The Truth Will Set You Free
You’ve probably heard someone say that you can prove anything by the Bible—the idea being that it’s so open to interpretation that it really has no value or validity. Or that it’s just a collection of ancient stories and myths with no relevance for today. Perhaps, on someone else’s say-so, you’ve concluded that it’s impossible to understand. There are so many opinions about what is still the world’s most distributed book that it’s hard to know where to begin to dispel these common notions.
Some basic ground rules might help. For example, should one take for granted that expert skill in one field qualifies one to pass judgment in another? A review of several YouTube videos of well-known personalities debating biblical relevance reveals that their expertise lies somewhere other than with the subject at hand. They are certainly very knowledgeable in their own fields, but their understanding of the Bible’s purpose and meaning is deficient. A related consideration is that problems arise when we don’t read the Bible on its own terms but through our own lenses. This leads to distortion.
Even someone who supports a more traditional religious outlook can misrepresent what the Book of books says, because tradition of itself may not be a sure guide. Tradition can also distort. This is the difficulty Jesus brought to the fore in discussions with the religious leaders of the time: the Pharisees and the religious experts in the law, or scribes. He said to them, “You have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition” (Matthew 15:6). Another translation reads, “You have invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.” Traditions and rituals may be nothing more than human inventions, remote from true spirituality. The intent of God’s law is to maximize human experience by encouraging active love for God and humanity.
Many people, believers and nonbelievers, acknowledge the spiritual wisdom and purity of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. It’s said that He delivered truth of an unparalleled kind in that message and that it applies to all people. Yet many cannot bring themselves to accept and believe in the person Jesus called “Father.” Agnostic or atheist, they may choose to ignore another truth in the Scriptures that Jesus used: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1).
Taking the Bible on its own terms means approaching it with humility. It might involve setting aside our presuppositions or conflicting external influences. If we try to understand the mind of God through the filter of human philosophy rather than the Bible’s internal logic, we will not achieve clarity. And though it is a book of deep insight, it is not incomprehensible. It is intended as a revealed guide for our way in life: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).
“The human being is not an amalgam of perishable body and immortal soul, but a psychophysical unity who depends on God for life itself.”
Nonbelievers will find this difficult to accept. Whatever is not physically provable has no relevance for them. A well-known scientist tells us that at death his physical brain circuitry will cease, and nothing will remain—that he will be gone forever. He is a materialist for whom the purpose of life is merely to replicate and survive physically. There is no spirit world.
Yet the Bible, acknowledging our mortality, teaches that we are not entirely material. Again taking the Bible at its word and shedding any preconceived ideas of our own, we discover that we have a spirit element, though not an immortal soul. We do not have souls; we are souls—living beings animated by the God-given “spirit in man.” We are uniquely human, with intelligence endowed by God, and therefore different than animals: “There is a spirit in man, and the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding” (Job 32:8).
Allowing the Word to speak directly to us, we can be freed from doubt about the Bible’s validity and value. We can discover the true meaning and purpose of life.