While having lunch with a good friend, I invented a new word. During our discussion of the problems facing society today, we agreed that the rejection of the Christian faith and the Scriptures is at the root of our problems. I said, people are not just ignorant of the Scriptures, they distrust, disbelieve, and even hate what the Scriptures teach. They are, I said, “bibliophobes.” We looked at each other, and agreed that the term said exactly what we meant. Now, I say I invented the word, but I later looked it up in the dictionary and found the word “bibliophobe” already existed. There goes my claim to fame! Of course, the dictionary meaning is “a person who hates, fears, or distrusts books,” but I meant it specifically to refer to the Bible.
In what way are many people Bibliophobes?
- They don’t believe the Bible is God’s Word. To them, the Bible is just a collection of writings by people who wrote down their own ideas or beliefs about God. They experienced some event or felt some kind of spiritual feeling, and attributed it to God. But the Bible is clear that it is God’s word and not human ideas or imaginings. Over 130 times it attributes what it says to “the word of God” and almost 350 times to “the word of the Lord.” In 2 Peter 1:20-21 it says, “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” Paul concurs, writing in 2 Timothy3:16, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” And in case there should remain any doubt of how seriously God takes how we treat his written word, check out Revelation 22:18-19 – “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.”
- They believe the Bible has been corrupted, that books have been removed or added over time, and the original texts have been changed by the Roman church. Interestingly, both Mormons and Muslims assert this. But, in the case of the Old Testament, the painstaking rules of the Hebrew copyists kept the texts consistent for over a thousand years; the Dead Sea Scrolls revealed texts a thousand years older than what we had before their discovery, and they were the same. For the New Testament, the canon (the list of accepted books) was established before the Roman church gathered what it had into its collection of books. False gospels like Thomas and Judas were late fictions and were never accepted into the Bible. Today, we have over 5,000 manuscripts from around the ancient Mediterranean that testify to the accuracy of what is in our Bibles today.
- They don’t believe what the Bible says is true. The Bible, they say, is full of pre-scientific myths and fables. “The science is wrong and the history is wrong. We are more advanced and knowledgeable as people these days!” The evidence for the Bible’s truthfulness and accuracy fills books and has been validated by archaeological and historical finds. For centuries, historians slammed the Bible for talking about Hittites, saying they never existed; then in 1886, archaeologists announced that ruins found in Turkey were the Hittite capital of Hattusa. Then there are several stone pillars (stelae) of neighboring nations referring to kings of Israel and Judah reported in the Bible. And, as far as Noah’s flood, not only is there geological evidence for a great flood, almost every nation and people around the world has a similar story from its past, of an angry god who destroys all mankind except for a small group who survive in a boat to repopulate the earth.
- They don’t believe the Bible applies today. Even those who concede that some of Bible history is true, will say, “Fine. The Bible may have some good things to say, but it is so out of date. Today, we are more enlightened in our views of things like sexual freedom. Don’t try to apply Jewish rules from three thousand years ago to modern times.” While it is true that some of the Jewish cultural regulations no longer apply (such as kosher foods and Sabbath practices*) due to their fulfillment in Christ, Christ himself said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18). In addition, Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” What God commanded “way back when” still applies today. The morals of how people are to treat each other still apply, and we see daily the devastation that results from disobeying God’s commandments today.
- They don’t believe the Bible applies to them. Here is where many people are actually Bible-phobes. They are afraid of what the Bible labels as sin. They are afraid of the Bible’s prohibitions. Sure, they might agree with the “Do not kill” and “Do not steal” parts when applied to them being the victims, but don’t talk to them about the “Do not commit adultery” command, especially when their eyes are filled with lust. They think they are more enlightened about moral issues, yet they are the same human beings now as they were in ancient days. The same rules apply, and the same personal and societal consequences follow bad behavior: diseases. unwanted pregnancies and abortions, broken hearts and suicides, hatred and violence, theft and destruction, and the breakdown of society. Things the Bible prohibited are still rampant today, and so are the bitter fruits of such disobedience. Yet people think their lives will be better if they follow their own sinful impulses.
- They refuse to submit to God and his word. This is the attitude that led directly to mankind’s first sin. Tempted by the devil, Adam and Eve disbelieved God’s warning and disobeyed God’s one prohibition. The devil pooh-poohed the command not to eat of the forbidden tree “lest you die,” saying “you won’t die!” so our first parents disobeyed, and death and the desire to be our own gods, has been with us ever since. Ultimately, this is what Bibliophobia is all about – wanting to be our own gods. We don’t want to submit to anyone or any authority, let alone a God we cannot see, who doesn’t seem to punish those who rebel against him. We join the Psalmist’s lament: “Why do the wicked prosper?” and conclude there is no god, or he is unloving or impotent to intervene in human affairs. But such people disobey God’s first and greatest commandment, to love God with all their heart and mind and soul and strength (Matthew 22:27-28). They also forget that the wickedness they see will not go unpunished. Galatians 6:7 reminds us, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” Popular society calls this “karma.” The Bible calls it what it is, and that’s what sinners don’t want to submit to.
It’s unfortunate that our society has largely silenced the Bible, through ridicule, slander (that it’s old-fashioned, irrelevant, and oppressive), and hatred. It’s unfortunate because the Bible is a wonderful gift, given to us by our Creator and Redeemer for our benefit and blessing, for this life and the next. Joel Osteen wrote a book called, “Your Best Life Now,” but God gave us the real way to our best life now, thousands of years ago. His book is called the Holy Bible. It is true, God-breathed, unchanging, relevant, and able to save beyond all measure. Let us honor, read, and follow its precepts. Let us be Bibliophiles, and not Bibliophobes!
Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.
Read: Psalm 1; Psalm 119:105.
*The relaxing of these laws was approved by Jesus and the Apostolic writings. For the elimination of the kosher food laws, see Matthew 15:10 and Acts 10:9-18. And for the freedom from Sabbath rules, see Colossians 2:16-17.