None, Some, or Sum
There is a book that I’m fairly confident is owned by everybody reading these words. In fact, I’m fairly certain that most of us have more than one copy. The book is actually a collection of sixty-six books. Collectively, these books are known by most at The Holy Bible. Sometimes we just shorten that to The Bible.
It seems to me that there are some serious questions that need to be considered about this volume. Each of us needs to ask ourselves such questions as:
- How much (if any) of this book is actually inspired by God?
- How much (if any) is accurate?
- How much (if any) is helpful in my own personal life, my family, my relationship with others, etc.?
- How much (if any) is actually relevant to the world and society in which we live?
- How much (if any) of The Holy Bible will play a role in where I will spend eternity?
Throughout history, the answer to those questions given by some people has been, “None.” For countless centuries, some people have advanced, and some continue to advance, theories, philosophies, concepts, and ideas that reduce the Bible to, at best, the product of misguided but well-meaning people. Some would go so far as to suggest that the book that so many of us hold dear is a deliberate attempt by evil people to mislead others.
Sadly, that view of the Bible seems to be gaining in popularity. However, I do not believe that it represents the thinking of most people who have an opinion about it. In other words, I honestly do not believe that most people would be described as being in the “none camp.” It seems to me that the major differences in the opinions of most people would put people in the “some camp” or in the “sum camp.”
A lot of people (maybe even more than I would like to admit) will readily admit that some of the Bible answers the questions posed above (and many more that could be posed). However, these people would also assert that portions of the Bible are nothing more than myth. They would point to what they mistakenly believe are errors in it. They would point out that it was written in a different time and place than the time and place in which we find ourselves.
Those in the “some camp” would suggest a lot of things that would diminish confidence in, and reliance upon, the Bible. These people would tell us that there are some good moral lessons and other interesting material in the Bible, but that is about as far as it goes. In short, they would affirm that, while the Bible contains the word of God, it is not, in its entirety, the word of God.
As I consider these two alternatives, the “none camp” and the “some camp,” I am reminded that the psalmist wrote these words a long time ago:
The sum of Your word is truth… (Psalm 119:10, ESV)
According to my understanding of the word “sum,” this verse means that, when you add up everything that God has said, it means that the answer to each question suggested above is…
all of it!!
This does not need to be merely an intellectual, philosophical, or even a theological discussion. Where I “come down” on the none – some – or sum discussion is much more important than any of those.
All of us need to keep in mind that “…we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…” (2 Cor. 5:10). We also need to remember that He was the One who cited Deuteronomy 8:3 and said:
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4).
I think I’ll stick with that answer. How about you?
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AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
