Many people discredit the Bible because the languages,
genres, and ideas of the Bible mimic those of nations, people groups, and
religions around the time the Bible was written. These critics say that
Biblical authors simply borrowed their material from surrounding nations in
order to create their own religious view(s) of the world. In order to evaluate and
criticize this argument, something needs to be said: all religions, philosophies,
law codes, cultures, people groups, etc., have some sort of truth in their
beliefs. Now, I am not advocating pluralism or saying that everything in all
religions is true, but all false religions developed from some truths that the
religion later warped. One example can be found in the way that religions see God or gods only speaking through extraordinary ways. Because
of this, critics associate the “ordinary” language, references, stories, genres,
literary devices, etc. by saying that there is not an extraordinary God behind
these “ordinary” writings. Basically, the problem that these critics have with the Bible is what I’d like
to call, “An Extraordinary God in Ordinary Circumstances.”
Spoiler Alert: I will not be dealing with the Documentary
Hypothesis or any other textual criticisms, but I will be dealing with various
questions proposed by both critics and believers.
Why couldn’t an extraordinary God speak through ordinary
circumstances?
If God of the Bible created everything, then why wouldn’t the ordinary be an extraordinary way
for Him to speak? Think about this: if God wanted His truths to be communicated
with the ordinary man, it would only make sense for God to use the medium of
the writings of the day as a way to communicate with mankind. Think about it this way, if God only spoke through burning bushes to certain
individuals, how extraordinary is that in light of the surrounding religions
during the time of the Bible’s penning? Surely we can see a contrast between
the God of the Bible and the gods of the pagan world as the God of the Bible
spoke to man through a calm voice; whereas, the gods of the pagan world were to
only speak through incantation, environmental disaster, and the most
supernatural ways possible. In an astronomical percentage of accounts, the God
of the Bible used an ordinary circumstance to speak to individuals in an
extraordinary way.
Why do we search for extraordinary communication when God
uses the ordinary?
Have you ever watched a local Gospel television station?
Many of these stations place a huge amount of validity on prophecy fulfillment.
I think that our preoccupation with prophecy fulfillment reveals our desire to
be in the middle of God’s work- where he speaks to us. Truly, our desire is to
be found in the extraordinary activity of God so that we can hear from Him, but
what does that do with ordinary life? Although we have a desire to be in God’s
extraordinary works, mankind has created a theology of God only being able to
speak in ways which are outside mankind’s normal circumstances; and that's extraordinarily sad.
How can we hear from God in the ordinary?
The question many Christians ask themselves is something
along the lines of, “In ordinary things like eating, playing sports, working,
talking with others, etc., does God speak to me?” God’s answer is a resounding,
“Yes!” As the Holy Spirit is in the life of the individual believer, God is
able to speak to an individual in the ordinary. As we eat, play, work, talk,
etc., God is always desiring to share things with His children. After all, God
provided His Word, fellow believers, prayer, and worship as ways to communicate
with Him—doesn’t that say that God wants to communicate with us?
God speaks to us in the ordinary. Don’t you think that God
speaking to us in the ordinary is actually quite extraordinary? Are we
listening? Are you listening? What has He revealed to you lately?
