The scriptures must be engagedThe issue of the reliability of the scriptures is a lot like the resurrection, in that most of those who approach it in doubt but remain merely faithful to the details find themselves believing, because the details contain such overwhelming evidence. If you approach it that way, you don't get caught in a circle; you have the testimony of a historically reliable record. It is not judged as historically reliable solely on the basis of its statements about itself. That historically reliable record, then, does make claims about itself, but since it is historically reliable, those statements are now equally reliable, and since those statements are reliable, we know they are inspired. Now, I don't think that argument is ever meant to stand by itself. I think it is meant to go hand in hand with the fact that anyone who approaches the Bible for the purpose of finding God will indeed find him and will be spoken to by God through the scriptures. No one is going to be redeemed just by believing that the Bible is the inspired word of God. That alone won't save anybody. It certainly might have a good effect, but that is as far as you get. It is when the saving word of the gospel comes through the Bible or some other source and strikes faith in the heart, that we allow Christ into our lives and receive a new life from above, and we become full participants in the process toward God's goal in human history. From The Allure of Gentleness: Defending the Faith in the Manner of Jesus. Copyright © 2015 by Dallas Willard. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.
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