Bible Relevance

rel·e·vant:
adjective 
bearing upon or connected with the matter in hand; pertinent: a relevant remark

The answer to the question, “Is the Bible relevant in today’s world?”, depends solely on who you ask. For the true believer in Jesus Christ the Bible is more relevant to the human condition than all of the psychology books in the world combined. However, not everyone holds this position. In a world that is becoming increasingly anti-God in favor of secular humanism (the idea that human beings are capable of being moral and ethical without religion or God) the Bible is thought to be by many an antiquated relic of the past that has little or no relevance in a modern scientific world. In addition, many professing Christians are beginning to compromise on the absolute authority of the Holy Scripture in all matters. As ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we must be prepared to “…earnestly contend for the faith…” (Jude: 3) and “…be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you…” (1 Peter 3:15). The aim of this study is to equip us with answers in order to combat the false idea that the Bible is irrelevant in today’s world.

The following are three common reasons that are given to suggest that the Bible is irrelevant today and answers to refute the

1.  Man wrote the Bible and therefore it is inaccurate and unreliable.

Answer: While it is true that God used man’s hand to pen the Holy Scripture it is a false notion that man “wrote” the Bible (see 2 Timothy 3:16 and 2 Peter 1:15-20).  The Bible was penned by more than forty men most of which lived at different times and therefore never met yet the Holy Scripture is consistent with itself.

2.  The Bible is just one of many religious books in the world, what makes it any different from all of the others?

Answer: The single most compelling reason to believe the Bible as opposed to all of the other so-called Holy books is the fact that the Bible proves itself through fulfilled prophecy which history written before it happens (see Amos 3:3-7).

3.  Science disproves the Bible.

Answer: This is the one area where most Christians are not able to defend the faith because they can’t make the distinction between real science and propaganda (information and/or ideas widely spread deliberately to help or harm a person, group, or movement) calling itself science (see 1 Timothy 6:20). The simple fact is that science has not disproven the Bible. In fact there is no contradiction between real science and the Bible. In order to understand this then we must first understand what real science is. The word science means knowledge. When we refer to the academic disciplines of science such as Biology, Chemistry, and Physics then we are referring to a body knowledge about the natural world made up of tenable testable facts. Real science is conducted using five steps known as the scientific method – Observation, Question, Hypothesis, Experiment, and Theory. Assertions that some scientist make regarding the origin of the universe and life such as the Big Bang Theory and the Theory of Evolution cannot be tested using the scientific method and are therefore ironically unscientific. These two theories are not only unscientific but in all actuality contradict other established laws of science and leave us with more questions than answers. For example, the Big Bang theory suggests that the universe was caused by a massive cosmic explosion billions of years ago. However, in order for there to be an explosion of any king there has to be the presence of matter (the thing that exploded) and energy (the source to ignite the explosion) yet we are taught in the laws of Thermodynamics that neither matter nor energy can be created or destroyed, they can only change forms. If this is so then where did the matter and energy come from to have caused the Big Bang? Also, the Theory of Evolution suggests that all life forms that exist today evolved from a single life form over millions of years. Biology, which is the study of living things, says that there are eight characteristics that all living things have in common one of which is that all living things evolve from living things. This disproves the notion of spontaneous generation (the idea that life can create itself). If this is so then where did the first life form come from? The Bible is the only source with the answer to these questions that so called science fails to answer (see Hebrews 11:3 and Ecclesiastes 8:17). Also, numerous scientific observations have been confirmed in Bible passages, including (Ecclesiastes 1:6-7; Isaiah 40:22) just to name a few.

Though the Bible was compiled approximately 1,900 years ago, it remains absolutely relevant to the spiritual needs of people today. In addition, the Bible is also relevant to history and archeology. Many historical facts recorded in the Bible have been confirmed in extra-biblical sources. Historical research often shows a great deal of agreement between biblical and extra- biblical accounts of the same events. In other words history proves the bible. However, the Bible is not merely a history book, a psychology text, or a scientific journal. The Bible is also relevant to the social issues of today. If people lived by the principles and precepts outlined in the Holy Scripture then that alone would solve many of the social ills that affect the world today.

Scripture will never be irrelevant because it answers the universal questions that all humans ask – Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? And where am I going? Scripture alone address the universal needs of all humans – to know God, to experience his forgiveness, and to know how the Lord will have us to live. Times may change but God’s word does not (see Psalms119:89).  In it we find principles that change our lives still today.