Q: How do we know the Bible is the word of God?
A: The Bible evidences itself to be God’s word by the Heavenliness of its doctrine, the unity of its parts, its power to convert sinners and edify saints; but the Spirit of God only, bearing witness by and with the Scriptures in our hearts, is able fully to persuade us that the Bible is the Word of God.
This is the next question that must be dealt with if we consider the flow of the Catechism questions. After we assert that the Old and New Testaments are the word of God and nothing else, we need to back that up with some kind of standard, which this question looks to do. We have all heard about things like the Apocrypha and the ‘other’ gospels such as ‘the gospel of Thomas’ or the ‘gospel of Peter. What are these works not included in the cannon, at least to the reformed/protestant tradition?
First let’s consider the phrase “evidences itself.” What is the meaning of this phrase? We cannot simply assert that the Bible is the word of God without some evidence. The Bible was not created and exalted by man but inspired by God and given to man. This difference is a big one, and we should be able to point to some evidence in and about the Bible to show whether it is from God or man.
So, what could we point to the show that there is something peculiar about the Bible? The first line of evidence is the heavenliness of the doctrine. The truths that the Bible has are precious. They are unlike the things we hear in the world that we are a part of. They are higher and more profound. This heavenliness is an evidence it is from heaven.
Next, the unity of its parts. The Bible is a collection of 66 books written by 44 authors over the span of thousands of years that all point to one person in history, Jesus. This is a truly amazing thing to think about. The Story of the Bible is one story told over many generations. These books do not contradict one another although the authors would not have necessarily met one another. There could probably write a whole post about this point but in simple conclusion, there is no book more unified.
There is also ‘its power to convert sinners and edify the saints.’ This is probably the most powerful and yet most subjective evidence we could point to. Unfortunately, simply having a non-Christian read the Bible is not enough to convert a sinner but without the Bible, there isn’t a prayer to do so either. A sinner is brought to saving faith by the proclaiming of the word and the power of the Spirit. And by making a greater to lesser argument, if that is what is required to save a sinner, how well could that power grow someone who has been given the faith that it produces. Therefore, we should not only take our own time with the word, but we should also gather together around the teaching and proclamation of this word as well.
Last, there is this idea that the Spirit of God only, bearing witness by and with the Scriptures in our hearts, is able fully to persuade us that the Bible is the word of God. The simple question is this, how does someone that thinks the Bible is a bad book come to believe that it is a good book? Well, know that it isn’t by simply reading the Bible. if that were the case, then all the people who look to critique the Bible would not write the articles they do but become Christians. This once again points to the need that the Spirit change the heart and open the eyes to the evidences that are laid out here. If our love for the Bible has grown cold, we should pray for the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to these things, that we made be edified and matured in the faith.
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