MAINSTREAM MESSENGER
Vol. 3, No. 5 Sept. 2000 Editor: Bruce Prescott
On Bible Idolatry
by Dr. Bruce Prescott
Paige Patterson, President of Southeastern Seminary, has responded to criticisms of the 2000 BF&M that were printed in our last issue by calling them “at the very least an exhibition of deliberate ignorance — at its worst it is an attempt to prevail in an argument by means of deceit.”
Often, when criticisms are felt to be most cogent and convincing, Fundamentalists will attempt to divert attention from the issues by attacking the character of their critics. I learned this by watching Francis Schaeffer employ a similar tactic when criticised. Dr. Schaeffer was an inerrantist thinker who is highly regarded by Dr. Patterson and who has exerted considerable influence on many current Southern Baptist leaders.
The criticism that most unsettles Schaeffer, Patterson and other Fundamentalists is the assertion that they elevate scripture over Christ in their thinking.
I know how unsettling this thought can be because I was once under the influence of Fundamentalist thought.
When I was a Fundamentalist, it was unsettling to me to discover that my best efforts to defend the Bible did nothing more than distract people from that which is most important — their relationship with Jesus.
I turned away from Fundamentalism because I was more concerned about seeing people come to know Jesus than I was with defending the Bible. When I was a Fundamentalist and tried to witness to people, our conversations would almost inevitably bog down on matters that I now know are inessential to salvation. Conversations rarely reached the point at which the love that God demonstrated to us through Jesus could be discussed. Endless debates about the historical and scientific veracity of various parts of the Bible were common. It grieves me that people turned away from faith in Christ because I talked as though it was necessary to believe in a young earth and creation science to be saved. I believe it grieves God too.
I did not know then, as I do now, that people do not have to put their faith in the Bible before they can believe in Jesus. All of my, then, young life I had heard Fundamentalist Baptist preachers say, “If you have doubts about any part of the Bible, then no one could be sure of their salvation” and “If you don’t believe the Bible is the inerrant word of God, then you can’t believe in Jesus at all.” I honestly thought, as many Fundamentalists still do, that you could not be saved if you did not believe every jot and tittle of the Bible was literally true.
It was after I had actually led a few people to the Lord, that I began to perceive the errors of Fundamentalism. Once I reflected on the differences between the occasions when testimony was received and when it was rejected, a clear pattern emerged. People readily responded to a testimony about Jesus and about the difference that having a personal relationship with Him makes in life. People rarely responded favorably to arguments about the inerrancy and authority of the Bible. That is how I learned to put first things first.
I learned to put Jesus first from first hand experiences of sharing my faith with others. Actually, that is exactly what scriptures tell us to do. Jesus never commanded his disciples to defend the Bible. He commanded us to proclaim the gospel.
Later, when I went to seminary, I took several classes under L. Russ Bush, currently Dean of the school of theology at Southeastern Seminary. I did so because Dr. Bush had a reputation for being the leading Fundamentalist scholar at Southwestern and I was still searching for the best way to defend the Bible. Old ways of thinking die hard. I just wanted to make sure that I knew every argument that could be used to convince people of the Bible’s inerrancy. I did so well in his classes that, after I entered the doctoral program, he asked me to become his grader (graduate assistant).
While studying under Dr. Bush, I spotted Fundamentalism’s tendency to elevate the Bible over Jesus. It was Dr. Bush who introduced me to the thought of Francis Schaeffer. When Schaeffer made a trip to Fort Worth to promote his book and companion film How Should We Then Live?, I made it a point to hear him at every opportunity. On at least three separate occasions I personally heard him give a testimony about his faith. His testimony was also recorded in one of the episodes of his film. In every case, he gave a testimony about his faith in the Bible rather than about his faith in Jesus. Invariably, he described how he once doubted the Bible but, after much struggle of soul, had come to accept it.
Schaeffer was a Calvinist and, as many Calvinists view evangelism, God has no need for human witnesses to give testimonies about Jesus. Perhaps Schaeffer’s testimony was directed to those God had already predestined to be saved. Whatever the reason, his witness left me feeling uneasy. Why didn’t Schaeffer talk about his relationship with Jesus when asked to give a testimony? Why are Fundamentalists always pointing to the Bible rather than to Jesus when they talk about their faith?
Once I realized that Francis Schaeffer was testifying to his faith in the Bible in a manner that paralleled the way believers throughout the centuries have testified about accepting Jesus, I became strongly convicted that the Bible was being elevated to a place that properly belongs only to Christ. It wasn’t long before I began to see other signs that the Bible was receiving the kind of adulation that is properly attributed to deity.
Fundamentalists speak of the Bible with the same words that they have used to describe Jesus. The Bible points to Jesus as the "Word of God." Fundamentalists point to the Bible as "the Word of God." The Bible says that Jesus was "tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin." Fundamentalists say the Bible is "without error in any area of reality." The Bible calls Jesus perfect. Fundamentalists call the Bible perfect.
The cumulative effect of all this is to elevate the Bible to the point that faith in the Bible is equivalent to or, at least, prerequisite to faith in Jesus. After all, “What do we know about Jesus that we don’t learn from the Bible?” Whenever faith in the Bible is required before Jesus can be trusted, the Bible becomes an idol. God’s creation is being elevated above the Creator. Scripture, rather than Christ, becomes the mediator between God and man. The record of God’s progressive revelation of Himself has become an object of faith that obscures rather than illumines the true subject of our devotion -- God’s supreme revelation of Himself in Jesus Christ.
Those who wrote and those who affirm the 2000 BF&M strenuously deny that they are making the Bible an object of faith and worship.
I doubt that any of them intend to make the Bible an idol. Neither do I believe that first century Jews ever intended to make the Hebrew Bible an idol. Good intentions are no excuse for bad actions. First century Jews put their faith in God’s “written word” and crucified God’s “living Word.” When they stand before God they will still be without excuse. Neither will God excuse Southern Baptists for changing the proclamation of the “living Word of God” into a defense of the “written word of God.”
Changing the gospel that Baptists preach is precisely what the 2000 BF&M has done. Priority used to be given to bearing witness to the world that our “living faith” is “rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ.” (Preamble to 1963 BF&M) Our first priority has now been changed to defending the Bible: “In an age increasingly hostile to Christian truth, our challenge is to express the truth as revealed in Scripture” and now “Our living faith is established upon eternal truths.” (Preamble to 2000 BF&M)
The SBC’s changed gospel is already evident in the Sunday School literature published by LifeWay (Formerly the Sunday School Board of the SBC). Inside the front cover of the Summer 2000 quarterly of the “Pursuits” Life and Work curriculum there is a page entitled “How to Become a Christian.” (Click here to view image of page.) The text begins with a quiz which is supposed to help people evaluate their personal relationship with God. Note the priority of the Bible in this plan of salvation:
___ I believe the Bible, God’s Word is our guide to salvation and eternal life.
___ I believe the Bible when it tells me I am a sinner and that the penalty for sin is eternal separation from God.
___ I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sin, and that He rose from the grave to provide new life for all who place their faith in Him.
The text asks, “Did you answer yes to each question? Do you want to have eternal life? The bible tells how to have eternal life.” Then the text quotes other scriptures. In bold letters at the bottom of the page the text reads, “The Test of Life: Pass Fail”
What would you have to do to make it any clearer that you have to put your faith in the Bible before you can believe in Jesus? What further evidence is necessary to prove that the gospel has been reduced from proclamation about having a life changing personal relationship with Jesus to merely giving mental assent to the “facts’ and “truths” of the Bible?
One problem with this is that it reduces us to competing on the same ground that other faiths claim. Other cults, sects and religions require exactly the same kind of blind faith in the truth claims of their own sacred scriptures. Latter Day Saints demand blind faith in the book of Mormon, Muslims require unquestioning faith in the Koran, etc.
Rather than preaching the “good news” about the God who loves people enough to send his Son to reveal Truth and love personally, Baptists are now demanding personal endorsements of the Bible before we’ll even begin to tell people about Jesus.
The worst problem with this is that it distorts the gospel. Instead of offering salvation by grace through faith in Jesus, we are, at the very least, teaching people they must earn their salvation by bowing to the Bible twice and then bowing to Jesus.
Why can’t we just go back to a plan of salvation that begins, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life?”