Absurdities of the Bible

A Response to Clarence Darrow’s Article Absurdities of the Bible
by Evan Winslow

I am writing this because I found a link from the Stand to Reason website (Christian apologist Greg Koukl's ministry), which encouraged me to visit some sites with arguments opposing Christianity, so I could get used to hearing arguments from opponents of Christianity. I have done this several times before, but this is my attempt to calmly and logically address some issues without getting noticeably frustrated. The Bible is clear that we need to “let [our] speech always be gracious” as we “answer each person” (Col 4:6). I was confronted with the fact that I fall seriously short in this area just recently, and this is my active attempt to correct that.

Clarence Darrow is an agnostic. As an agnostic, he has found it worthwhile and necessary to explain why he is convinced that Christianity is not a tenable option as a worldview. My “refutation” of his complaints will basically be an attempt not so much to prove him wrong about absurdities in the Bible, but to show that he is not actually an agnostic. Mr. Darrow smuggles in a naturalistic worldview, which is necessarily atheistic. Atheism is not agnosticism. He also smuggles in a theistic worldview. Theism is not agnosticism. How’s that for confusing? Yes you read that right. Mr. Darrow is not agnostic. He is atheistic when it suits him, and agnostic when it suits him, and theistic when it suits him. That’s a bold claim, but one that I think I can substantiate, if you’ll allow me time. I also think that if you pay attention, you’ll be surprised at how many people do this who hold to non-theistic worldviews (I hesitate to say non-Christian because it’s I’m not convinced it’s impossible for other monotheistic religions to be consistent in these areas). For the purposes of my article, atheism will be defined as the positive belief that there is no personal God (as opposed to the lack of belief in a God, which is an admittedly frustrating distinction that it seems more and more atheists are making these days).

Mr. Darrow’s main arguments about the Bible are very common objections to Christianity in general, so I think this will be a good exercise for anyone who might come up against them in a witnessing situation, or if someone just has genuine questions about the Bible. Rather than going through his article line by line, which would not be helpful for learning answers to certain objections, I decided to outline the main objections that he gives. I found seven basic objections in Mr. Darrow’s article, and they are as follows.

The Bible is absurd because…

1) The Bible records impossible events
2) There is no evidence for certain Biblical events
3) There are non-biblical accounts of miracles similar to the Bible’s
4) The people in those days knew next to nothing about science
5) Even some Christians don’t believe the stories are literally true
6) The God of the Bible does immoral things
7) Christians hate knowledge/rationality

I will address these issues one by one in subsequent blogs.

JW 4: Practical Tips

Here is a link to a great article I found with a very humble, gentle, and practical way to witness to a Jehovah's Witness. I remember stressing this idea at the beginning of my JW series: They are not nuisances, they are chances for you to evangelize that God has placed quite literally at your doorstep.

Happy fishing.

JW 3: Discerning Truth from Error

Time flies way too fast! If you people actually want information from me on a more regular basis, someone will have to jump on my back about it. …Ok well let’s not resort to physical violence, but I think you get my meaning. I figure I might as well address a few more issues I have with the Watchtower organization, so that we can be done with that segment of my blog. Bear in mind, however, that these issues are not the fault solely of JW’s. Some “mainline Christians” may be guilty of the same things. Do let me know if I am guilty of these things. First off I’d like to mention a couple things I’m happy about in JW theology.

They said some hard things

"God is not obligated to show favor or mercy to anyone" (30).

Some people think that God owes them happiness, or a good life, or a ticket to heaven. Otherwise they claim He’s unloving or unforgiving. The definition of grace implies that He is not obligated to give it. Yet He still chose to give it! That is so mind boggling to me. Anyways, on this point the JW’s are solid.

"The Bible condemns premarital intercourse and homosexuality" (122).

I think that’s pretty clear! Refreshing to know how clear the Bible is on the topic especially in this day an age when it seems like everyone and their brother is jumping on the pro-gay bandwagon and sex is treated like an everyday biological function – no more than scratching an itch or feeding a hungry stomach. They even used the word condemn. Those judgmental JW’s… someone needs to sue them for hate crime… (/sarcasm).

Now, on to the many things to be wary of.

Happiness as a reason to accept the(ir) gospel

1. "Calling on Jehovah...can lead you to endless happiness" (27).

This stuff really gets under my skin. Let me make clear that I do not think God is a cosmic kill joy. In fact, He is the only true source of joy (Gal 5:22; Ps 16:11)! I just never see anyone in scripture giving that as a reason to call on Him and be saved. If you do, let me know. Indeed, God did make things for us to enjoy (1 Tim 6:17). However, that is not why we submit to His Lordship and turn from our sin. Not only does an unregenerate person not have a desire for the things of God (Rom 3:11; so they are guaranteed not to be made happy with the “eternal pleasures at [His] right hand” - Ps 16:11), but this simply centers the gospel on man and thereby minimizes the gospel. I’ll say it loud and clear: Jesus did not die on the cross to make you happy! He died to satisfy the wrath of God. Go to the cross because you’re so thankful that He would do such a thing for you. Repent of your sin and trust in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to pay the due penalty for your active rebellion against God.

The appeal to the reader in order to determine spiritual truths

"Is this not the kind of God that you want to worship?" (15).

Rom 3:11 – “There is none who seeks after God.” Also see 1 Cor 2:14. But they will seek after they’re own gods. This is a huge red flag, tipping you off to the fact that the JW god is not the God of the Bible, but a God of man’s own making. Watch out for people everywhere with this mindset. Mankind has not gotten tired of making a god to suit himself. If I have done this, let me know. Now… the following section contains some frankly odd phrases that I found in the book. You just need to take a look at them for yourself. Perhaps you can help me out with them.

Weird Stuff

"The work of witnessing to Jesus" (49).

Witnessing to Jesus? I checked the context. I have no idea what this means. Ideas?

"...sin was deeply engraved into the genes of our first parents" (58).

Sin is a physical problem?

"...only 144,000...will God take to heaven...(Rev 7:4; 14:1)" (88).

The funniest thing about this is that in verse 9 of chapter 7 there is a numberless quantity of saints standing before the throne of God in heaven… Why they interpreted the 144,000 sealed of Israel to be the only ones who go to heaven, I have no idea.

Legalism

"We must make sure that we avoid religious holidays and other customs that violate God's principles (1 Thess 5:21)" (49).

Since they’re quoting the “test all things” verse (I don’t know how it supports their position), I’ll be doing just that… oh look. Here’s an interesting verse… "Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath." – Col 2:16

Maybe they just missed it…but I doubt it. Also check out Rom 14.

Annihilationism

"Martha expressed no thought about an immortal soul living on elsewhere after death"

"...the Bible never uses the expression 'immortal soul'" (84).

A lesson in logic: this is what we like to call the Argument from Ignorance fallacy. Not having a record of Martha expressing belief in immortal souls is quite a weak reason to make a blanket statement that they definitely don’t exist. First of all, Martha could simply be ignorant. There’s no reason to believe that she had all her theology right. Second of all, the objection that the Bible never says “immortal soul” is like objecting that the Bible never uses the term “monotheistic” to describe “Fundamental Evangelical Christianity” (another term that isn’t used in the Bible). We use words to embody concepts that we deduce the people of scripture believe after taking in the whole of scripture.

"Nobody would need to be resurrected, or brought back to life, if an immortal soul survived death" (84).

This is an excellent example of “human reasoning.” Whether or not they understand the purpose of resurrecting a body and rejoining the soul with it, the Bible says we have souls, and that they can be separated from the physical body (by death) , and that they can be rejoined with the body (by resurrection). (Phil 1:23-24; 2 Cor 5:8; Rev 6:9).

Misused Scripture

"You will be with me in Paradise."-Luke 23:42,43

They subtly leave out “today,” a word that absolutely destroys annihilationism. They take from the word of God where it suits them so that they can hold on to their theology. Rest assured, believer. When you die, you will be with the Lord immediately.

Misunderstanding of Jesus' Mission on Earth

"A stable world government...was the theme of Jesus' preaching. He called it 'the kingdom of God'" (90).

A stable world government? The kingdom of God is “a stable world government?” I wonder why I never interpreted it that way. Oh yea, it’s because Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). Jesus did not come to set up a world government! Nor did He come so that we would strive to set up a world government! Anyways… I’m done with my rant.

Perhaps you can sense a little anger in my tone. It’s there. It’s because these people have distorted the truth of God’s word to suit themselves (2 Pet 3:16). They do this to their own destruction, and to the destruction of those who follow them. This simultaneously breaks my heart and provokes it. I hope it is with a righteous anger. As I have said before, if it is not, let me know.

JW 2: Discerning Truth from Error

This is my rebuttal of Jehovah's Witnesses' most troubling false doctrines, found in the booklet/tract Knowledge That Leads to Everlasting Life. The numbers in parentheses are page numbers.

Knocking on the door of works-salvation
-"God accepts as his worshipers people from all nations, but only those who conform to his righteous ways - Acts 10:34,35" (30)
-"if we do God's will and avoid activities that reflect this world's spirit, we can have the hope of everlasting life!" (50).

One commonality in every false religion I know of is that you are always trying to earn your way to heaven or a right relationship with God if you are a part of them. Rule #1 of Christian theology: You are not good enough! God has provided His salvation apart from any merit that you can contribute to the equation (Eph 2:8-9). If you are saved, you will do good works (Eph 2:10), but that is not the same as earning God's favor, which is utterly impossible (Is 64:6). Always clear up this discrepancy in pseudo-Christian theology as of first importance. You need to both understand that people cannot earn their way into heaven. If they try to contribute anything at all they are damned (Rom 11:6; Gal 5:4)! This is therefore a very important issue! Make that clear gently.

Denial of the Trinity
-"Therefore, those who accept the Bible as God's Word do not worship a Trinity consisting of three persons or gods in one" (31).
-"In fact, the word Trinity does not even appear in the Bible (John 14:28; 1 Cor. 15:28)" (31).
-"The true God is one Person, separate from Jesus Christ" (31).

I don't know that I've met any person who denies the Trinity with a full and complete understanding of what the doctrine is. I will tell you: It is the teaching that God is three distinct persons, of which the Father is first, the Son is second, and the Holy Spirit is third. This numbering of personages is meant to reflect the apparent authoritative hierarchy contained within the Trinity. Each person is fully God, fully Divine. This is extremely confused for most people because we don't generally think of one being have the property of existing as three distinct persons "at the same time." To help, I will define what it means to be a person.

Personhood in the Trinity means: self-awareness, choice, can reason, love, possessing a will and consciousness, can speak, be lied to, etc.

As we look at the Bible, we clearly see that there are three entities with these characteristics in the Godhead. All one needs to do to find the Trinity in the Bible is to prove that only one God exists (Is. 43:10-11), that Jesus is God (John 1:1; Heb 1:8), that the Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:4 cf v.9), and that each one is not the other (Matt 3:15-17).

There are many many other verses compounding and solidifying the case for the Trinity, and I invite you to find those on your own.

The most common objection I hear to the Trinity (and one which the JW's love), which is that "it doesn't appear anywhere in the Bible" is simply man's foolishness. The word "monotheism" does not appear in the Bible, yet I'm sure we all can agree that the Bible teaches monotheism.

Denial of Jesus' Divinity
-"The true God is one Person, separate from Jesus Christ" (31).
-"[Some] have distorted Jesus' role, worshiping him as Almighty God" (32).
-"Jehovah created [Jesus] directly" (39, 62).

This is the most common objection to the Trinity that I know of. Many people are not willing to admit that Jesus is God. However, He is. John 1 and Hebrews 1 are great passages to go to, but the JW will undoubtedly have some Greek original language stuffed up their sleeve which the average Joe will not and should not be required to know about. So I've found it's best to go about it like this: Point to Isaiah 44:24 and prove that God didn't get any help making the universe. Then point to John 1 and Colossians 1:16 and prove that Jesus created all things. God created everything by Himself. Jesus created everything. I guess Jesus is God!

The reason this point is so crucial is because Jesus said that anyone who does not believe that Jesus is God is not saved (John 8:24), and also because a Jesus who is not God has no efficacy on the cross! Also, God said that He Himself would be the Messiah in Zech 12:10 - "they will look upon Me, whom they have pierced."

Denial of the Personhood of the Holy Spirit
-"God's holy spirit is not a person. It is Jehovah's active force, used by the Almighty to accomplish his purposes. - Gen 1:2" (31).
-"holy spirit, or active force" (40).

This is the most baffling of all the heresies, but I suppose it goes hand in hand with denying the Trinity. You can't have another person in the Godhead without some sort of unity in plurality. I have several very practical problems with this doctrine.

Impersonal forces...
1) Cannot be grieved, yet the Holy Spirit can be grieved (Is 63:10).
2) Do not have gender, yet the Holy Spirit has gender (John 14:26).
3) Do not speak, yet the Holy Spirit speaks (Mark 13:11; Acts 13:2).
4) Do not teach things, yet the Holy Spirit teaches (John 14:26).
5) Cannot be lied to, yet the Holy Spirit can be lied to (Acts 5:3).

I think it's pretty obvious that the Holy Spirit has all the attributes that indicate personhood, and the only reason JW's reject this teaching is because they don't like the Trinity.

I hope this helps you bolster your faith in the orthodox and historical doctrine of the Trinity. We serve an amazing and mysterious God.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him,
and without him was not any thing made that was made.
John 1:1-3

Resolved

By far the highlight of my year thus far (and for a long time to come, I’m sure!) is the Resolved conference which I had the privilege to attend this year with 13 other people from Christian fellowships on campus. It was an awesome experience hearing the word of God (Ps 119:103) and letting it do its work in my heart (Heb 4:12).

The theme this year was "the gospel." I ask you: could there be a better theme?! I was pumped to hear the central message of Christianity spoken of by such knowledgeable men of the faith. And I was not disappointed in the least (Is. 55:11). I figured at the very least it would help me articulate the message to other people, but the sermons dug deep into my heart and probed depths of the magnificence of the gospel that I never could have dreamed of knowing. If I had to pick a favorite sermon, it would be CJ Mahaney's exposition of Isaiah 53. The line that rings in my head over and over again is: "Heaven doesn't get over the cross!" If you can set aside the cross as a nice little thing that God did for us way back when, you do not appreciate the absolutely astounding nature of Christ's sacrifice. I will definitely be looking forward to the audio recordings of these sermons as they get posted on the Internet.

In all there were 9 sermons and 1 panel discussion, for a total of 12-15 hours of biblical expository preaching. We heard from CJ Mahaney, John MacArthur, John Piper, Rick Holland, and Steve Lawson. We heard about the accomplishments of the gospel (Rom 5:6-11), the supremacy of Christ (Heb 1:1-4), the shamefulness of the message (1 Cor 1-2), atonement and justification (Luke 18:9-14), the suffering servant (Isaiah 53:1-6,10), the cost of discipleship (Luke 14:25-35), God is the Gospel (Habakkuk 3:17-18, and others), humility (1 Cor 4:6-13), and the relationship between missions and God’s glory (Rom 11:36, and others). As I have said already, these were all heart-wrenching sermons, and well worth the time to travel down and listen to them.

I didn’t make any New Year’s resolutions this year, but after that conference, I felt compelled to resolve to do something! CJ Mahaney counseled us to focus on maybe 2 or 3 things to take away from the conference and focus, meditate, and work on as we come back to life as it is normally presented to us. These are three resolutions I determined to do follow, and I would appreciate everyone’s accountability in all these things.

1) Resolved, to cultivate within myself a spirit of humility and slay the spirit of pride.

2) Resolved, to adjust my mindset continually to be focused on the person of Christ and His atoning work finished at Calvary.

3) Resolved, to daily meditate on the Word of God not merely as an apologetic but exercise, but as the result of a personal and meaningful relationship between a slave and his Master, the saved and his Savior.

Again, I had a wonderful time there, almost beyond description. It isn’t often that you get together with 3000 Reformed (college aged) brothers and sisters and listen to five godly men who are dedicated to proclaiming the sovereignty of God and the truth of the Word. It was a wild ride indeed, and I highly recommend it! Resolved is coming back next year as well to Palm Springs in mid June. That is right when the quarter system schools get out, so you don’t have to worry about not being able to do schoolwork. The theme will be heaven and hell. Speaking of heaven, I got a book by that name at the bookstore that they had for us down there. It’s by Randy Alcorn, and it looks really good so far, so maybe I’ll let you guys in on a book review when I’m done! Thanks for hanging in there and being faithful to wait for my not-so-frequent blog updates, all. Until next time.

For from Him and to Him and through Him are all things.
To him be glory forever. Amen.
-Romans 11:36