Difficult Questions for Christians Series - Part 2

Last week I started a series on "Difficult Questions for Christians." Here is where you can view last week's post on "Why doesn't prayer work, when the Bible promises that it will?" Over the next 4 weeks I'll attempt to answer 4 more of the thousands of difficult questions posed by skeptics and Christians alike. Remember a few things though as you read. 1. This is a short answer to a difficult question that has probably plagued the human heart for thousands of years. 2. God's Word is the ultimate authority with answers, not a fallible pastor. 3. The Bible doesn't give us the answers to every question we have. It tells us what we need to know, not necessarily what we want to know. With that being said, let's jump into our next question in the series.

Why does the Bible record scientifically impossible events as factual?

You can't get past page one of the Bible without encountering an example that may be used as an argument for this question. The Bible is chocked-full of events that absolutely defy science. Here are a few examples and references should you want to read these awesome stories: God spoke and created everything (Genesis 1&2), a flood that covered the entire earth (Genesis 6-8), God confused the languages of man & dispersed humans around the world (Genesis 11), the Israelites walked on dry land through the Red Sea (Exodus 13-14), the earth quit rotating for a full day (Joshua 10), Jesus physically healed people who were blind, deaf, & lame (Matthew-John), Jesus walked on water (John 6), Jesus fed more than 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish (Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9, John 6), and Jesus was resurrected from the dead (Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20). And that is just to name a few. 

According to our modern understanding of science and the way the natural world works, it is easy to see why some would be skeptical of what the Bible says is a factual historical event. The easy answer is because they actually occurred. But to those who don't agree with the Bible that answer will only start an argument that is similar to a fight on Facebook. Its just a bunch of words that end up making everyone look worse. Since that won't get us anywhere let's look at these answers.

To a believer in Christ whose heart has been changed by God their view of the Bible should be different than someone who hasn't been changed by God. 
The Bible talks about this in 1 Corinthians 2:14 where Paul wrote, "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned." To those who's hearts have not been changed by Christ, spiritual matters seem foolish, including supernatural events that go beyond the limits of the natural world. Once we've had our eyes opened through faith, we are able to see what God did for what it is. It's a miracle or in other words, something only God can do.

God is a supernatural, all-powerful being that is not limited by our understanding of the way the natural world works.
If you don't believe in God then you won't believe what the Bible says about supernatural and spiritual matters. That being said, from the Christian standpoint God is viewed as the One who spoke and created everything (Genesis 1-2). Christians view God as an omnipotent (all-powerful) being capable of doing anything. If He is capable of speaking everything in the natural world into existence, then why wouldn't He be able to manipulate it with minimal effort? So from the view of an Almighty God who can is all-powerful, it makes sense that He could cause things to occur outside of our understanding of the natural world.

These events happened to help bring about God's plan for mankind, including providing salvation.
God doesn't do anything without a purpose. There is an order and a purpose to everything God does and everything He has created, including you. All of the science defying events in the Bible were done at their time in history to move along God's plan of redemption for mankind. The Bible is not a scientific textbook, but instead a love letter written to mankind showing God's love and plan for redeeming mankind. From the perspective of faith or one who is spiritually discerning, God weaves the story of sin, redemption, and love throughout the Bible. His whole purpose in the Bible is to point out to mankind their sinfulness, their need for a Savior, and how Jesus is that Savior.

You can't believe just part of the Bible. 
I'll end with this. When I was a Youth Pastor I used to tell my Youth that you couldn't believe the back part of the Bible (New Testament) where it talks about Jesus & salvation and not believe the front (Old Testament). The Bible is not a buffet where we pick what we want to believe because it fits our understanding of the way things should work. We must believe what the Bible says, even in times when we don't fully understand it. Does it sound ludicrous that some 2 million Jews walked across the floor of the Red Sea on dry ground that was dried by a strong east wind? Yes it does. Do I believe it happened? Yes I do. Why? Because the God who provided me with salvation through the miracle of Jesus' resurrection, is the same God who tells me in His Word that 2 million Jews crossed the Red Sea on dry ground.

I hope this brief look at "Why does the Bible record scientifically impossible events as factual?" will help strengthen your faith in God the next time you begin to wonder about the reality of God's miracles. As always, I'm open to comments and questions, either here on the blog or via Social Media. If this question brings to mind another difficult question about faith, then by all means ask it.


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