Credit: 9Marks
Common objection 1: How can you believe the Bible is true? Wasn’t the Bible just a book written by men?
One way to answer this kind of objection is to point people to scriptures. Yes, the Bible was written by men, but men who were used by God and inspired by the Spirit. Just like we use pens to write, God carefully used those men to write his Word. And the Bible says just that – that God spoke to us through people.
2 Tim 3:16 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness”
2 Peter 1:20-21 “knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
The Bible isn’t a book that a person could write if he wanted to! It is 66 books written by 40 different human authors over 1,500 years crossing 10 periods of civilization spanning 3 continents – all written in perfect harmony!
Explaining all or some of that would be one way to answer the question. But there is also another way to answer the question and that is by asking a question.
I’d do this to get them to acknowledge the possibility I could be right. I’d do this try to get them to “Maybe.” I’d want them to entertain the idea before trying to convince them. To get them to go in their minds from, “that’s ridiculous” to “that’s possible.”
It’s important to gauge where people are. Different questions are right for different people at different times. Sometimes, people have a life-changing experience like Paul on the Damascus Road.
I think a helpful way to think of it is as a long spectrum from A to Z. Imagine every unbeliever you know on that spectrum. Some seem painfully close to becoming a Christian while others are like the crusty and hardened Atheist Richard Dawkins. Some people seem close to becoming Christians, some seem ridiculously far.
Our job in answering objections and questions isn’t necessarily to lead people to Jesus in one conversation. It is to slowly move them across the spectrum over a series of conversations. Maybe over a series of weeks, months, years or even decades. And maybe God will use a series of people. Sometimes you’re the one who helps them to get from D to E when you get them to consider that it’s possible God exists. And sometimes you move them from W to X, when you get them to see that salvation is worth more than their family’s approval or social standing.
Some quick facts about the Bible…
There are over 5,000 New Testament Greek manuscripts existing today (that is more than the writings of Aristotle, Caesar and Homer combined) and the internal consistency is over 99% - most scholars agree that they were written within the first century AD, which is important because that means many folks were alive during Jesus’ life and could have refuted the writings
Well those are two ways to respond to that question. Another question you may face is…
Question 2: What about the problem of evil? How could a good God allow evil?
First, humbly acknowledge that there is a ton of pain, suffering and evil in this world. It may also be helpful to ask them to explain a bit more about the evil they have in mind. Listen carefully to them in order to determine what exactly it is that is bothering them so much. Is there a specific experience they have personally endured? Maybe they have dealt with abuse, addiction or violence with family members; or maybe they’ve been to too many funerals of loved ones who died younger than expected from terminal illness. In those situations, we should remind them that God – our God, the God of the Bible – is in complete control, completely sovereign and omnipotent at all times, even in tragic situations.
You may point to examples in the Bible. I think that Genesis 50:20 is a great example. Joseph, whose elder brothers sold him into slavery, encounters them years later. Joseph has endured all kinds of hardships in Egypt, but by God’s providence, he ended up as one of the members of Pharoah’s cabinet – maybe the Secretary of State or something similar.
So he meets his brothers and after some initial awkwardness between them, everything is hunky dory, so they take Joseph to see their father, Jacob (Israel), who is very old and on his deathbed. And after Jacob dies, the brothers panic and think that Joseph may be vengeful toward them. Listen to this passage from Genesis 50:15-21:
When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he died: ‘Say to Joseph, “Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.”’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. Genesis 50:15-21
Can you believe that? God not only allowed the evil to happen to Joseph, but He used it for the good of many people! In the book of Job, we also see God allowing Satan to inflict pain and suffering on Job – God gave Satan permission to harm Job.
This should give us comfort that anything we go through, God is allowing to happen, and remember, it is for our good – Romans 8:28.
I would also ask them how much evil they’d like God to get rid of. And ask them if they’ve ever done anything evil. All sin is evil and if we just take a quick walk through the 10 commandments, we will see that we are all evil – we are liars, thieves, covetous, adulterers, idolaters and murderers – if not publicly, certainly privately in our hearts and minds.
They may not have been as bad as Hitler or Stalin, but in the end we won’t be compared to him. We’ll be judged according to God’s perfect standard – Jesus. I would also explain to them that God does care about evil, He hates evil.
The first way we see this is at the Cross on Calvary 2,000 years ago. God poured out His punishment and wrath for our evil sins on His Son Jesus – He hates evil so much that He sent His one and only Son to die as a substitute for all the sinners like me who have repented of their evil deeds and trusted in Christ’s atoning sacrifice.
But, there is another way that we will see how much God hates evil. We read about it in the Bible and it’s the final day of judgment. Sadly, for those who have not repented of their sin, they will experience firsthand how much God hates sin.
Jesus speaks of it in John 12:47-48, “If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.” And we read the awesome account of it in Revelation 20. It is awesome for us, those who are His, but terrible for those who are not.
So, for the final objection, I’d like to work through this together as a class…
What would you say if someone asked you, “How do you know God exists? Can you prove to me that God exists?”
No. I cannot prove it. But guess what, no one can prove that God does NOT exist. Believing in God is an act of faith. In 2 Cor. 5:7, Paul writes “for we walk by faith, not by sight.” But this is not a blind faith, friends – the evidence of a creator God is overwhelming! Three evidences that are blatant and obvious to every human are…
Creation (Psalm 19:1; Romans 1:18-32)
Creation itself points to a creator! Other than an eternal, omnipotent, creator God, who could have created the sun and the moon and the earth and the oceans and the stars?
Well, what about “The Big Bang”? Who created the things that banged together? And who caused them to bang together?
Philosophy 101 – “Something cannot come from nothing. Nothing cannot create something.”
Conscience (Romans 2)
Always bring it back to Jesus Christ
Jesus was a real historical person who walked the earth – there is no question about that.
Jesus really died on a cross at the hands of Pontius Pilate 2,000 years ago – again, there is no question about that.
So what about Jesus’ claims and miracles?
What about the fact that over 500 eyewitnesses saw Jesus in his resurrected state?
What about the Christian religion that immediately followed and continues today?
