Is The Bible God's Word? - Chapter 1

The following is the first chapter of Sheik Deedat's book, "Is The Bible God's Word".  The colored numbers tie to his footnotes, and all text is done without corrections.  My comments to the chapter are in blue below.  

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CHAPTER ONE

What They Say

 

CHRISTIANS CONFESS

Dr. W. Graham Scroggie of the MOODY BIBLE INSTITUTE, Chicago, one of the most prestigious Christian Evangelical Mission in the world, answering the question — "Is the Bible the Word of God?" (also the title of his book), under the heading: IT IS HUMAN, YET DIVINE. He says on page 17:

"Yes, the Bible is human, though some, out of zeal which is not according to knowledge, 1 have denied this. Those books2 have passed through the minds of men, are written in the language of men, were penned by the hands of men, and bear in their style the characteristics of men." (Emphasis added).

Another erudite Christian scholar, Kenneth Cragg, the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, says on page 277 of his book, "The Call of the Minaret":

"Not so the New Testament3 . . . There is condensation and editing; ⁴ there is choice, reproduction and witness. The Gospels have come through the mind of the Church behind the authors. They represent experience and history." ⁵

If words have any meaning, do we need to add another word of comment to prove our case? No! But the professional propagandists, after letting the cat out of the bag, still have the face to try to make their readers believe that they have proved beyond the shadow of any doubt that the Bible is the "irrefragable 6 Word of God." Their semantic gymnastics — equivocating, and playing with words — is amazing!

1. Out of ignorance.

2. The Bible is not Just a Book. It is a selection and compilation of many books.

3. As opposed to the Qur'an.

4. Another word for Interpolating.

5. Emphasis are mine.

6. Indisputable.

Both these Doctors of Religion are telling us in the clearest language humanly possible that the Bible is the handiwork of man, all the while pretending that the are proving to the contrary. An old Arab saying goes: "IF SUCH ARE THE PRIESTS, GOD BLESS THE CONGREGATION."

With this sort of drive, the hot-gospeller and the Bible-thumper is "inspired" to harry the "heathen." 1 A theological student — a not-yet-qualified young evangelist — from the University of Witwatersrand, became a frequent visitor to the Newtown Mosque in Johannesburg, with the "noble" thought of "witnessing"2 to the members of its congregation. When I was introduced to him, (and having learnt his purpose), I invited him to lunch at my brother's residence — a stone's-throw from the Mosque. While discussing the authenticity of the Bible over the dinner table and sensing his stubborn dogmatism, I put out a feeler: "Your Professor Geyser, (The Head of the Department of Theology) does not believe the Bible to be the Word of God." Without the slightest surprise he answered, "I know." Now I personally had no knowledge of the Professor's conviction about the Bible. I had only assumed so from a controversy which raged around him about the "Divinity of Christ." 3 He had taken issue with the orthodox believers on this point some years ago. I continued further, saying, "Your lecturer does not believe the Bible as being God's Word." The young evangelist, responded again, "I know" but he continued this time-with the words, "but I believe that it is the Word of God!" There is no real remedy for such people. Even Jesus bewailed this sickness:

"... seeing they see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand." (Matthew 13:13)

Al-Qur'an, the Holy Book of God, also condemns this mulish mentality:

These pages are now addressed to those sincerely humble souls, who are genuinely interested in seeking the Light of God, and who wish to be guided by it. As for the other, with a sickness in their souls, the facts presented herein can only increase the disease of their hearts.

1. See "How Lost are the Heathen?" by the same MOODY PRESS of Dr. Scroggie.

2. When the Christian talks of "witnessing" he means propagating, proselytizng, converting.

3. This subject is dealt extensively in the book — "CHRIST IN ISLAM"

Christian Response – Chapter One

The focus here by the author is to intimate the Bible is not God’s word because men wrote it.  This is a fact no true scholar can argue against.  Over 40 authors, in fact, wrote 66 books with a consistent message and theme over a period spanning more than 1,000 years.  While God used men to write his words, this is no different than a Moslem believing their god used Mohammad to write the Qu’ran.  At this point in the book, one can easily see the writer trying to evoke emotion, and point out accurate facts that Christians or those proclaiming themselves to be Christians often do not agree on.  Lack of knowledge in these areas by Christians does much to hurt the church’s witness (note that references to the “church” will be to the church catholic, not the Catholic church). 

Here is the link to Chapter 2:

http://dochifi.blogspot.com/2014/09/is-bible-gods-word-chapter-2-muslims.html