Bob Thune 2004-03-20 2
From Summa Bergania
From : Bob Thune, Jr
Sent : Saturday, March 20, 2004 8:15 AM
To : David Bergan
Subject : NOT my final answer
Well, let's not give up that easy. :) If it's deductive arguments you want, we can try our best... and I definitely think we can get "beyond a reasonable doubt." But what I'm saying is that I think your biggest hurdle is one of will, not of intellect. The jump from "beyond a reasonable doubt" to "I believe this" is going to be one of the will, just like salvation. You (and CS Lewis) can give the skeptic reasonable evidence that Jesus is God, but he can still choose not to act based on that evidence. Same applies here.
By the way, I don't believe in "buying into an idea simply because of the conclusion it gets us". Neither of us is a utilitarian; we both believe that absolute truth exists, and that it is accessible and verifiable. I'm only saying that this subject brings us crashing right up against our fundamental presuppositions, and for me the inerrancy of Scripture is not only deductively reasonable... it is a starting point for all other knowledge. (We're in a Cartesian sort of catch-22 here. Descartes said, "Okay, I'll start by doubting everything; but I can't doubt my own existence! So: I think, therefore I am." You and I wouldn't say that Rene has deductively proven his own existence; but we'd give him the benefit of the doubt and say, "You have to start somewhere.")
So, let's deduce. I'll suggest some premises and you email me back and tell me if you're willing to grant them.
ARGUMENT 1:
1) God exists, and is personal and sovereign and good, and delights in revealing himself to His creation.
2) God is capable of (and seems to show a history of) revealing himself through human/created means - prophets, poets, kings, donkeys. (Of course he uses a burning bush here and there also...)
3) When God speaks (if we can establish that He does so), His word must be reliable (based on premise #1)
4) God, in His sovereignty, is perfectly capable of inspiring and preserving a written text for us, assuming He wants to.
(No conclusion will yet be drawn, because there are still some steps we have to make... just evaluate the premises so far. Preview: I'm trying here to get us deductively to answer your "question 1" - why can we say that any books are inspired by God?)
ARGUMENT 2:
1) Many biblical books (granting exceptions like Ruth) claim God's authority, declaring "Thus says the Lord" and commanding obedience.
2) The Bible, based on 2 Tim 3:16 and 2 Peter 1:20-21, claims that the Old Testament is God-breathed.
3) The New Testament books all are either written by or verified by an apostle.
4) The standard for the reliability of any text is the reliability of the source (which is why a letter from your mom is more reliable than a letter from a cult leader).
(This argument is heading toward what the Bible claims for itself, and how we should evaluate that.)
Sorry if we left you in the doldrums of discouragement. I am enthusiastic
that we can answer these questions adequately for you to answer the Devil!
Bob
