The Bible and Errors

And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. (John 20: 30, 31)

What really is the Bible? Why was it written? What do we find when we search the Bible?

Of course we know that the Bible has its source in the divine. Even skeptics have one assignment, to prove that it has no divine source.

This means that it is of prime importance that we get to the root of what the Bible is as missing it will lead to a cosmic error.

What then is the Bible?

Many people believe that the Bible is rock solid and thus inflexible. Of course this leads to the interpretation that it is really a dead thing like the paper it is printed on.

But nothing can be farther from the truth.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2Timothy 3: 16, 17)

Scripture is alive as it is inspired by the living God.

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

Yet I believe the reason for so much confusion is its purpose. Why was it written?

Let me use an analogy to get us appreciate why God released the Bible to us.

There is a dictionary and there is a map. Then there is a map and there is a road map. What is the Bible most like?

The Bible is a traveler’s road map and not a map of this or the other feature.

I thought both are maps? I can hear someone asking.

Yes. But they are different because they serve different purposes.

A map has details and so requires a lot of accuracy in the placing of the same. It does not leave anything out.

A traveler’s map, on the other hand, contains the essential information to enable the traveler get to his destination. It does not saturate one with unnecessary information as it could compromise the journey.

My ministry involves looking for people. There are people who scare me in the way they give directions. They will have such flowery instruction that I will suspect from experience that it would be very hard to get to the required places. There will be so much unnecessary detail that could derail my search to the place I would be going.

The Bible is a travel map, I will repeat. It gives essential information to get us to a destination.

What is the destination? I know you are asking.

Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. (Galatians 3:24)

Christ is the destination. Faith in Him, that is.

That is the reason God commissioned many writers to point to that position because we come from different directions.

Each person wrote the directions he was given from where he was, painting the portrait from his vantage point. Each pointed out landmarks as he saw, meaning no two people saw the same thing. Incidentally, even those seeing the same thing saw it differently as they saw it from different vantage points.

That is why you hear of people saying that the Bible has contradictions.

You see, a travel map of a distant place will be all jumbled up and many times incoherent because it is not a map. But it will be different if I got there and needed to move from one place to the next as it would then make perfect sense.

It is exactly that way with the Bible. People who read it for information get confused because it is meant to take us for a journey. People who read it for the journey get accurate directions to the destination.

Another thing we need to realize is that God commissioned several people to write those directions. That is one reason I am in complete awe of God. That He would use fallible man to write directions to the Savior when He Himself could have done the perfect job.

But that is just like God. He does not need perfection to perfect.

But I think it is for another reason. It would be easier to understand directions issued by a mortal than those written by God’s perfect hand. It would be easier to relate to them than to ones written with heaven as the reference.

Let me explain. God would show His servant something and then tell him to write it. He would therefore write from his context, I suspect thinking he is writing only for his generation. But God had meant it as directions for all generations. In fact there were directions that were for much later directions.

The vantage point from which the witness wrote determines the information he wrote.

Let me use an analogy by giving you an assignment.

Why do people who love news (or are addicted to them as I once was) read all the papers and watch many news outlets?

Take three or four newspapers of the same day. Why are the headlines different?

Next, pick one story covered by all of them. Do you realize that they are all different yet they were at the same place covering the same event?

Are some lying? Of course not. The journalist reported what he saw, which is different from what everybody else saw.

That is how the Bible is.

God knows that he has released enough information to guide creation to her Savior recorded in such a way that it is impossible for a seeking soul to get lost.

Of course you know this verse.

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. (John 21:25)

Now if this only concerns Christ’s earthly life, the bulk of which involved His three year ministry and specifically the last week, what do you think about His acts from creation?

The bulk of the information is left out. Only a minuscule is included in the Bible; just enough to lead us to Christ and His eternal life.

To appreciate what I am saying, try condensing a 200 page book into one page without losing or diluting the message. Yet that is what God has done in giving us the Bible. It condenses truths from eternity past to eternity future into a journey map into that eternity. And it is a complete map for that matter as nobody can follow it and get lost.

Ever seen a traveler from across the seas? I know I have seen quite some, especially traveling the long road from Cape to Cairo, among the most famous adventures.

The only thing they value is that map. Many have no inkling of any languages of the places they would pass through as they would not need to ask anything concerning the journey elsewhere. And I have never seen any getting lost.

Yet we can get lost in our homeland when we use our ingenuity instead of such a map. And many times it is because I decide on sightseeing instead of following the map. Or we decide to study the map to see how accurate it is instead of following it.

The map will be most useful when I am journeying and useless from my couch.

And that is the Bible for most.

People want the Bible to justify their sin and will get into debates, endless debates, because they are not on the journey.

I have never heard someone on the journey looking for verses against smoking or drinking, for instance. The journey is engaging enough without worrying about trite.

Or don’t you realize that that question about polygamy comes up because your focus on Christ and His call on your life has started fading? In other words you have decided to settle down and enjoy the scenery instead of continuing with the journey.

Is the Bible sweet to you as the psalmist said? Is it confusing?

It could point out to the fact that you either are on the journey or are just a spectator.

I have never seen a traveler arguing with or about his map.