Scripture Part 5: Why Attack Scripture?

In Part 1 of this series on scripture some of the reasons and evidence for believing the Bible is true and accurate were presented, as well as a defense against some attacks on scripture. Part 2 addressed a bogus attack on scripture that is common especially in academia. Part 4 addressed the use of a false spirit to ignore or attack scripture. But these only scratched the surface of the many, many attacks on scripture out there. To cover them all would take years. But it would be faster to address the reasons for attacking scripture and the types of people who do the attacking so we can be on guard against all of them.

The reason for attacking scripture is simple. People want to be the authority in their own lives instead of God. So they attack and deny scripture in favor of their own thoughts and opinions. Many just attack the parts of scripture they don't like, don't agree with, or don't want to be subject to. A lot of people don't want to give up their sin when the Bible tells them it is sin. So instead of submitting to God, they attack and deny those parts that call out their sin.

There are three types of people who attack scripture. The first is pagan religions. In Christian theology, pagan means non-Christian religions, like Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Atheism. Scripture refutes their religion. And yes, Atheism is a religion as it is a system of beliefs that are based on faith despite their false claims to be based on facts. The second type is cults, which in Christian theology means false Christian religions. Scripture exposes their errors and falsehoods. The third and worst type are the wolves in sheep's clothing, false pastors and leaders in Christian churches that attack scripture to advance their own ungodly beliefs. Scripture calls them out as the vipers they are.

The first group is the easiest for a Christian to see are wrong. They contradict each other plainly. Only a halfwit would say something as dumb as all religions lead to God. They are mutually exclusive. If one leads to God, then the others absolutely cannot.

Islam tries to claim that Judaism and Christianity also lead to God in the Koran. "He sent down to you this scripture, truthfully, confirming all previous scriptures, and He sent down the Torah and the Gospel." Sura 3:3. And there are many other suras in the Koran that affirm the Bible. The problem is the Bible contradicts the Koran. The excuse given by islamic apologists is that the Bible was corrupted while the Koran was not. However, we have extensive proof that the Bible we have today is the same as texts from before 300 BC to 150 AD. while Muhammed lived from 570-632 A.D. So his teachings on the Torah and the gospels were based on the same text we have today. Their biggest problem is the Islamic teaching that God's word cannot be corrupted. When this is added to the Koran confirming the Torah and Bible as God's word, then their claim of corruption is contradicted.

Hinduism is pantheistic, which means they believe in multiple gods. This alone shows it is incompatible with Christianity. There are multiple creation stories in Hinduism, some of which contradict each other. But none explain the origin of the whatever gave birth to the universe and the gods. If everything came from a golden egg, where did the egg come from? All of the sects I'm aware of teach reincarnation, which contradicts Christianity.

Buddhism denies there is a God. It also teaches reincarnation. While there are different versions of it, the majority teach that we are reincarnated until we get it right and reach perfection. What perfection is like differs in modern versions, but in the older versions it is nirvana which is perfect nothingness. The self ceases to exist. This contradicts Christianity.

Atheism claims there is no God. The majority believe that science can explain everything. Of course, what they call science is really philosophy with a fraction of the evidence for scripture. Real science is hypothesis, testing by experiments, and observation of results. The most important point is what is tested in one place by one group of scientists can be replicated by other scientists elsewhere. Anything that doesn't fit that definition is really philosophy, which is theoretical thoughts that seem to fit what is observed but cannot be scientifically tested. Sometimes they can be disproven. But most of what is called science is philosophy that can't be proven. Those that try to disprove God may be good debaters, but are really using rhetoric to win debates rather than get to the truth. The ones that go after scripture like Billy Carson either make things up or read things that are made up. But they can't stand up to real academic scrutiny. Carson has claimed hundreds of times that the "Sinai Bible" predates the King James Version and doesn't have the crucifixion of Jesus in it. What is erroneously called the Sinai Bible is actually the Codex Sinaiticus, which is a fourth century Greek manuscript that contains most of the New Testament. Jesus' crucifixion appears in it just like our English translations today. Atheists get away with bad reasoning and false facts because people hear what they want to believe and don't check the false claims and illogic of those they chose to listen to.

The second group is cults. It is also easy to see they are wrong if one just reads the Bible. However, despite the greatest access to the Bible ever, biblical literacy is drastically lower than it was only a hundred years ago. People know lots of stuff about Christianity and the Bible. Unfortunately, most of what they know is wrong and is based on frauds, fakes, and the pagan culture. So they are not equipped and unable to tell the real from the false.

People who want to create their own fake version of Christianity do it for a variety of reasons. Among these reasons are seeking power for themselves, to falsely make things they want to do permissible and good when scripture condemns it, because they are too arrogant to accept God's direction, or some other self-centered motivation. They will adopt the parts of Christianity they like and replace the ones they don't like. Leaders of false and fake religions must attack scripture because it contradicts them.

Joseph Smith claimed to have a new testament to the Bible called the Book of Mormon. There is little theology in it as it is mainly a narrative. However, there is not a single archeological confirmation of any of it, while the Bible has hundreds of thousands of archeological confirmations. To see Mormon theology we have to read The Pearl Of Great Price which contradicts the Bible. So they use the standard "the Bible has been corrupted" argument despite all the evidence to the contrary. Their main appeal is to feelings, which was referred to as a burning in the chest back in the 80's. But the more recent strategy is to water down Morman theology so it appears to be more compatible with Christianity, at least publicly. (This approach has turned the growth of Mormonism into a decrease. Christians should learn from this that watering down the gospel message hurts rather than helps.)

All of these cults claim to be the true Christianity and claim all the others, including real Christianity, are apostate. They all attack real scripture.

The third group, the wolves in sheep's clothing, is covered in the next article.