Can I Trust the Bible?

Loud and persistent voices attack the trustworthiness and relevance of the Biblical text. At times our quieter, inner voice may raise sincere questions about the Bible’s reliability, but if we can’t depend on the Scriptures then our faith can’t stand. Through the written Scriptures, we know who Jesus is and gain a clearer understanding of ourselves, God, and our world. This weekend let’s explore why it’s reasonable to rely on the witness and the words of the Scriptures.

1. Read 2 Peter 1:16-21. What do you observe about the quality, character, and process of writing Scripture from Peter’s description in these verses?

2. How would you identify the human and divine elements of writing the words of Scripture from this passage in verses:
a. 16
b. 17-19
c. 20
d. 21

3. How have you faced challenges about the reliability of Scripture rising from your own questions or questions from others? Did any of the ideas from this weekend’s sermon respond to those challenges?

4. Why is our belief about the nature and quality of Scripture important?
a. How does acknowledging the cooperative effort between people and God in creating Scripture influence our approach to studying the Bible and applying it?
b. What happens if we lean entirely on the human side (the Bible is a book like any other book written by people) or the divine side (God took control of human writers who wrote down words He dictated) of writing the words of the Bible?

5. When you view the Scriptures primarily as a witness to Jesus, what changes about how you read the Bible?

6. As you continue reading Scripture, here are three questions you can ask of any particular text: What does it say (observe)? What does it mean (interpret)? What difference does it make (apply)? This week examine these six verses from 2 Peter 1:16-21 by answering those three questions.

For further reading, view the Council on Biblical Inerrancy document HERE.