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Question: How is the authenticity of the Bible attacked today?
ATP: The authenticity of the Bible comes under attack in ways both subtle and overt, that is, out in the open.
Have you read Dan Brown's, The Da Vinci Code? I would recommend it. I know that some may think that is a funny thing for a pastor to say, given the theme of the book, but it's worth a read to help understand how "attacks" on the Bible happen, and I use the word "attacks" loosely here.
I heard all the flap from Christians about The Da Vinci Code and wondered what the big deal was about the book. As I traveled through airports on several trips, I noticed that intelligent looking people were carrying around a copy, or were sitting next to their luggage lost in concentration as they read it.
So I got a copy. Half way through it I was thinking, What's the problem everyone is talking about? This is a good read and a nifty plot! Nice book!
It was at about that time that the errant "theology" of the book began to rear its head, and it continued to do so right through to the end. I won't give away the last part of the book, but suffice it to say that the theological "theories" or premises found there are laughable to anyone who knows the historical record and the evidence about Christ.
I literally found myself laughing when Dan Brown introduced some of his thoughts about the deep dark secret of the Da Vinci Code. And frankly at the end, the conclusion is such a whimper in terms of impact, that the great beginning didn't end with the promise the book began with.
Nevertheless the book was a good read, and as long as one understands that the theology or theories in the book are simply literary fiction used to spin a good tale, there is no harm done.
Am I in favor of such themes? Of course not. I believe that such content undermines the faith of weak or unsuspecting people. Further, I believe that such content is an affront to God himself.
My point is that if you know that what is contained in the book is simply fiction, you won't be harmed.
On Dan Brown's own web site he has posted a review from the New York Daily News that says,
A gripping mix of murder and myth
The key word there is myth. Nothing truthful about the theological stuff at all.
But that is the problem for the uninformed reader, which unfortunately describes a large chunk of the population: they don't know the difference between truth and myth. So a person's faith can be harmed by such books if they are not aware of the difference.
The Bible comes under attack, so to speak, when weak theories are presented as truth, or when bad scholarship is presented as good scholarship with no one around to give correction. This happens all the time on television specials purporting to be historical documentaries, but which come off as little more than propaganda pieces opposed to taking the Bible as literal history.
There is a silliness when articles or programs ask about the "real Jesus" and then discount what the Bible has to say about him, in favor of some liberal theologian's spin.
The Bible is the single greatest source of information on the planet about who the "real" Jesus is! How can what the Bible says be discounted and the pet theory of some late arriving theologian be held on a higher level? Remarkable!
But that silliness isn't recognized by all or even many, and so damage can be done to an uninformed person's faith.
Our job as Christians is to be informed on the one hand, and not afraid on the other. The Bible has stood up quite well against attacks in the past, and it will continue to do so. Never forget that the Bible is the living Word of God. It has a power to defend itself that is all its own. Simply reading it has turned many a critic or an atheist into a believer.
Can you say, C.S. Lewis?
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