Not a few skeptics of biblical Christianity and those even in the academic world often maintain that the Christian Bible was not accepted -- or “codified” -- until the 4th century A.D., specifically at the Council of Nicea (325A.D.). Some may say that a bunch of men at a later church council finally approved these books. Others may suggest that we did not even have codified Scripture until the Catholic Church finally selected and authorized the Bible. Or, some propose that it was fallible men who selected some books -- and eliminated others -- and thus the Bible is a fallible book. What must Christians answer to such statements? How can we respond?
- God needs no man -- or court, council, magistrate or majority vote -- to validate and authenticate His authoritative Word. — A proper theology proper will remind us that almighty God who infinitely rules and who has revealed Himself gloriously does not need human creatures to affirm His already perfect and authoritative truth.
- Scripture is Scripture at the very moment the author penned the God-breathed revelation. — The Bible is not a progressively authoritatively work. At the instance in which it was written, right then it is God-breathed revelation without error and without subject to failure.
- Books never become authoritative; rather, at the very time they are written they are fully authoritative and binding as divine revelation from God to man. — The Bible claims for itself authentic, divine revelation as Paul writes that all Scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for men. It is the Scripture that is authoritatively God-breathed when the author pens it.
- God’s people never “chose” or “selected” biblical books to be included in Scripture. Rather, the early believers affirmed those texts which were already divinely powerful & gloriously inspired. — Believers in the early church never came together and selected books of the Bible to be included in Scripture. God’s people have always read and recognized -- aided by the power of the Spirit and led by the illumination of the Spirit -- true revelation and rejected that which was false, erroneous, unclear, or that which contradicted other parts of biblical truth.
- God the Holy Spirit illumines the Word upon the hearts of His people and confirms through the inner testimony -- the inner witness -- in the hearts of His people that the Word of God is genuinely authentic, binding, and divine. — This is called the inner witness of the Spirit. The Spirit of God gloriously and graciously illuminates, validates and confirms what is already true about biblical revelation. The Spirit presses home the truth to the hearts of His people by assuring believers as they read Scripture that it is in fact what it claims to be: wholly divine.
- The Bible does not need archaeology, science, or various hypotheses from manifold sources to make the Bible true or authentic. Rather, the Word of God is inherently true, unchanging, perfect, without error, and gloriously sufficient for life and for godliness. As time goes on, the true and accurate study of science, archaeology and other hypotheses, when rightly done, will always validate and affirm what the Scripture has already stated to be true (historically, geographically, scientifically). — Lots of speculation exists and hypotheses surmise today regarding the Bible and its trustworthiness (e.g., science, history). The Bible never needs to be proved or validated. But when science is rightly done, it’ll always support what God has said.
