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Can You Believe the Bible?

“IT IS absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane.” How do these words by biologist Richard Dawkins affect you? If you believe the Bible, likely you believe in creation rather than in the theory of evolution. Does that mean that, as a believer in the Bible, you are ignorant, stupid, or insane?

Consider, too, this statement: “New Testament scholars have established beyond any reasonable doubt that the Jesus of early Christian documents is to some extent a fiction of the Christian imagination.” These words in The Weekend Australian were spoken by Dr. Robert W. Funk, a university professor of religious studies and author of a number of books on religious interpretation.

Dr. Funk originated a project known as the Jesus Seminar, a group of more than a hundred Bible scholars who together scrutinized the sayings of Jesus reported in the Bible. Among other things, they concluded that the Lord’s Prayer was not composed by Jesus; that Jesus did not say that the meek would inherit the earth or that the peacemakers would be called sons of God; and that he did not say: “I am the resurrection and the life. He that exercises faith in me . . . will never die.”​—John 11:25, 26; Matthew 5:5, 9; 6:9, 10.

Even though their conclusions may shock you, they are not unusual. They are the result of modern Biblical criticism, and similar ideas have been taught in religious seminaries for some time. Perhaps you have hardened yourself to hearing the Bible contradicted by scientists. But when religious leaders cast doubt on the truthfulness of the Bible record, you may wonder whether it is time to reconsider your own position. Is it logical to believe the Bible when so many intellectuals in the field of religion evidently do not?