Daily Archives: January 3, 2015

Albert Mohler: Newsweek on the Bible—So Misrepresented It’s a Sin

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Sigh. A new year. Same tired old stuff from those hostile to the Christian faith. Sad to see people robbing themselves of real power. Mohler has a well-reasoned response. See what you think.

newsweekcover2015-225x300Newsweek magazine decided to greet the start of 2015 with a massive cover story on the Bible. For decades now, major news magazines have tended to feature cover articles timed for Christmas and Easter, taking an opportunity to consider some major question about Christianity and the modern world. Leading the journalistic pack for years, both TIME and Newsweek dedicated cover article after article, following a rather predictable format. In the main, scholars or leaders from very liberal quarters commented side-by-side those committed to historic Christianity on questions ranging from the virgin birth to the resurrection of Christ.

When written by journalists like Newsweek‘s former editor Jon Meacham or TIME reporters such as David Van Biema, the articles were often balanced and genuinely insightful. Meacham and Van Biema knew the difference between theological liberals and theological conservatives and they were determined to let both sides speak. I was interviewed several times by both writers, along with others from both magazines. I may not have liked the final version of the article in some cases, but I was treated fairly and with journalistic integrity.

So, when Newsweek, now back in print under new ownership, let loose its first issue of the New Year on the Bible, I held out the hope that the article would be fair, journalistically credible, and interesting, even if written from a more liberal perspective.

But Newsweek‘s cover story is nothing of the sort. It is an irresponsible screed of post-Christian invective leveled against the Bible and, even more to the point, against evangelical Christianity. It is one of the most irresponsible articles ever to appear in a journalistic guise.

Read it all.

Marek Zabriskie: Resolved: Read the Bible in 2015

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660-Holy-Bible-NIVHere are 20 reasons you should considering committing to read the Bible this year:

  1. It’s the No. 1 best-selling book of all time.
  2. No book has made a greater impact on the world than the Bible.
  3. The Bible magnifies our ability to love others and to love ourselves.
  4. No book reveals more about God than the Bible, and God rejoices when we read it.
  5. Daily Bible reading centers us spiritually and is so enjoyable that you will want to encourage others to do it as well.
  6. Taking time to read the Bible for 15 or 30 minutes each day transforms our lives, our marriages, our relationships and our families. It helps us to be better parents, spouses, neighbors, Christians, workers, citizens and human beings.
  7. The Bible is the best understanding that we have of Jesus — the person who has had the greatest impact on history.
  8. There are over 2 billion Christians. One out of every three people on the planet practices Christianity. The Bible is their chief narrative. It’s worth knowing why.
  9. The Bible has inspired people to found the first universities and hospitals in Western society.
  10. You cannot fully appreciate Western culture, literature and art without knowing the Bible.
  11. Many of the expressions that we use each day come directly from the Bible.
  12. People constantly debate what they believe the Bible says without having read it. It’s worth reading it to find out what the Bible actually says.
  13. You can read the Bible every day and constantly find new things within it.
  14. The Bible will speak to you in a different way each time you pick it up and read it.
  15. Reading the Bible will push you to explore what it means to be created in God’s image, and it will help you understand God, your life’s purpose and why you were put on earth.
  16. No two people interpret the Bible in the exact same way. It’s worth developing your own understanding of the Bible and not settling for what someone else has to say about it.
  17. The Bible, prayerfully and reasonably read on a regular basis, inspires people to be better persons than they ever would be had they not taken time to read it regularly.
  18. The Bible offers the most sustained and vital value system in history, and we cannot live and impart these values to our children and to others unless we read it regularly.
  19. The Bible is like a mirror. Reading it regularly develops our conscience, helps us to arrange our priorities and encourages us to make significant improvements in our lives.
  20. Reading the Bible keeps our heads and our hearts in the right place, develops compassion and good judgment within us and prepares us to spend eternity with God.

Good stuff. I would only disagree with reason 16. While it is technically true that “no two people interpret the Bible in the exact same way,” that misses the point. There is indeed consensus (not the same as drawing unanimous conclusions) about what the Bible says and that consensus is found in how the Church has read Scripture over time and across cultures. Reading the Bible without being part of that broader reading community and history is why there are so many screwball and hair-brained interpretations of the Bible today, something that surely grieves our Lord Jesus (cf. John 17.20-24). Scripture is a complex narrative for a host of reasons and everybody needs help reading it. Everybody. So while I do agree that folks should read the Bible individually, they should also read it together as the Church and use respected commentaries to help guard against drawing unwarranted and downright bad conclusions from the text.

That said, let us not miss the overall point Zabriskie is making about reading through the complete Bible, which is rock-solid. Go and do likewise in 2015 (and then in 2016, 2017, 2018, etc.)!

Read the whole article and then get busy!