OAIM Christian Essentials Course Essential 1

The Bible says about itself."Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens." (Psalms 119:89) "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness". (2 Timothy 3:16) The skeptic will tell you that just because the Bible says it is the written word of God, does not make it so nor does it make it true.

This is a legitimate argument because the same circular logic is used when asking a Moslem how he can know the Quran is the word of God. The evidence he presents is, "Because the Quran says so." If this is all that is required to prove a writing to be from God, then any writing at any time could fit this criteria. If we determine what is true and what is not true merely by whether or not it identifies itself as true, then this would make all writings equally valid. What really needs to be asked is, "What is your evidence that this is true?" This same question needs to be asked of others who are presenting any particular belief system. We should not hesitate to ask for their evidence, because it is just as valid for us to ask for their evidence as it would be for them to question ours. Answering a critic through pointing out the errors of their writings will do absolutely no good if you are not knowledgeable of the evidence that confirms your own beliefs.

If we are not convinced in our own hearts that the Bible in indeed the infallible written word of God, then it is easy to deviate from the word of God and form various contradicting belief systems that causes Jesus to conform to man's image rather than man conforming to His image. If we cannot believe what the Bible says about who God is, then it only stands to reason that we would be seeking a god other than who God is as revealed in the Bible since this would be a false god.

Because of the above reason, this is why we need to begin with the Bible because all else that follows depends upon if we believe the Bible is His written word or not. Before we begin the study of the evidence, we need to understand there is a difference between "evidence" and "proof." Do not get caught in the trap of being asked to give the "proof" as to why you believe the Bible is the written word of God because there is no such thing as "proof." All beliefs require a certain element of faith, but this kind of faith is weighing the evidence and deciding if the evidence is strong enough to place our faith in what is written; it is not a blind faith. When one asks for "proof," it generally is meant in the terms of proof as in something that can be experienced with one or more of the five senses of touch, taste, sight, hearing or smell. In that sense of proof, the skeptic cannot give "proof" of his beliefs either. A certain amount of faith is required in all belief systems. The answer is not found in who has the most "blind faith," but the answer is found in the evidence that is the most credible in which we can place our faith.

Your assignment:

You need to research the answers to the following questions so you can write up a summary of your conclusions for each. We suggest 300 words to answer each question, but we are much more interested in seeing quality than quantity. Write enough to completely express what you believe on the topic. When you finish writing your first conclusion, you can submit it to us at the address below, and we will send you back our comments. If you'd rather, you may choose to answer these four questions and submit them at the same time in one e-mail.

Why is the Bible reliable?
How can we know that the Bible is the infallible word of God?
Why can we not rely on other people's interpretations or extra-biblical writings as the basis of our doctrinal beliefs?
Which Bible translation do you use and what is your reason for choosing this particular one?

Please wait for our response to these before continuing on with the next essential.

Procedure:

For those who are new to researching a topic, here are some ideas of a procedure to follow. Examine the above questions. Do these questions lead you to even more questions you personally might have? What information will you need to gather in order to answer these questions? Where can you go for more information on this? Are there friends you can talk to? Are there books you want to read on the subject? Have you seen any articles that might help you make your conclusions?

Once you have asked yourself questions, you are ready to plan out your search. What search engines would you like to use? How are you going to determine the accuracy and reliability of a site? What are the steps you will take to research this topic?

Next you need to gather material together. Find the websites that seem to be most appealing to you and bookmark them. Talk to friends who are knowledgeable about this topic. Perhaps go to chat and discuss the issue with people in there.

After gathering the material, you need to sift through that material and find what is most important to you and the answers you are looking for. Analyze what you have, revise the questions you might need to ask yourself to find better information, and then search and sift again.

When you are satisfied with the material you have gathered, spend time thinking through your own conclusions on the matter before you begin writing. Organize your thoughts in a logical fashion. Perhaps even make a short outline to give yourself a roadmap to where you want to go with your conclusion. With clearly organized thoughts, put down your own conclusions on paper and let someone else read them to see if they understand what you are trying to say. If you do this before you submit them to us, we will see only your best quality work.

Research TIPS:

Take a few minutes to read the HELP page on your favorite search engine. You might be surprised how they can help you narrow your search to the best ones for your purpose. (For example, using " marks around your topic will usually return only those pages that have the exact phrase.)

Gather your information from several sources. Read both sides of the issue before you make your final decision. Examine the reliability of the source you are using.

Include a bibliography. It doesn't have to be college-perfect, but for your own sake, you may want to go back and refer to those resources again. Also, we'd like to see where you are getting your information. Who knows, maybe you've found a really good site we'd like to refer to?

Research Helps:

The following websites are only suggestions. You may do your own search by putting in the words "Authenticity of the Bible" or "Evidence of the reliability of the Bible" in any search engine and do your own research. Please note that although we list these links for your perusal does not mean we agree with them. Some links are given so you can view both sides of the issue. Also, while we may agree with a particular article that an author writes, we may not agree completely with their theology.

http://www.ronrhodes.org/Inspiration.html
http://www.ronrhodes.org/Manuscript.html
http://www.answering-christianity.com/contra.htm

The following website is a more exhaustive study on the subject of the authenticity of the Bible if you should so choose.

http://www.tcc.org.au/evidence/040.html

Final Product:

When you are ready to turn in your conclusions, remember these basic things.

Please use a spell-checker and use good grammar. It is difficult to read communication that is grammatically lax. Chat spellings are fine for chat, but cul8r is just not as easy to read as "See you later." :o)
Instead of attaching your writing to an e-mail, it is much easier to read if it is inline text. This can easily be done by cutting and pasting your writing into the body of the e-mail.
Remember that we cannot read your minds. Don't assume we will know what you mean. Explain it to us as if we disagreed with you on the issue.
Be patient with turnaround time since we are just starting this and do not know what kind of volume we will have. If you believe it has taken too long and your work might have been lost in cyberspace, send a short follow-up e-mail asking us if we received it.
Keep a copy of your writing for yourself.
Include a bibliography (a listing of where you obtained your information for your conclusion). Remember, this does not have to be in college-type bibliographic form, but we should be able to find the same sources you found.

Send to:

Your final conclusions on the above questions should be sent to:

Christian Essentials Course

Label your e-mail in the subject line as: Essential 1.

Please wait for our response before continuing on with Essentials 2.

Click here to continue on to Essentials 2, The Nature of God.