Why the Miraculous Matters

by David Rollert

In the world of Biblical academics, there are no lack of theories stating that the New Testament was not written in the first century by the apostles and prophets. While these theories are many and varied, most of them carry a common underlying premise: The rejection of the supernatural and the miraculous as they search for purely human means by which the harmony of scripture and fulfilled prophesy could happen. As a result, they invent increasingly complex theories of how the biblical events could have occurred. However, each of these increasingly complex theories fall short of explaining the incredible consistency and agreement in scripture.

When you simply take scripture at its word, the situation becomes much simpler. Jesus promised His apostles: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:26 NASB). Jesus explains why scripture is so consistent; because it was miraculously inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Similarly, Paul states “All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16 NASB). Paul affirms what Jesus said by telling us that all scripture is from the mouth of God. The Holy Spirit inspired the apostles and prophets to write down God’s word.

The explanation above demonstrates the divide between the Bible-believer and skeptics. The skeptical academics will dismiss the biblical concept of inspiration by the Holy Spirit because it involves miraculous intervention. But, why do so many people reject the very idea of God intervening in the affairs of men? This question hits at the true crux of the matter.

Jesus also said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him” (John 14:23b NASB). The skeptics know that IF God did supernaturally inspire the writing of the Bible, then the rules in the Bible must be followed. They also know that if that is the case, then the consequences of disobedience also apply. Put simply: people like their sin. If a skeptic can prove that the Bible is not supernaturally inspired, then they can ignore any commands they do not like. They can claim that the specific laws are just ancient tradition, while still claiming to believe the moral value of the Bible’s wisdom.

Whenever you see attacks against the validity of the Bible, always look to see the underlying motives of those attacking it. You will generally find that the skeptics involved want to deny the validity of certain commands found in scripture.