Ready For the Road Ahead
About a year ago, thepublisher, Nan A. Talese and an author, James Frey, came under scrutiny when itwas discovered that Frey's autobiography was not entirely truthful andcontained descriptions of his life that did not actually happen. In an article which called the publisher'sintegrity into question, Talese was quoted as saying, "When someone startsout and says, 'I have lied, I have cheated...', you do not think this is goingto be the New Testament." Interesting words coming from someone who did not actually believe theNew Testament.
Throughout Scripturewe are reminded how trustworthy God's word really is. It is called the "Word of Truth" in2 Tim. 2:15, living and active in Heb. 4:12, and the prophet Isaiah proclaimedthat the Word of the Lord would endure forever, while John wrote in Revelationthat God's Word was faithful and true.
Our Bible is uniqueamong other literary works, spiritual and secular. Although it's subject matter spans thousandsof years and was written by at least 40 different authors, it is more accuratethan other ancient writings whose oldest manuscripts still exist. For example, the scribes who copied the OldTestament books, followed a demanding criteria. If at any point, on any given page, the smallest stroke of the smallestletter was copied incorrectly, the entire scroll was destroyed. This why Jesus could claim with confidencethat, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will not passaway" (Mk. 13:31).
The transmission ofthe New Testament followed the same scrutiny in that many of the earlybelievers were still alive while it was being written and any untruth orinaccurate accounts of the life, death and resurrection of the Lord werebranded as heresy and kept out of what came to be known as the NewTestament. Not only did these earlybelievers refute what was inaccurate, many died for the faith they placed init's Divine Author.
Many think the Biblehas been disproved through scientific discoveries, but these discoveries havedone just the opposite. For example, itwas long believed that King David was a figment of the Bible'simagination. Archaeologists had not foundany evidence which proved otherwise, until an excavation in northern Israelunearthed a stone tablet which included the phrase "the house ofDavid" confirming not only David's existence, but his kingship as well.
Nan Talese attemptedto minimize the extent of her accountability over the lies in Frey's book byclaiming it was not Sacred Scripture. Scripture, however, like Hebrew National Hot Dogs, answers to a higherauthority (see 2 Tim. 3:16-17), so we can speak of our trust in God's Word withboldness. Are you ready?
Ann H. LeFevre; 1/9/11
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