“I will argue that even if we lost the Bible completely, Christianity would remain undefeated.” I would change that to “could remain undefeated” but that current culture would say that Christianity would be shaken at the least...look at the churches that stopped preaching from the Scriptures and see how many people are coming to the Lord through their efforts.
“First, it is entirely possible that Christianity's message could have been communicated verbally-and only verbally-forever.” But it was not communicated only verbally...Peter, Paul, John, and others wrote it down as inspire by God. See 1 Timothy 4:11-13 and 2 Timothy 3:14-17
“What would you do, if you had no Bible, and you met a stranger. You would use your memory of what you learned from reading the word, which is understandable.”
This statement would line up with 2 Timothy 3:14-17 but it assumes that I had the Scriptures to start with so that I could study them and then share them verbally...but if I did not have the Scriptures then what would I be sharing...something that somebody else shared with me when they did not have the Scriptures...sounds like an opportunity for a game of “telephone”...not the best way to share information over long time periods. So God had them write things down.
“Think of a scenario that would put you in a place without the Bible, and you could not give it or read from it to reach others. Are you saying you could not save that individual?” I could not save the individual even with a Bible. My job is to prepare the soil, plant seed, water, and maybe harvest...only God can cause the increase. (sometimes even despite my failings)
“Hey editor, my friend is a good Christian. However, as a professor of apologetics, he finds himself doing these sort of mental gymnastics to sharpen his ability to fight the good fight and to reach the Dawkins of the world.”
After observing Dawkins several times I really do not think that a change in approach is what is needed to reach him. I had a brother-in-law that was very much like Dawkins...same line of work as well...and we would debate over science, theology, philosophy, etc., until I realized that he just was not ready to here the Truth. That is when I stopped trying to “reach” him but instead started to pray “God, do what ever it takes to reach him, so that he does not spend eternity without You.” God heard that prayer and during a very painful battle with cancer he became ready to here the Truth...and the Truth set him free. He has now left this earth and is finding out the reality of the Truth that he learned about at the end of his life.
For my conclusion, like I said before, the article starts with the wrong assumption “what if”, “entirely possible”, etc. Could God keep His Church in good health without the Scripture...sure, if He wanted to...but Scripture tells us that He chose to use the written word so I do believe that we need the Scriptures to remain healthy as followers of Christ.
Just for the record, I am in full agreement with you. Many of my comments were directed in a way to awaken a debate with those who refused to even consider the query.
I am not at all surprised that some would instantly go into the attack mode and demand my body be burned at the stake as a heretic for daring to suggest such a blasphemous idea just for the sake of discussion.
We are called to defend the faith and to do so in a respectful manner. Something that many who call themselves Christian at FR to learn. I do believe God likes it when we posture ideas in a way that spurs logical debate. We are told to always be ready to defend our faith, thus we study the written word.
But what about those questions that come out of left field, like what if there were no Bible, how could you defend your faith? Or, if a Korean asks a question about his great great ancestors who never heard of the name of Christ because no preacher ever visited their village 100's of years ago. Are they doomed to destruction? And if so, why is that fair of a loving God to do so.
Questions many Christians would not know how to answer, but for times when we ask off the wall questions to spur debate. The Korean question was asked of me by an orderly that worked in the kitchen at a retirement home I was a pastor at. At the time I answered the best I could, but I did do study on it. later I returned with a much better, and for him, a very satisfying answer. Plus I gave him a good book to read that I believe is a powerful tool to use with the Bible for instances just as his. the book is called "Eternity in the Hearts" by Don Richardson.
I'm sorry for digressing. Later that evening of the day I posted this thread, I found myself in contemplation on the matter. What really struck me about the thought of having no Bible was the very idea that there would never have been a reformation without the Bible, because the reformation was all about correcting the heresy that infiltrated the Churches teaching during the Devils millennium.
I speak of the middle ages from 600 to 1600 when the Catholic Church held an iron grip on the teachings of the written Word. Which is similar to the time between the Testaments when the Pharisees held a similar iron grip on the teachings of the Torah.
God Himself came to fulfill the Law the Pharisees had bastardized, but Christ is not to return until the end times, so He needed an intervention by man to correct the false teachings. Just as he told us that the Temple would be destroyed without a stone left in place, he also told us that men would come after Him to distort and spread lies about His teachings. Thus He sent His Spirit to guide good men into writing His Words down, and more men to chose the letters for the Canon. It was the Canon, His Word, that made it possible for the Reformation to take place.
So while God used the Church to advance many things, He also allowed a second fulness of times, if you would, that set up the Reformation which corrected the false teachings of His word. So without the Bible, Christ Himself would have had to return to save the Church from itself. Now, we all await the third fulness of time, when he will return a final time. He does like to do things in threes. It is after all the number of perfection.
I wrote my thesis at seminary school on the reformation. I basically wrote it about what I believed to be the beginning catalyst of the reformation, the Renaissance. If you are interested you can read it at my site, GATE.
Again I thank you for the respectful way you replied, and I apologize for the long read. I do tend to get long winded at times.
God bless you and yours,
OV