By Steve Green
The Bible tells a story—a story of a creator God who creates man for relationship with himself, but man’s disobedience breaks that relationship. And God the Redeemer, out of love, provides the way of restoration. It’s a beautiful story.
But there’s more to the story. There’s something different about the Bible. The Bible makes some very bold claims. Let’s take a look at a few.
[Read the Bible Gateway Blog post, How Has the Bible Shaped Our World?: An Interview with Steve Green]
CLAIM 1: THERE IS A GOD, AND THE BIBLE IS HIS WORD
The biggest and boldest claim of the Bible is that there is a God and that the Bible is his Word. From the very outset, the Bible assumes there is a God, when it starts with, “In the beginning God . . .” (Gen. 1:1). It claims to be telling the story of God.
The Bible repeatedly refers to itself as the Word of God. The phrases “word of God,” “words of God,” “word of the Lord,” or “commandments of the Lord” appear more than 350 times in the King James Version of the Bible. Over and over, the Bible is claiming to be God’s Word.
When Moses gave the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel at Mount Sinai, he said simply, “God spoke all these words, saying . . .” (Ex. 20:1 ESV). As the story goes, God called Moses up to the top of the mountain and gave him instructions for the people to live by. God also wrote down his law on tablets of stone. We know these rules as the Ten Commandments. Moses went back down the mountain to give God’s law to the people.
We are told Moses was a messenger of God. He was bringing God’s message of the law to the people. The law represented a code of conduct—a way of living. If the people obeyed the law of God, then their obedience would keep them in harmony with God.
Similarly, in the book of Matthew, Jesus referred to the law of Moses as from God. Responding to a question from the Pharisees and scribes, his detractors, Jesus said, “Why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition” (Matt. 15:3–6).
The Word of God was considered so sacred that the Israelites were instructed to never add to it nor take from it. In Deuteronomy 4:2, Moses told them, “You shall not add to the word that I command you, or take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you” (ESV).
CLAIM 2: THE BIBLE IS INSPIRED BY GOD
While the Bible claims to be the Word of God, it also makes the claim that God was very important in its writing, that he inspired the writers as they wrote.
Peter, the disciple of Jesus, says it simply: “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20–21).
In essence, Peter is saying that God’s Word doesn’t come from the will of men; it comes from men inspired by the Holy Spirit.
It is after his Damascus Road experience with Jesus that Paul becomes a prolific writer of letters to the various churches scattered throughout the New Testament world. Like Peter, he says it plainly: “All Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16).
In his letter to the church in Corinth, Paul explains that mankind, being finite and limited, cannot grasp or imagine the infinite nature of God. So man must depend on inspiration from the Spirit of God (see 1 Corinthians 2:9-10).
CLAIM 3: THE BIBLE IS ALIVE AND JUDGES THE HEART
In addition to claiming to be inspired, the Bible claims to be living. Hebrews 4:12 says, “The word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
Living? Active? Penetrating? Able to judge the thoughts and attitudes of the heart? It’s a book—ink and paper—yet it claims to be alive. Strong claims. Strong words.
CLAIM 4: THE BIBLE IS RELEVANT—A SOURCE OF INSTRUCTION
One of the consistent themes throughout the Bible is its insistence that it is instructive and relevant for living. Moses, the lawgiver, said it strongly when he told the Israelites that the Word of God was their very life. “He said to them, ‘Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess’” (Deut. 32:46–47).
Remember Joshua, the person who succeeded Moses as the leader of Israel? The Bible records that God instructed Joshua to “be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful” (Josh. 1:7). Further, God told Joshua to “meditate on it day and night” (v. 8) and promised that if he did so, “then you will be prosperous and successful” (v. 8).
The longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119, testifies to the effectiveness and sufficiency of the Bible. Every verse references God’s instruction. The first eight verses use six different synonyms for God’s instruction: law, statutes, ways, precepts, decrees, and commands.
In just the first 8 verses, the writer claims he will not be put to shame but his ways will be blessed as a result of keeping the Lord’s Word. This continues for all 176 verses of this chapter.
Back one hundred chapters, in Psalm 19, King David wrote of God’s Word,
The law of the LORD is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
—PSALM 19:7
And 2 Timothy 3:16 sums it up when it says that the Bible “is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”
With such bold claims, how could anybody take the Bible seriously? Yet many have. While there are differences in culture, economic status, education, and political and social situations, the Bible is the best-selling book around the world. That status has remained unchanged. Daniel Radosh, writing for The New Yorker, says it this way: “The familiar observation that the Bible is the best-selling book of all time obscures a more startling fact: the Bible is the best-selling book of the year, every year.”
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Adapted from This Beautiful Book: An Exploration of the Bible’s Incredible Story Line and Why It Matters Today by Steve Green with Bill High. Click here to learn more about this title. (Note: there is a fifth bold claim of the Bible discussed in this book.)
In This Beautiful Book, Steve Green — founder of The Museum of the Bible — highlights life-changing themes woven through the mosaic of the Bible’s various stories, reveals a new way to engage Scripture as a whole, and inspires deep appreciation for the Bible’s connection to your life.
The most popular and culture-shaping text in the world, the Bible is still the least understood book of all time.
The Bible’s collection of history, poetry, genealogy lists, and mystifying prophecies often prove puzzling to readers. And when this text is read in pieces, we’re left with only a half-impression of the vibrant mosaic. This Beautiful Book highlights the thematic threads woven throughout the ancient writings and shows us a new way to engage with Scripture as a whole.
Through insights gained from firsthand experiences in leading and developing the first world class Bible museum, Green invites readers to step back from the individual stories of the Bible and consider the Bible as a whole. He reveals the completeness, connection, and transformative power of Scripture. Along with stunning retellings of biblical stories, Green helps readers see the story within the story, and draws the careful connections that help us appreciate the richness of the Bible story as a single story. Each page will spark or embolden your faith in a God who speaks to us across the centuries.
A truly captivating experience, this book will instill in you a deep appreciation for Scripture and its profound connection to your own life story. Learn more at ThisBeautifulBook.com.
Steve Green is the President of Hobby Lobby and along with his wife, Jackie, co-founders of the Museum of the Bible. He grew up in Oklahoma City. At age seven, he glued picture frames together for the family start-up business. With his father (David Green) as CEO, Steve became the President of that little start-up business which is now known as Hobby Lobby—the nation’s largest privately held arts and crafts retailer. Over the years, Steve’s been on a journey to experience the Bible as one story, one beautiful story. Steve’s first book, This Dangerous Book, looks at how the Bible has shaped our world and why it matters today. Learn more at ThisDangerousBook.com.
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