Bible Text: 2 Peter 1:21 | Speaker: Dr. Harold J. Sala | Series: Guidelines For Living |
For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:21
What qualifies someone as a reliable reporter? Then, following that question, should an individual simply report the facts, or does he or she have the right to put a spin on them, reflecting a view which may better serve his culture, his country, or his bias—be it political, ethnic or religious?
Certainly, the one who gets the story out first isn’t necessarily credible. The prestigious New York Times carried an article which promised a cancer cure. The article told how two drugs, angiostatin and endostatin, combined to cure cancer in mice. While that’s good news if you happen to be a mouse, later reports disqualified the accuracy of the initial report.
That’s much like the story of the two runners who came to bring news of a certain battle to King David. Joab, David’s general, sent word of the victory with a Cushite runner—probably a forerunner of those long distance runners who come from Africa today; however, Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, took a shortcut and outran the Cushite. The only problem was that when he got there he reported that he had seen great confusion but he didn’t know what it meant. Only when the Cushite runner arrived did David know what had really happened.
More than a few reporters and historians today are of the school of Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok. Withholding the facts, or putting a spin on things which serve their purpose, they create confusion and misunderstanding.
One of the tactics used by politicians today is to discredit their detractors by attacking their character rather than refuting the charges which are made against them. Dig up something from the past. Smear the person with a lie. Create enough questions that people assume the reporter is biased and doesn’t know what he is talking about.
Whether or not you have ever observed this, those who oppose its message deploy the same tactics today in relation to the Bible. One of the elders of a growing cult group charges, “The Bible has been through countless translations from the time its chapters were originally penned to the present. Along the way,” he says, “there have been changes and alterations that have diminished the purity of the doctrine.” The additional insights and revelations of the founder of his group, however, are preserved in purity and have not “been tampered with by religious philosophers, councils, panels, and kings” (The Mormon apostle Ballard in Our Search for Happiness as quoted in Christianity Today, June 15, 1998, p 30).
He’s not alone in attacking the purity of biblical text or the accuracy of its history. For a long time, liberals have accepted the Bible as a book of religious myth but not as a historical document.
What are the facts? Is it possible that someone has altered the texts of Scripture or put a spin on it to serve their purpose? Believe me, scores of individuals have tried to do this, from Marcion who, about 140 AD, decided that commonly accepted books which we know as the New Testament were much too violent and bloody so he decided to throw out those he didn’t like.
Even today, certain groups translate portions of the Bible in violation of accepted rules of syntax and grammar to support their radical views which are a departure from the accepted norm. But is the Bible credible and can it be accepted as historically accurate?
Time doesn’t allow a discussion of manuscripts and how there is a consensus among scholars the world over as to what it says. The fact is that the Bible is historically accurate, something which archaeologists and scholars are proving beyond any reasonable doubt. The bottom line, however, is that those who purposely disbelieve the truth will never accept it regardless of the evidence. Of that, you can be sure.
Resource reading: 2 Peter 1
