The Bullet of Scripture: The Preponderance of Evidence
It is impossible to be completely certain about life’s most significant questions … especially the big ones! Is God real? What is the purpose of life? How do I find and give meaning to my life? We have more certainty when dealing with factual data: the boiling point of water at sea level on planet earth is 100 degrees Celsius or 212 degrees Fahrenheit, or hydrogen is the lightest element on the periodic chart, etc. Yet even when dealing with natural facts that are measurable and quantifiable, it is not always possible to be certain. Consider the problem of the deepest point in the ocean and the highest point on earth … the Marianas Trench in the Western Pacific and Mount Everest in the Himalayas respectively. Refined measurements and the changing nature of earth features make true exactitude only a short lived thing; thus, a quick search for answers to just these two questions will bring about varying results from different, trustworthy sources. None-the-less, for general use we have a figure for each. (In case you wondered, the deepest point in the ocean is more than 36,000 feet down and the highest mountain is slightly more than 29,000 feet up.)
Not long ago I was involved in a discussion about the reliability of the Bible. The question posed was how do we convince skeptics that the Bible as true? I contend that the nuances between certainty and certitude should form the basis of our conclusion. Certainty demands a decision based on complete knowledge, something very few situations in life offer; we know the boiling point of water but we can not say with absolute certainty the depth of the ocean. On the other hand, certitude demands a decision based on the preponderance of facts. Most situations allow us to come close to a truthful decision because there are many sources of evidence. We teach in our universities as fact that General Julius Caesar wrote a book about his Gallic Wars in the first century B.C. We do this even though the oldest extant copy (still in existence) of the manuscript we have in our possession follows his death by some 1,000 years! This gives 900 plus years for it to be written by a forger! Can we be “certain” this did not happen? Still the preponderance of evidence favors Caesar as the author of this work and that the Gallic Wars by the Roman army against the Gauls did take place in what is today called France! There is far more “certitude” that Caesar wrote it than that he didn’t!
Our job in answering the question my friends and I discussed is not to present absolute proof that the Bible is “certain” but to present a preponderance of “certitude” evidence that the skeptic should consider before making an informed judgment. In short we should offer our skeptic friend the only sane choices that can be made … as certainty is impossible for flawed human beings to declare their remains only one intelligent option – certitude! We must consider mankind’s vastly limited power to know completely about anything, especially those issues dealing with the why of creation, purpose and the beyond. Hence, we are bound to live our lives out in certitude and not certainty. Our job as “witnesses to Christ” is to get others to take the chance of discovering what they are missing, not to convince them to give up their questions.
I have never met the author of a single Bible book nor a single translator for the first 3500 to 2000 years of its existence. I can’t “prove” the Bible with “certainty” … how can a limited little man like me sum up the last 3500 with authority? … but I can prove the Scriptures with “certitude.” The words I find there have been radically changing my life for over 60 years … and there are millions like me who would say the same.
The Savior the Scriptures tell of and promise to me is real to my heart and a powerful Presence in my life. In fact, I’ve experienced so many “certitudes” with Jesus that I am as “certain” about Him as anything on earth!
“For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Romans 15:4
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