The Christ-Centered Mind: Why the Bible?

2. The Christ-Centered Mind: Why the Bible?

4. Why not . . . ? Qur’an Avesta Analects Daodejing Vedas Upanishads BhagavadGita Lotus Sutra Book of Mormon

5. The Messiah

6. It would be more consistent that we called it the word of a demon than the Word of God.  It is a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind.  Thomas Paine

7. It was subtle of God to learn Greek when he wished to become an author - and not to learn it better.  Friedrich Nietzsche Beyond Good and Evil

8. The book, called the Bible, is filled with passages equally horrible, unjust and atrocious.  This is the book to be read in schools in order to make our children loving, kind and gentle!  Robert G. Ingersoll, The Gods

9. Inspired?  The Bible is not even intelligent.  It is not even good craftsmanship, but is full of absurdities and contradictions.  E. Haldeman-Julius The Meaning Of Atheism

10. Why is the Bible Rejected? • Don’t believe in God • Question the authenticity of the Bible • Take a simple-minded approach to the Bible

11. Why is the Bible Accepted? • Divine Origin – God has spoken

12. 2 Timothy 3 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

13. 2 Timothy 3 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

14. Why is the Bible Accepted? • Divine Origin – God has spoken • Human Agency – Through people?!

15. 2 Peter 1 19And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. 21For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

16. 2 Peter 1 21For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

17. Why is the Bible Accepted? • Divine Origin – God has spoken • Human Agency – Through people?! • Christus Nexus – Jesus’ view of the Bible

18. Jesus’ View of the Bible • “The Scripture cannot be broken.” (John 10:35) • “You err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God . . .” (Matthew 22:29) • “Until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:18)

19. I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this book. Abraham Lincoln

20. I have known ninety five of the world's great men in my time, and of these eighty seven were followers of the Bible. W.E. Gladstone

21. It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible. George Washington

22. The Bible is no mere book, but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all that oppose it. Napoleon Bonaparte

23. The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed. Patrick Henry

24. It is impossible to enslave mentally or socially a • Bible reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom. • Horace Greeley

25. The New Testament is the very best book that ever was or ever will be known in the world. Charles Dickens

26. He is there and He is not silent