ANN019

Did God Really Say?

The article addresses the reliability of the Gospels and the criticisms they provoke, and defends their inerrancy under divine guidance. It distinguishes between legitimate criticism and ideological attacks. The author reaffirms the authority of the Scriptures, illustrated by God’s question in Genesis and the temptation of Jesus, stressing the role of faith. The article calls for regarding the Bible as inspired by God, distinct from the apocryphal writings.

9 min reliability Gospels criticism inerrancy apocryphal

Further information

You can consult:

Introduction

You might think that we are straying from our goal by taking an interest in this subject. Yet there is a close connection between the inerrancy of the Gospels, which we defend, and the negative comments made about them.

At various points we have mentioned the criticisms of the biblical writings that call their credibility into question. Some passages are considered anachronistic, inconsistent, legendary, or even added later by translators, while others are regarded as authentic and historical.

These opponents challenge the integrity of the translators and accuse them of altering the text in order to confirm their own thesis. This position creates a climate of suspicion toward the biblical writings as a whole, and if we accepted these conclusions, it would become difficult to tell truth from falsehood!

Nor can we accept everything without seeking to understand and analyze, which is precisely the purpose of this website. The persistence of these criticisms gives us pause. In our view, it is not solely the consequence of the Bible’s great influence.

Some criticisms are devoid of any historical foundation or truth, and yet they are considered true by many people. We observe a methodical effort of undermining and organized attempts at discrediting. The importance of these facts prompted us to write this appendix.

I. The Criticisms

Criticism is a reasoned, objective examination that seeks to identify strengths and weaknesses and leads to a value judgment.
This form seems to us natural and even indispensable.

Not all of Paul’s epistles had yet been written when certain individuals were examining the teachings they received. It is therefore obvious that they also assessed the credibility of Paul’s writings. This reasoned examination, as practiced by the Christians of the city of Berea, is reassuring, for faith cannot accept everything blindly. The rejection of the is a perfect illustration of this.

We are also confronted with more or less virulent attacks against the biblical text. Here we enter another dimension, where the search for truth is no longer the aim, but rather a mere desire to discredit and destroy the message of the Bible.

The argument no longer rests on historical facts but on ideology. The book, the Gospel of Barnabas, illustrates this type of criticism well. The very use of the word “gospel” in its title is misleading!

We wish to analyze not criticism, which we approve of and encourage, but these attacks that hide behind that term.

II. Our Thesis

We wish to address a thesis that we consider fundamental: the Gospels are the “Word of God” in the sense that God Himself inspired and guided the biblical authors.

He also guided the first Christians in selecting the texts that would form the biblical canon, the one we find in our Bibles today.

We stress that the , found only in the Old Testament, were perceived from the beginning as distinct.

Jerome of Stridon, in his translation of the Bible, the Vulgate, did not intend to include these apocryphal texts.

The Bible is therefore regularly the target of more or less direct attacks the main adversary of our souls and of God: Satan. By way of illustration, we will examine two examples mentioned in this sacred Book.

The principle is simple and is reflected in the question: “Did God really say?” It aims simply to sow doubt in people’s minds in order to discredit the Word of God.

The second example, modeled directly on the first, is found in the New Testament, more precisely in the temptation of Jesus the Messiah.

We notice that the principle remains similar: to instill doubt in the mind of the listener. This same pattern is found in certain commentaries on the Gospels or other biblical writings.

We are no longer in the realm of criticism but rather in that of calling the credibility of these texts into question. These writings seem to contradict the inerrancy of the biblical accounts.

Thus, an anonymous author, under the pretext of an intellectual training, can put forward hypotheses that directly oppose the writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. It is essential never to forget that their accounts were validated by a great number of witnesses.

III. The Balance Between Criticism and Faith

The text of the Bible is above all a message meant to be understood by all people, despite their cultural diversity and differences in knowledge.

The technical outlook of the individual of the 21st century can in no way be compared to that of a person living in Antiquity, in the Middle Ages, or even in the Age of Enlightenment.

This purpose also naturally explains the absence of certain details, which leads us to consider various hypotheses in certain situations. Thus, faith has made it possible, throughout these centuries, to make up for this lack of knowledge.

The modern individual, equipped with his knowledge, can understand this message more easily. He is now able to discover and interpret revelations that remained hidden for centuries. Historical events, particularly those related to the history of the Jews, provide indispensable insight.

Nowadays, faith is oriented differently; it enables us to accept God’s promises. However, it must in no way hinder the study of the biblical facts. Indeed, the idea that faith is the only means of interpreting the biblical accounts is, in our opinion, not the path to truth.

The Bible is the Word of God and embodies the truth. It has no need to fear confrontation, whether with secular history or with science.

IV. The Attacks on the Gospels

We approve of the principle of criticism of the Gospels, but not when it turns into an attack aimed solely at discrediting these texts. In studying the information provided by Matthew and Luke concerning the beginning of the ministry of John the Baptist and the birth of Jesus the Messiah, we are faced with a formal contradiction with the hypothesis of King Herod’s death in 4 BC. We established that a death in 1 BC is another possible hypothesis, and that, in this particular case, secular history confirms all of Luke’s data (ANN011 : The death of King Herod).

Yet one point gives us pause: the hypothesis of a death in 4 BC has, over time, become a historical fact defended by many historians. We then leave the realm of constructive criticism and enter an attempt to discredit the biblical text. Indeed, this claim of a death in 4 BC remains a hypothesis and not a historical fact, just like a death in 1 BC.

We could multiply the examples, but our aim here is simply to note that many scholars try to impose the idea of two incompatible histories: that of the world, which is quite real, and that of the Bible, which is more or less fanciful. This would lead the reader to choose between the real, concrete world, that of secular history, and the imaginary, legendary world, that of biblical history!

We find the best answer in the words of Jesus the Messiah: ‘It is also written’!

It is therefore possible, against all expectations, to demonstrate that all the biblical writings are compatible with secular history. This is one of the purposes of writing this book: to demonstrate that the great majority of the alleged contradictions can be explained simply by a careful study of the biblical texts.

‘Give me a fulcrum and a lever, and I will move the world,’ Archimedes theorized about three centuries before Christ. As soon as we accept a small error in this text, we are no longer sure of anything.

No one is neutral in this matter, and we are no exception to this rule. Absolute intellectual independence is, in our eyes, a utopia. Nevertheless, we can try to analyze the biblical texts simply and to consider that their authors were honest in their writing.

Conclusion

The Bible, recognized as the ‘Word of God’, is rightly at the heart of a conflict that goes beyond our understanding. The adversary of humanity, often called Satan, makes every effort to discredit this sacred work. He deems it crucial to prevent people from discovering the wonderful plan devised by God!

In his day, King Solomon declared:

We can see the truth of this statement in the recurring attacks against the ‘Word of God’.

It is therefore imperative that people today strive to analyze these texts in order to reveal the extraordinary reality disclosed in the Bible, which we can summarize as follows: God controls the history of the world!