I have been asked, “do you believe all of the miracles reported in the Bible?” Sometimes the questioner will give examples like Jonah and the whale or Joshua and the walls of Jericho. It seems like Old Testament examples are most often used for some reason. The logic seems to be that the stories are just too unbelievable for modern people to take seriously. Does the Bible include myths and non-historical stories? I am one of many who make the claim that the Christian faith is evidence based. Yet, I freely admit that I cannot prove most of the miracles of the Bible. That is to say that we have no separate historical evidence. That in itself is not surprising. We don’t have multiple records for most of the events of ancient history, e.g. fall of Troy or life of Buddha.
Is it unreasonable to accept all of the stories of Bible as historical events without independent verification? I want to compare the acceptance of the Bible as a historical record of God’s actions to a video game. If you play video games or have watched others play, then you are probably aware that many games involve moving through various levels. The various levels often involve their own ways of operating and once you change levels, the rules change. I will suggest three levels of acceptance of the Christian faith, not because they are necessarily higher or lower, but because the rules in dealing with Biblical issues are different depending how you view the Bible. The steps are important when considering the objections presented by a skeptic or just the doubt that a believer has on days when his faith is challenged in his own mind. It is definitely okay to have doubts if we will deal with them. Burying them doesn’t really work.
Level 1
Level 1 is a level of uncertainty. It is where people are at who just don’t know what they believe about spiritual truths. It may be that they have just never really considered such questions or that they are still deciding what they really believe. For this discussion, level one in considering the Christian faith, consists of those requirements to accept Christianity as basically true..
If a person believes these two things, that would mean that Christianity is valid:
1. We live on a world and in a universe created by the God of the Bible.
2. Jesus is God.
For the Christian, Jesus is the 2nd person of the triune God. In terms of this level, it isn’t necessary to have a clear understanding of the trinity to advance to the next level. In fact, no human has an exhaustive understanding.
Blogs from the posts about the evidence that the God of the Bible is the creator is addressed on the page “Jesus in Science”. The conclusion that Jesus is God boils down to: was Jesus resurrected? The logic flow is:
1. Jesus claimed to be God.
2. Jesus said He would be crucified and raise from the dead.
3. Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead.
4. Therefore Jesus was and is who He claimed to be.
I am considering these points in more detail in other posts in the Jesus in History area of the website. Players on Level 1 ultimately either consciously or unconsciously live their lives as if Christianity is true or as if it were false. If they come to a decision either way, they move to level 2. It is like a video game where completing the level is making a decision between two doors, 2A and 2B. Level 2A is the level where Christianity is basically valid. If level 2A means having accepted Jesus as deity, then what might level 2B mean? If a person has concluded that our world and universe were not created by Yahweh, the God of the Bible and Jesus was not God they would be in level 2B. On this level, the view is that the Christian worldview is false. If there is a creator, then the creator is someone or something other than the Bible’s God. The Christian hope of heaven and eternity is not at all part of the picture here. Perhaps this would lead to other levels where another religion is true vs a level where that no religion is true and thus agnostic or atheism is true.
First, let’s talk about level 1. On level one, there are lots of fair questions, but answers have some limits. It is not fair for the Christian to expect the skeptic to trust and honor the Bible the way Christians do. The skeptic or person with questions can ask why and look for answers. The Bible should be able to stand up under scrutiny. It is fair to examine Christian claims.
The Christian should not be surprised that some of his views are outside of mainstream scholarship. That said, he can recognize that mainstream views are not necessarily right. They often incorporate “methodological naturalism”. This means that they assume that there was no direct supernatural influence. That is a great methodology for many investigations. However, if the questions that I listed for moving to Level 2 are to be addressed, methodological naturalism begs the question. That is to say it “assumes the truth of an argument or proposition to be proved, without arguing it.” Any evidence that effectively begs the question is inadmissible. Recognize that the assumptions aren’t often spelled out. They also don’t mean that the mainstream conclusions are always wrong.
It should also be pointed out that assumptions that beg the question aren’t just on the skeptic’s side. The Christian also has difficulty separating his assumptions at this level. When a Christian assumes that the non-Christian seeker will trust the Bible, he is ahead of where the non-Christian may be. Maybe it is worth thinking about an example. A key part of believing truth in Christianity is believing in Jesus’ resurrection. Dealing with questions from many skeptics and persons with doubts sometimes means beginning with the basic evidence that we have about Jesus, his death and the resurrection. If we took the New Testament at face value, it would be simple, but many with doubts need to build their confidence by looking at the evidence from a more impartial vantage. It means not assuming that it is all automatically true, but it also does not allow throwing out the Bible just because it was written by believers.
Level 2A
Now consider level 2A. What does it mean to how we deal with the Bible if we are confident that the God of the Bible is the creator of the universe and that Jesus is God? If the God of the Bible is the creator of all of natural law, then the “natural” effects are His work. He is Lord of creation and as such can act at will outside of the bounds of “natural laws”. The God of the Bible does not act capriciously and uses “miracles” for specific purposes. He does not do miracles at man’s command. The study of nature through sciences is meaningful because He is a trustworthy God whose laws have their basis in His true nature. Most of the Biblical miracles are not in the realm for scientific investigation. They can be investigated by historical methods, but science has no data to use to investigate. Science can declare that without supernatural intervention, the dead stay dead or that axe heads don’t float, but that does not prove that these things could not happen supernaturally. If the universe began in an instant with no natural explanation, arguably that is evidence of a divine intervention. It is thus argued that science does demonstrate at least one miracle, and thus others are possible.
On level 2A, Jesus is the co-creator of the universe. The Bible is His revelation of Himself to us. God has chosen to work through humans who are fallen, sinful and imperfect. We see this in His church, the body of believers who have chosen to follow him and we see it in His Word. That does not mean that there are errors in the Word, but that often we see, not what God’s perfect will would have meant, but what actually happened. The Bible chronicles man’s sinful nature and also their imperfect attempts to follow God on their own. Written over a period of almost 1500 years and through 35 authors, the Bible includes truths that are very clear to all and other parts that demand diligent study led by the Holy Spirit to be understood and reconciled. Regardless, in level 2A, with Jesus divine, He must be recognized as able to convey His message through His Word. If Jesus is divine, He is not limited by mankind and will not fail in His purposes. The idea that He wanted to reach mankind with a message, but man messed it up so that it is not able to accomplish His will, reflects a view of a small god, not Yahweh. Diligent scholars who are on level 2A may disagree on some aspects but the major points are clear. A person on level 2A is already settled on the creator and Jesus as God and this means that he does not have to keep proving that same point to himself over and over again. He can read the scripture recognizing that Jesus is God.
Level 2B
As the antithesis of Level 2A, 2B rejects the basic tenets of 2A. It is not just that they haven’t fully accepted them. They reject them. This would include people of other religions and also those who have decided that Jesus was a good man or a human who started a religion, but not divine. How might the universe have originated? Some recognize the need for a creator, but for many, that creator is not personal. Of course, many claim that no god exists. As you recognize, I am in the 2A camp and am showing why in portions of this blog.
Level 3A
If a person has concluded that the universe was created by the God of the Bible and that Jesus is a part of God and the Bible is a key revelation of God to mankind, and that miracles can occur when God chooses to act through them, what else can be reasonably concluded? If Jesus is God, then His words on earth were the words of God. He certainly has the power to preserve His message, even though He chose to use imperfect humans. The process of God’s people deciding what books were to be included as authoritative scripture involved humans working through, discussing and debating various options. Yet, Christians believe that God, the Holy Spirit worked through this process to ensure that His message was delivered. If we examine how Jesus treated the Old Testament, how the writers of the New Testament treated both the Old Testament and parts of the New Testament already available to them, we see them as treating the book as historically accurate and theologically authoritative. They believed it to be trustworthy such that the truths that it carried were worth living and dying for. If the Bible is trustworthy, it does not include error.
Level 3B
Some believe that the Bible contains God’s message but He used humans in such a way that it includes material that is not historically accurate. Many believe that the Old Testament was written relatively late and consisted of the Hebrew tradition more than actual history. It contains lessons from God but often not in actual history. They correctly recognize that in the creator of the universe revealing himself to man, he accommodates us. He stoops to our level. In 3B, the creator stoops to the degree that He chooses to use human vessels in His word, incorporating their errors, but delivering His overall message intact. Some would say that as beings created in God’s image, often even those who are not followers of God are used by God in divine ways.
How would you recognize whether 3A or 3B is correct? Respected Christian leaders hold both positions. Most Christians probably base their view of whichever leader they find convincing. If they take the time to dig in, what would they look for? Here are some suggestions:
- What does the Bible actually claim about its history?
- Is the history recorded in the Bible proven or disproven by other historical data or archaeology?
- Even in the best case, we will not be able to prove many details from the Bible. At what point do you have enough evidence?
I started by saying that I believe that the miraculous stories of the Bible really happened. Here I have outlined a series of options to explain a logic flow that brings me to this point.
- Evidence convinces me that the God of the Bible is the creator of the universe and that Jesus is part of that God.
- Jesus came to reveal God to us and the Holy Spirit reveals God through the Bible
- The Bible records actual history.
- Evidence shows that many Bible characters and events are historically documented by extra-biblical sources.
- Although many scholars reject portions of the Bible, even those portions where they doubt most, do not have data that proves that the Bible is wrong.
- The Bible claims to be God-breathed (II Timothy 3:16 ) and Jesus and the early Christians accepted it as God’s word, without error.
- Both creation and Jesus’ resurrection are well-documented miracles, demonstrating that God can choose to step into His creation and override the natural laws that He normally works through.
This brings me into level 3A. If evidence brings me to this point, then I am comfortable not requiring each miracle to be documented. I continue to have questions and areas where I recognize that I don’t understand what happened, but trusting the Bible as God’s word is valid if the other points hold up. I consider my faith to be evidence based. It would be a death blow to my faith, if I were convinced that the universe was not created by the God of the Bible or that Jesus was and is not really divine. I do not doubt that God uses even non-believers. The Bible gives many instances of this. However, the Bible is God’s message to all of mankind over all generations. That is not true for other writings, whether they are from Christians or non-Christians. It is consistent with the God of the Bible, that the process of recognizing what books were to be included was not simple and direct. The church had to work through that, but if Jesus is really God, then I trust that His Holy Spirit worked through the process to ensure that the final answer was as He ordained.
If we think in terms of these levels of understanding, at what point does a person become a Christian? The Bible uses several terms for people who have a real relationship with God. They are referred to as born again, as believers, as Christians, as saved and other names. According to Romans 10:9: “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” This makes it clear that to have that relationship, a person must believe that Jesus is the resurrected LORD. While the person may not understand many of the details, they must commit their life to this Jesus. In terms of the levels that I have outlined, that means that on Level 1, they really cannot be a Christian yet. They have to recognize Jesus as resurrected and as God. However, just because they mentally accept that God was the creator and that Jesus was God, they might not have acted on that belief. They must place their trust in Jesus as their only means to God. In fact, they might recognize that the Bible is entirely true, but not be willing to give themselves to Him. That is to say that a Christian will be a level 2 or 3, but those mental decisions do not make Jesus their personal savior. For example, a person who lives a life of hate and racism may mentally accept many of the points here for level 3. Does that mean that their life has been changed by personally knowing Jesus? They may call themselves a Christian, but that does not make them so. Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ Matthew 7:21-23 (ESV). We don’t become a real Christian by accepting certain theological concepts, but by having a life-changing encounter with Jesus.
As a person who believes that the Bible is the inerrant word of God, when I am talking to a person who does not really understand God as the creator or Jesus as God, I will use evidence that might help them to move to level 2, not portions where less evidence is currently available. What if the person is questioning the historical accuracy of the Bible? If the person is on level 1, then I want to be sure they see key evidence for the creator and for Jesus’ resurrection. I am glad to talk about other questions that they have, but these two areas are key. If they are on level 2, then I am happy to discuss how the Bible relates to history and its relative accuracy. I recognize that Christians disagree here, but if the Bible really is God’s inerrant word, then that is important and worth studying in depth.
If the person is on level 3A, then we can use all of the Bible as the inerrant Word of God and apply lessons learned as such. I would then be less interested in debating the historicity of the stories and more interested in learning how I can understand God through stories that aren’t particularly politically correct in 2020. I will assume that what the Bible says is true, but the story is told to make God’s point, not necessarily the way an unbiased observer would have recounted it. God is not a tame, made-up being. I love Rich Mullins description: “In the reckless raging fury That they call the love of God”.
To use video game terms: what level are you playing your life on? Are you on level 1 and need to investigate evidence for the Christian faith? Are you on level 2, and you understand that God is the creator and Jesus is the Son of God, but you haven’t really resolved how to deal with the Bible? Are you on level 1, but pretending to be on level 3? Doubts are real but need to be honestly dealt with.
How should we deal with other Christians that have different ideas than we have? We should treat all other people with love, but especially other believers and perhaps especially those who disagree with us. That said, for a church to have the unity and harmony that it should have, perhaps we should find a church where we can be aligned on key issues, even if we disagree on other more minor issues. The article in this site discusses such questions:
Link on levels of importance: https://albertmohler.com/2005/07/12/a-call-for-theological-triage-and-christian-maturity?fbclid=IwAR0MVefH6LlHNSA9sDuyEaVqDR1NY0eYBVfGH-L4El03Do7j6Wz__mf7lho
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