“Bible’s valid because bible says so.”

Last week I came across a meme which I found amusing. I remade it because I wanted a higher-resolution version of it. It’s meant to mock the circular reasoning involved in saying, “The bible’s true because the bible says it’s true.” And it’s not wrong to mock the reasoning.

Ha-ha, your power comes from nothing.

After all, would we accept that reasoning about any other religion’s scriptures? The Book of Mormon claims within its pages its teachings are true. As do the Quran, the Baghavad-Gita, the Dhammapada, and Atlas Shrugged. Any self-help or wellness book will do it too. Heck, I do it on this very blog; I’m certainly trying to present the truth here, even though I allow for the fact I’m gonna be wrong from time to time. (Not intentionally, but I make no claims of infallibility.) Anybody who publishes non-fiction is usually making some claim of truthfulness.

But how d’you know they’re truthful? Do you accept it solely on the testimony of the book or paper or periodical or blog itself? Do you even claim, “I believe it’s true because it says it’s true”? ’Cause if you do, you’re guilty of the very same circular reasoning.

Test all things. Including bible!

Believe it or don’t, in Christianity we’re actually encouraged to not do this. The apostles instructed us to examine all our beliefs and doctrines and teachings. Same as we do prophecy:

1 Thessalonians 5.19-22 NLT

19Do not quench the Spirit, 20do not utterly reject prophecies, 21but examine everything; hold firmly to that which is good, 22abstain from every form of evil.

Jesus’s culture was one where vigorous Socratic questioning of one’s religion was the norm. They fully believed the scriptures can stand up to scrutiny, and they were absolutely right. Our culture should believe likewise, but unfortunately we have a lot of preachers who don’t do their homework, who are afraid of scrutiny, who discourage their churches from analyzing ’em too hard, and whose teachings therefore can’t withstand one single question. You do realize con artists take full advantage of this don’t-ask-questions mentality. That’s why we gotta fight it… by asking questions. Lots of questions.

So do examine everything. Scripture included. Bible isn’t an exception! That’s right; test the bible. It can withstand scrutiny.

And if you find it can’t… well you’ve most likely been interpreting it wrong.

Fr’instance I know from experience young-earth creationists don’t bother to scrutinize Genesis. They fear if they ever do, their young-earth beliefs will fall apart. They’re not wrong: They will. Not because Genesis is invalid! Genesis is actually, properly, validly doing what it was written to do, which is to rebut ancient pagan beliefs about the origins of the universe, humanity, and Israel. It’d only fall apart because the young-earthers are using it to teach a very stupid alternative to science. They don’t question Genesis—they fear to question Genesis—because they’re afraid their belief system won’t survive, because they know deep down it won’t survive, and really they’re just chasing after the wind. So they violate the scripture which tells us to test all things, and test everything but their belief system. That’s their idol, and it is a jealous god.

So when you’re doing Christian apologetics properly, you’re testing that bible, and finding out whether you’re interpreting it properly, or whether you’re using it for stuff the authors and the Holy Spirit never intended. You’re finding out the bible is valid and true, not because “the bible tells me so,” but because it’s pointed you to the living God, and he tells you to read your bible.

And when pagans laugh and claim, “You only believe bible because the bible testifies about itself,” you can kinda answer them like Jesus did the Pharisees:

John 8.13-18 NLT

13The Pharisees replied, “You are making those claims about yourself! Such testimony is not valid.”

14Jesus told them, “These claims are valid even though I make them about myself. For I know where I came from and where I am going, but you don’t know this about me. 15You judge me by human standards, but I do not judge anyone. 16And if I did, my judgment would be correct in every respect because I am not alone. The Father who sent me is with me. 17Your own law says that if two people agree about something, their witness is accepted as fact. Dt 19.15 18I am one witness, and my Father who sent me is the other.”

True, we believe what the bible testifies about itself, but it’s not the only thing which testifies to its truthfulness. The Holy Spirit does. Our God-experiences do. Generations of Christians and their God-experiences do. And yeah, there are Christian apologists and their arguments, which provide a logical-sounding supplement to our testimonies, and they might come in handy if they’re not the easily-debunked stuff they teach children. We’ve grown to trust the bible because we’ve personally found it to be trustworthy.

That is, assuming we’ve grown. If we’re still immature Christians who believe the bible because “the bible told me so,” we kinda deserve pagans’ mockery.