Believing The Bible
The rest of our discussion that day basically consisted of my
friend responding to me like her children respond to her. I gave solid reasons
why their theory was incorrect, and she came back with a misguided response
based on their perspective. My friend said that since they claim to not believe
The Bible, I couldn’t use scripture to prove my point. I admit it was a
frustrating experience, and I began to fully understand the struggle my friend
was having. I mean, it’s one thing to talk to someone who doesn’t believe in
God, but it’s a whole different experience to talk to someone who says they believe
in God, but they don’t believe the Bible.
Believing in God is always a good thing, but is it possible
to believe in God and deny The Bible as His word? The Bible is the very place where
we learn about the attributes, character, and love of God. If my friend’s children
don’t believe the Bible, then what is their basis for their belief in God? The only other way to know about God is to
believe the word of the people who tell you about Him, the ones who,
ironically, developed their belief in God based on the Bible. That might just
be irony in its purest form.
In recent years, I’ve learned that the best way to try and understand
people is to meet them where they are. That being my experience, I decided to explore
the perspective of contradiction that my friend’s children use to form their
opinion. Did God tempt Adam and Eve by placing a tree in the garden and telling
them not to eat from it?
As I pondered the question, an episode of the Andy Griffith
show came to mind. A young Opie Taylor befriends a new boy that just moved to
Mayberry. When the boy learned that Opie had to do chores to earn his
allowance, the new boy told Opie that he shouldn’t have to work to get the money.
He said Opie should tell his dad that he wanted his allowance without doing the
chores, and if his dad said no, then he should throw a temper tantrum until he
gets what he wants. Opie listened to the new boy and tried it. It didn’t work.
Opie’s dad, Andy, had set the rules and boundaries and there was no room for
discussion.
So, did Andy tempt Opie to break the rules just by making
the rules in the first place? No. Andy set rules for Opie because he loved him
and wanted his son to grow up to be a respectable, hard-working, dedicated man
one day. Andy set rules to teach Opie what was right, and to keep him on the
right path. He told Opie what he needed
to know so that Opie knew the right thing.
It was Opie’s “friend”, the new boy, who came and tempted Opie
to break the rules. You see, up until the new boy showed up in Mayberry, it
never once occurred to Opie that he could choose not to do his chores. Opie
only knew the rules, not how to break them. In fact, before encountering the
new boy, Opie was content with the rules his father set. It wasn’t until an
outside source introduced the thought that breaking the rules was a
possibility.
It was the same for Adam and Eve. God set the rules because He
loved them and because He knew best. We don’t know why God put the tree in the
garden and trying to understand it would be trying to put ourselves on His
level. Only God knows how the world works. Only He knows how life works. If He
said the tree needed to be in the garden, then it needed to be in the garden,
not to tempt, but rather to protect. After all, God created the garden and
placed the tree before He created Adam and Eve. Since God knew the power of the
tree, it only makes sense that He would set the rules to protect His prized
creation.
Just like in Opie’s case however, an outside source showed
up and set the rule breaking temptation in front of Eve. The devil had fought
against God and lost…obviously. Defeated and banished from Heaven, the devil
showed up in the garden. Instead of admitting defeat, the devil decided to go
against God again by targeting God’s prized creation. Crafty and cunning, the devil figured out
God’s boundaries for Adam and Eve and went to work to destroy them. He planted
seeds of doubt, made suggestions that clouded the information, and then
flat-out lied to Eve.
Until the serpent approached Eve, it never occurred to her
to break the rule that God had set. She knew that God loved her and cared for
her, but now, for the first tyme, she was faced with the temptation to doubt
God. She was faced with a choice. She was faced with the fullness of her
creation, free will.
To say the Bible is a contradiction because God tempted man
to sin is a perspective that completely overlooks free will. If there were no
rules, we couldn’t choose to keep or break them. God didn’t put the tree in the
garden and tell Adam not to eat of it so He could tempt Adam to break the
rules. That isn’t at all how God works. That goes against His very being. God
does not want us to make the wrong choice, so He would never tempt us to make
the wrong choice.
Free will is such a key factor to understanding God’s
interaction with His children. God is all knowing, so, yes, logic would say that
God knew that Eve and Adam would be deceived and sin. He didn’t tempt them to sin,
but He didn’t shield them from the temptation either. Like a good parent, God
set the rules, but He didn’t force His children to keep the rules. To do so would
have taken away their ability to make the right choice. It would create a controlled
relationship instead of a loving one.
The more I think about it, the more I realize I simply
cannot be objective enough to entertain the perspective of my friend’s children.
Not only because I cannot put aside my belief in God’s word, but also because I
cannot apply logic to their contradiction. You see, in order to say that God
tempted Adam and Eve by placing the tree in the garden, they have to believe
that God placed the tree. And the only way to know that God placed the tree is
to believe the Bible.
The Bible has gone through many translations over the years.
From the original Greek and Hebrew, it has been put into practically every
language known to man. While we could argue that human error has changed it
over tyme, I know that the discernment that God gives me is far more powerful
than the enemy’s ability to change scripture. If I
encounter a translation of the Bible that is not accurate, God will tell me. He
wants me to know His truth and when I seek His truth with my whole heart, He
will not allow my head to be deceived.
So, after many hours of thought and prayer on the topic, I
still don’t know what to tell my friend to try when talking to her children. I
don’t know what words will work to point out their own contradiction, or that
will make them open their hearts and minds to the truth of the very God in Whom
they claim to believe in one breath and deny in the next. What I do know is
that if one truly seeks to understand God, they will never come away with the
conclusion that the Bible is a contradiction. If one truly seeks to know God,
they will see the Bible as both the instruction manual for a living a right life
on earth, and an account of sincere love from a Father to His children.
I wish my attempt to provide some helpful insights for my friend had been more successful. I am, however, thankful that the experience has given me an even deeper love for God and a greater appreciation for His word. Everything I know of God stems from The Bible, whether it’s from reading it myself or being told of Him by people I love and trust who gained their knowledge of Him from reading The Bible. It simply comes down to the want to know God and the faith to believe that The Bible, His word, is true. Faith really is the victory that overcomes the world ... and its misguided perspectives!
The B-I-B-L-E
Yes, that’s the book for me
I stand alone on the Word of God
The B-I-B-L-E
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