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Witnessing Without Fear -Appendix
Four- Answering the Most Common Objections
1. The Bible Was Written by
Men. Yes, the Bible was written by men. But, this does not mean that it necessarily erred in what it says, for not everything men say is in error, spiritually or otherwise. Second, the testimony of Scripture is not just that men wrote it, but that men “carried along by the Holy Spirit” wrote it (2 Peter 1:20-21). The superintending work of the Spirit guarantees its truthfulness. While there are problems in interpretation at times, the highly spiritual nature of the Bible, its diverse, yet consistent testimony to the character of God and man, and the way of salvation, as well as the number of perplexing historical issues that have been satisfactorily solved—combined with the overwhelming testimony of church history regarding its spiritual power to change lives—help to demonstrate its authenticity as ultimately a book from God. 2. I Believe That Jesus Was A Good Man, But . . . Everyone should believe that Jesus was a good man, lest they reveal something of their own depravity. How can someone call evil a man who loved others so deeply and sacrificed so much for them? The question is not, “Was Jesus a good man?” Rather, the question is, “Was He only a good man?” We may say a few things in response. First, He never claimed to be just a good man. Second, the record indicates that He claimed much more, indeed, He claimed that He had a special and unique relationship with the Father (John 8:58). Third, He did miracles and raised the dead. From this we would at least have to admit that He was no ordinary man. Fourth, He claimed He was the only way to God and that all other ways were dead ends (John 14:6). These are not the claims of a good man, for then He would have been a liar; no man, who is merely a good man, can be the only way to God. Finally, the records state that He rose from the dead and both the existence of the church and the personal claims of Christians (down through the ages) to know him (not just about him) argue strongly for the truthfulness of His claims. 3. What About Those Who Have
Never Heard? The fate of those who have never heard is an important question which has recently been at the forefront in the thinking of many people. Those who have asked it of me, if they were really concerned, should have shown more personal interest in making their own hearts right with the Lord. Since they often do not, I regard their asking as only a red herring (an evasive tactic) in the discussion. To answer the question, then, we know in a biblical worldview that no one will ever come to God apart from His grace in Christ. What we do not know is if God in His infinite mercy has shown himself savingly to others apart from missionary preaching. The Bible is silent on this and where the Bible is silent, we must be silent. And, where the Bible speaks, we must speak. The Bible declares that lost people perish not only for ignorance of the way of salvation in the gospel or for rejection of Christ, but even for their rejection of the light they do have via general revelation in nature and for personal sins that they have committed even though they know it to be wrong in their consciences (see Rom 1:18-20; 2:14-15). So, lost people are “without excuse” even when they have never heard of Christ or the Bible. For the Christian then, we should be concerned for those who have never heard because without hearing and believing the gospel, they will perish. Consider the words of the apostle Paul and follow his train of thought: For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? . . . So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Rom 10:13-15a, 17, NKJV). We will be held accountable for our efforts to reach all peoples with the gospel. 4. Don’t All Roads Lead to God? The answer to this question is simply “no.” Not all roads lead to God. We would never make such a claim of the physical or intellectual realm, why should we make it of the spiritual realm? For example, if we are driving from the Bay area to Los Angeles, there’s only one direction that will get us there—South! We cannot live in the physical realm by the philosophy that any direction we choose will get us to our chosen destination, why should it be any different in the spiritual realm? If we make any claim about truth, we believe that there is also error. This cannot be avoided. If we believe there is truth and error, we believe that our minds are able to grasp the difference. If this is true, we believe in the law of non-contradiction (A cannot be non-A at the same time and in the same way). In short, we believe that our minds can grasp truth, at least to some degree, namely, to the degree that no two statements that affirm opposite claims about God, in the same way and at the same time, can in fact be true. Either both are false or one is true and the other false. Since this is true, and most religions, including the world’s great religions offer competing theologies about God, they cannot all be true. Either they’re all false, or one is true, or each contains some elements of truth that require yet another synthesis. Therefore, not all roads lead to God. |
