our positions; it means we start from the Bible and show why the evidence makes sense in light of Scripture and cannot be accounted for in a naturalistic, atheistic worldview.

Another huge difference between this book and most apologetics books is that we are not afraid to take a stand on a straightforward understanding of Genesis 1–11. Most apologists out there either avoid Genesis 1–11 like the plague or they actually promote views that contradict Genesis. God has revealed the true history of the world to us in His Word, and it is only when we are willing to trust Him in all areas that we can truly claim to have a biblical worldview.

Of course, I highly recommend this book. It is extremely important for Christians to be able to defend their faith.

So is it a perfect book? Well, it’s not as good as the Bible (and never will be). Also, I’ve already found a couple of typos that I missed during the editing process (even one in my own chapter, oops), which will be corrected in the next printing. So although it isn’t perfect, I would encourage you to pick up a copy at your earliest convenience.

Commonly Misused Bible Verses: Matthew 18:19–20

Posted on by March 27, 2014
289

Both Christians and unbelievers are guilty of misusing Bible verses by ripping them from their original context.

This is post #4 in the Commonly Misused Bible Verses series. So far I have commented on 2 Chronicles 7:14 and Jeremiah 29:11. These two verses are often pulled out of their contexts by well-meaning Christians. Matthew 7:1 is a very popular verse for unbelievers to misuse. Click on the links for more information on any of those articles.

For today’s post, I want to take a look at another verse that is frequently misused by well-meaning Christians. Bear in mind that I am not trying to pick on anyone or attack them for misusing these verses. Most of the time they are misused because we have heard someone else misuse them and we’re used to hearing the verse in a particular (but wrong) context, so we repeat the same error. This series is designed to encourage people to take a close look at Scripture before repeating what we’ve heard.

Commonly Misused Bible Verse #4: Matthew 18:19–20

Think about how many times you have heard someone quote or summarize this passage during a prayer or immediately before praying.

“Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:19–20, NKJV)

The idea that is commonly promoted is that if there are two or more people gathered together who agree on something, and they ask God for it in prayer, then Jesus will be present and God will answer their request.

If you’ve read any of the other posts in this series, then you know that we need to look at the context to see what is wrong with the way many people use this verse. However, before we do that, can you see some problems with the idea that God will grant the request of those who come together and are in agreement in prayer? First of all, Jesus said “where two or three are gathered” in His name, so how could this apply to settings of four or more? Also, why would it take two or three believers to be gathered together for Jesus to be in their midst? Isn’t He already present in each and every individual believer? So even if one Christian prays, isn’t Jesus already there?

So there are already a couple of problems with the common use of this passage. Now let’s take a look at the context. This section deals with a subject that most churches completely neglect: church discipline. Jesus said that if you have a brother who sins against you, then you need to go to him and try to work it out. If he refuses to acknowledge his fault, then you bring one or two more witnesses to help work things out. So including you, that would make two or three witnesses—recognize that phrase? Not only is it repeated in these verses, but it comes from the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 19:15 and more). Legal cases needed to have two or three witnesses to establish a matter.

Back to Jesus’ story. If the sinning brother did not make things right in the presence of two or three witnesses, then the case was to be brought before the church. If he refused to listen to the church’s decision, then he was to be thrown out of the congregation. I know that sounds harsh in our day because precious few churches practice discipline as Jesus instructed, but that is what we are commanded to do.

Tim's latest book is a practical apologetic on the Resurrection of Jesus. See www.midwestapologetics.org/shop for more details.

Tim’s latest book is a practical apologetic on the Resurrection of Jesus. See www.midwestapologetics.org/shop for more details.

It is with this in mind that Jesus said that the Father would grant the request of two or more who gather together in Christ’s name and are in agreement. Agreement on what? On disciplining the erring brother. That’s what this passage is about and yet so many Christians use it as though Jesus promised to answer their prayers when offered in certain situations.

Before I finish this post let me stress what the Bible actually does say about prayer. The Apostle John wrote, “Now this is the confidence we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14–15). John also wrote, “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight” (1 John 3:22).

So we can have confidence about God answering our prayers when we are obediently following Him and praying according to His will. If you haven’t experienced answered prayer, then perhaps you aren’t living in obedience and/or praying according to His will (or maybe He did answer it and you didn’t recognize the response because He often answers in ways we don’t expect).