INERRANT SCRIPTURE, IGNORANT AND ERRATIC CRITICS – (2)
- DEBUNKING CHARGES OF BIBLICAL ERRORS
BY AUGUSTINE ANYIMADU-AHENKAE
“ All day long they twist my words, they are always plotting to harm me” – Psalm
56:5
“ But you must not mention ‘the oracle of the Lord again, because every man’s word
becomes his oracle and so you distort the words of the living God, the Lord
Almighty, our God” – Jeremiah 23: 36
“ We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to
learn” – Hebrews 5:11
“ His (St. Paul’s) letters contain some things which are hard to understand, which
the ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do to other scriptures, to their
own destruction” – 2 Peter 3: 16
TWISTING AND DISTORTING GOD’S WORD
The above quotations show that the act of twisting and distorting God’s word for
various reasons is as old as when God started giving his word to humanity. The
motives and purposes are different though. Whereas some, as identified by Saint
Peter concerning St. Paul’s letters and the rest of scripture, do misinterpret and
distort the Bible because they are IGNORANT and UNSTABLE in their faith, but which,
like every distorter of God’s word, eventually leads to their own destruction,
others, in category two, distort God’s word for unclear reasons, but chiefly for
personal gain, as identified by the prophet Jeremiah (Jer 23:36) and of course Jesus
when he prophesies about false prophets(cf Mathew ). There is a third category, a
more dangerous one, who will face the wrath of God many times over - those
identified by the Psalmist: “All day long they twist my words, they are always
plotting to harm me” (Psalm 56:5). This category of Bible twisters
have sinister motives: their intention is to ultimately deny even the very
existence of God, to harm God by disturbing the faith of His people in God.
Remember when Saul persecuted the Christians Jesus asked him why he was harming Him
(Jesus). Some combine the characteristics of category one with three: being
IGNORANT, UNSTABLE, and SLOW to learn themselves, or not able to interpret and
understand the weighty language of scripture, they put their own fickle and limited
understanding into it, misinterpret it, and come up with all sorts of conclusions
like Jesus is not God, Trinity is a hoax, the Bible is full of errors, God is not
who or what the Bible says He is, God does not exist, etc. They are not new. The
likes of such atheists as Kwaku Ba and others parading as truth-seeking people were
there at the time of St. Peter, and he talked about them. Truly, Ecclesiastes was
right: “en hadat tahat beshemesh”- “there is nothing new under the sun”:
what is, has been before, and will be again. In our own day, as in every age, we
still need to put such empty barrels in their right place though.
OUR GAME, OUR RULES: SHOULD WE HIT OUR MARK
OR YOURS?
When “ignorant and unstable” critics keep whining about supposed errors of
scripture, even though there is no error in God’s word, they remind me of the
bystander who tries to impose his own rules and standards on someone else’s game
even when the game already has its own express rules which are different from the
bystander’s. Ignorant of the language and context of scripture, such people use
their own little understanding, own principles, own interpretation, own cultural
background, own historical experience, and force it on scripture, attempting to let
scripture tell them what they want to hear, instead of listening to what scripture
has for them.
. After misinterpreting it, they have the effrontery to suggest that we update the
Bible because it is wrong! God have mercy on them!
One of them, Kwaku Ba, writes on ghanaweb:
“
It is increasingly clear that the biblical authors had no knowledge of science and
infused some of the fairy tales at the time into the biblical writings. For some
reason the deity on whose behalf the texts were being written (God) did not
intervene to have the false statements corrected, and can be construed to have
either been uninformed himself or simply having no reason to ensure that true facts
and figures were written in his book”
What blasphemy! God is uninformed? He continues:
“A few examples of illiteracy, absurdity, contradiction and outright falsehood found
in the New Testament are presented in this article”
Examples of illiteracy, absurdity, contradiction and outright falsehood in the New
Testament? Okay let’s hear them. Let’s see what they are, and see who is illiterate,
absurd, false and contradictory – whether Bible twisters like Kwaku Ba or scripture
itself, which is inerrant.
Charge 1 (from Kwaku Ba):
“MT 4:8 There is a high mountain from which all the kingdoms of the world can be
seen. Comment: There is no such mountain anywhere where one can stand and observe
the whole world. This is simply false because the earth is a sphere and not flat, so
no matter high up you are on a mountain the earth below curves away from your line
of sight so you cannot observe all the kingdoms of the earth from any one point on
the earth surface. The biblical author here is basing this on the assumption that
the earth is flat. So God did not know that? So why did he not correct the statement
being made in his book? Or maybe God himself did not know? Then he is not
omniscient, and if true then he is not God, and if that is true then there is no
God. So either we have to update the bible to make it more consistent with reality
or we acknowledge the writings are by illiterate ancient men who did not know what
they were talking about.”
ANSWER to charge 1:
WRONG TRANSLATION, WRONG MEANING, WRONG ASSUMPTION, WRONG CONCLUSION
So many fallacies and falsities are contained in this charge that I don’t even know
where to start from. It just shows how woefully ignorant Kwaku Ba and the others who
put up this charge are- my goodness! First, let us see how the original Greek and
scholarly translations have it:
Matt 4: 8 Original Greek :
????? ???????????? ????? ? ???????? ??? ???? ?????? ???? ??? ?????????
???? ????? ??? ????????? ??? ?????? ??? ??? ????? ?????
Transliteration: “ Palin paralambanei auton o diabolos eis oros upselon lian kai
deiknusin auto pasas tas basileias tou kosmou kai ten doxan auton “
Literally, in the same order of words, “ again took him the devil into mountain high
very and showed him all the kingdoms of world and the glory of them”
English Translations:
- New King James Version:
“ Again the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all
the kingdoms of the world and their glory”
New International Version:
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms
of the world and their splendor.’
- Amplified Bible:
8Again, the devil took Him up on a very high mountain and showed Him all the
kingdoms of the world and the glory (the splendor, magnificence, preeminence, and
excellence) of them
New American Bible:
“Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain, and showed him all the
kingdoms of the world in their magnificence,”
Revised Standard Version:
“Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms
of the world and the glory of them”
COMMENTS
1- WRONG TRANSLATION, FALSE CHARGE:
As both the Greek Original and the trusted English translations given above show,
the Bible never said that when anyone stands on that mountain he or she can observe
the whole world. That is a lie. If a translation says that, it is not correct. It
said the devil took Jesus to a high mountain, and from there he (devil) showed Jesus
the kingdoms of the world, offering it to Jesus if the latter would bow down and
worship him. As to the manner of the devil “showing” or Jesus “seeing”, we are not
told, but what we know is that whether this is taken literally or metaphorically, it
did happen, the devil appeared visibly and objectively to Jesus, and they were on
the mountain physically as well. HOWEVER, IT IS A BIG FAT LIE FOR ANYONE TO ALLEGE
THAT THE BIBLE SAYS IF ANYBODY STANDS ON THAT MOUNTAIN THAT PERSON CAN SEE THE
WHOLE WORLD- Where is that written?
2- It does not take rocket science – it takes just a simple school boy’s common
sense- to figure out that any kind of meeting between Jesus and devil, even though
physical and objective, can also possibly involve the spiritual and the
supernatural, judging from who the two people are. So if the devil shows Jesus all
the kingdoms of the world in one glance, and Jesus also sees all of them in one
glance, it is not because they are standing at a point where anyone else can also
stand and see what they see – it is just because they are able to see what they
wanted to see because of who they are! So the Biblical author never intended to say
nor did he say, as I’ve shown above, that from that mountain anyone can see the
kingdoms of the world.
3- All the physical places involved, as well as the literal words spoken, also
have deeper meanings and symbolic significances as used in the Bible- like the
mountain top, temple , desert, the content of the temptations, etc. If you don’t
have the time, humility and faith to learn about them, and decide to remain in your
ignorance, then better stop blaspheming against things you don’t understand.
NO FLAT EARTH THEORY HERE NOR ANYWHERE ELSE IN SCRIPTURE
4- I ask again, where is the flat earth doctrine these ignorant critics accuse
the Bible of teaching? Where is the evidence for the unwarranted assumption that the
Bible writer believed in a flat earth? If the devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of
the world, standing on a high mountain, does that mean the Bible teach the earth is
flat? What kind of logic is that? If the Bible taught that the earth was flat, as
it teaches that Jesus is God or any other doctrine, wouldn’t it be clear enough for
all to see?
5- I don’t know who started that spin, but somehow anti Christians have kept
repeating this lie OVER THE AGES, that the Bible teaches that the earth is flat, and
therefore it is not scientifically up to date. Unfortunately, when a lie is repeated
so often, it sounds like the truth. All of these are baseless, ignorant, AND GROSS
MISINTERPRETATIONS OF SCRIPTURE. Kwaku Ba and others, I challenge you to come up
with the Biblical quotations that say the earth is flat- in plain language, black
and white.
6- SOURCES OF THE FLAT EARTH ALLEGATION? Those who accuse the Bible of teaching
a flat earth rely on gross misinterpretations of some Biblical verses that never
ever mention a flat earth, nor even imply one. One which they often use is this
Mathew 4:8 above, others being a misinterpretation of the Bible’s use of phrases
like “the four corners of the world”, “the foundations of the world”, the pillars of
the earth, etc. As we’ve just knocked off their main weapon Mathew 4:8, an analysis
of those others show how shallow, baseless and ignorant the allegations are.
Unfortunately their repeated allegation has made many Christians, including not a
few learned ones, conceded to the lie and assumed it to be true. Meanwhile, all this
while, they were just throwing dust into our eyes by their misrepresentations and
misinterpretations. Why have we not called off their bluff vigorously enough all
this while? Time’s up for them now. I
throw the challenge again, Kwaku Ba and the others, show me where the Bible said
the earth is flat, or shut up now (I’ll write on this in more detail in the next
one or two articles)!
7- A word of advice to Kwaku Ba and others: if you want to criticize based on a
verse, please take it from proper sources. If you want to criticize based on a verse
of the New Testament, and you don’t know the original language, find out from anyone
who knows, because it is your duty in the service of the truth to really research
into someone else’s faith before you criticize publicly. Never argue from one
translation. “SE WOASO AWARE A TO WO MPRETE”- to wit, “if you see yourself as ready
for marriage, then buy your own utensils”. In other words, If you want to criticize
the Bible, then better learn its original languages – New Testament Greek and Old
Testament Hebrew. Otherwise, then shut up brother, because you are only parading
your ignorance the more you criticize.
8- If you cannot find your way through the original language, at least you can
take trusted English translations like the Revised Standard Version, King James
Bible, New American Bible, The Jerusalem Bible, Douay Rheims, Christian Community
Bible, and many others. In the absence of the original Greek or Hebrew, I would also
cross check with vernacular translations like the Fante, Twi, Ga, or Ewe, if I can
read any of them, just to be sure. This advice though is for the one who wants to
argue on the Biblical verse. For anyone else, a trusted translation will be enough
for a devotional study or reading.
Enough said on this, which incidentally happens to be the only substantial
allegation in the whole piece Kwaku Ba wrote, the rest not meriting any serious
attention. For the sake of keeping the records straight, however, let us continue
with the rest. My friend Mr. Ba wrote:
“So either we have to update the bible to make it more consistent with reality or we
acknowledge the writings are by illiterate ancient men who did not know what they
were talking about.”
ANSWER:
Now who is the illiterate man who doesn’t know what he is talking about- Kwaku who
relies on a wrong translation to misinterpret because he does not know the original
language, or the Biblical writer who talks about deep things of God?
Charge 3:
MT 4:23-24, 9:32-33, 12:22, 17:14-18, MK 1:23-26, 32-34, 5:2-16, 9:17-29, 16:9, LK
11:14, 4:33-35, 8:2, 27-36, 9:38-42, AC 8:7, 16:16-18 Both physical and mental
illness are caused by demon possession and can be cured by exorcism. Comment: A bold
faced lie. Diseases are caused by microbes. Mental illness is due to problems in the
brain cells. Some Microbes can be killed by antibiotics. Some illnesses require
surgery or various therapies. I am waiting to see a hospital where the medical staff
use exorcism to cure any of the above illnesses. Why did God not say so in his book
and allowed the illiterate scribes to write such nonsense in the Bible?
ANSWER to charge 3:
Is this Kwaku Ba serious at all? Yes I know he copied this silly charge from the
internet, because I’ve seen it before, but as to why an adult thinking Ghanaian can
talk like this baffles me. Well one may decide not to believe in demon possession or
pretend not to see all the physical evidences of miracles happening around us in
Jesus’ name by believers-Catholic and Protestants alike- but to put up such childish
and hollow charges as the above baffles me.
FIRST, again, this is another DELIBERATE FALSIFICATION: The quotations given above
do NOT say diseases are caused by demon possession. That is another blatant lie and
a twister! Kwaku, why are you twisting God’s word?
Mathew 4:23-24 for instance, the first quotation Kwaku Ba gave above, reads:
KJV: “23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching
the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of
disease among the people. 24 Then his fame went throughout all Syria, and they
brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and
torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics, and he
healed them.” –Matt 4: 23-24, KJV
There we are! It said Jesus healed all kinds of diseases among the people, they
brought him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases AND torments,
AND those who were demon-possessed, among others, and he healed them. BUT THE BIBLE
DID NOT SAY THAT DISEASES are caused by demon-possession, so how do you explain this
false charge, Kwaku :
“Both physical and mental illness are caused by demon possession and can be cured
by exorcism. Comment: A bold faced lie. Diseases are caused by microbes” ?
So who is lying now? Kwaku Ba and his cohort of ignorant atheists who are
deliberately twisting the Bible, or the Bible which recorded actual miracles of
Jesus which have been attested to and authenticated by even secular historians-nay,
even hostile, Jewish and pagan historians?
As for the childish charge that you are waiting to see a hospital where the medical
staff use exorcism instead of what they have been trained in, the least said about
it the better. Kwaku, for your information, we need both God and education, okay?
God does not rule out the use of our brains which he so proudly gave us, therefore
we go to hospital when we are sick, or drink some herbs. However, there are very
many cases where even if we go to hospital, we still need to pray, while there are
some sicknesses that Science can simply not do anything about, but with God all
things are possible. So there should be no dichotomy or an either-or choice, but an
intelligent blend of both.
Charge 4:
“Why did God not say so in his book and allowed the illiterate scribes to write such
nonsense in the Bible?”
ANSWER: There was a man who lived in Nazareth by name Jesus. He performed all those
miracles as recorded. The gospel writers only recorded what they had seen, touched,
witnessed, experienced, concerning this Jesus and all the wonderful things he did.
Learned historians corroborated their story in both Roman and Jewish history. So who
is illiterate, Kwaku - you who know nothing about the things you condemn, and cannot
even separate correlation from causation, or the historians who recorded the things
as they exactly happened? Wisdom indeed is justified by her deeds.
Charge 5:
Luke 3:23-38 gives the genealogy of Jesus as consisting of 37 generations from King
David through his son Nathan. Mathew 1:1-17 gives 27 generations from King David
through his son King Solomon. Hmm. By the way Nathan was the elder brother of King
Solomon, both of them being the sons David had with Bathsheba (Urriah’s wife). So
which is which and where are the 10 missing generations?
ANSWER:
This charge did not originate from Kwaku Ba; others have made it before him, but be
that as it may, a simple background check , as well as correct reading of Mathew
1:17, will easily answer the allegation.
1- FIRST, MATHEW 1:17 says “ so all the generations from Abraham to David are
14 generations, FROM David until the Babylonian Captivity are 14 generations, and
from the Babylonian Captivity to the Christ are 14 generations”. 14 times 3 is 42
isn’t it? But David was repeated because he was included in the end of one and the
beginning of another. But even if you take that factor out, it is true the names are
more than the number Mathew included. WHY” Writing for the Jews to prove Jesus was
the Messiah, Mathew :
- ABRIDGED the geneology to make it easier perhaps for memorization. This
was not unprecendented in scripture or Hebrew practice. As a matter of fact, compare
Ezra 7:3 with 1 Chronicles 6: 7-10 and you’ll see that one of them is an abridged
form of the other. Ezra deliberately skipped six generations from Meriaoth to
Azariah (son of Johanan).
- Mathew’s audience was Jewish, so he rightfully traced Jesus’ ancestry to
Abraham, but Luke’s audience was gentile (everyone else apart from Jews), so he also
traced Jesus’ ancestry to Adam, the common ancestor of the human race. (As to the
question about bones of Lucy and others, I will answer separately, to keep the
focus) Simple common sense will tell you that the one that goes way back to Adam
will include more names than the one that ends with Abraham.
Let me take a few more and continue later. Honestly, the other charges don’t seem
to be worthy of attention. Read for example, the following:
Charge:
“ MT 7:7-8, LK 11:9-10 Ask and it will be given. Seek and you will find. Everyone
who asks, receives. Comment: OK. I want an end to illiteracy in Ghana. I also want
an end to all religion in Ghana to be replaced by institutes offering Bachelors
degrees, Masters and PhDs. Can I get that?”
Is he serious? Go ahead and ask God, it will be between you and God.
Charge:
“MT 13:41 Jesus will send his angels to purge his kingdom of evildoers and sin.
Comment: How did evildoers get into his kingdom in the first place?”
ANSWER
These charges don’t imply the Bible is erratic though, do they? Anyhow, for your
information, the kingdom of God as used in scripture has multiple meanings, among
which is a reference to the church, or the assembly of sinners called to holiness
and sanctified by faith in Christ. It is a pilgrim church, and the members are still
human beings not free from sin. These and most of the other charges show gross
ignorance of the Bible’s themes, teachings, and the real meaning of most of the
words therein. That is why it is so annoying to see ignorant atheistic babblers like
Kwaku Ba pick on anything they cannot understand because they are not humble enough
to learn it, and blaspheme against the name of God. Do you know where we would be
without God? What can your devil give us?
Charge:
MK 16:17-18 Those who believe are able to handle snakes and drink any deadly poison
without suffering harm. Comment: Yeah, right. So how come poison continues to kill
people in the 21st century, and snakes are still biting and killing people everyday
all over the world?
ANSWER:
Is this guy serious? Jesus did not say snakes will stop biting people, or that
everyone can handle snakes and escape being bitten. He was speaking to his disciples
whom he was sending out, imbued with Jesus’ power. In that power, Saint Paul and
others handled poisonous snakes, and the serpents could not bite them. Even the
handkerchiefs that touched Paul could heal the sick. Who says Jesus has no power?
God forgive you, because you don’t know what you blaspheme against. But if you know,
then you better repent, because it is a fearful thing to fall into the wrath of God.
Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Charge:
“LK 1:39-42 The fetus in Elizabeth's womb jumps for joy when Elizabeth hears Mary
Comment: What? So who is pregnant with Jesus then? Elizabeth or Mary?”
ANSWER: I will let the Sunday school people answer you. You may be an atheist now,
but did you not go to church when you were a kid? Did you never hear about a man
named John the Baptist?
The Bible said of him: “A man came sent from God, his name was John”( Egeneto
anthropos apestalmenos para theou; onoma auto ioannes) – John 1:6
Charge:
“JN 16:23 Jesus says: "Whatever you ask in my name, my Father will give you."
ANSWER: You can bet your life on that, brother. But he looks at your heart, though,
not just your lips
Charge:
“1TI 6:10 The love of money is the root of all evil(s). Comment: Some translations
amend the text to read, "The love of money is the root of all kinds of evils," or
something similar, in an attempt to ameliorate an obvious problem. Those additional
words are not there in the Greek of the oldest and most reliable manuscripts.”
ANSWER:
Much Ado about nothing.
See who is talking about translation versus original. You read this charge somewhere
I know of, and you have pasted it here. When it suits you, you prefer original, when
the original doesn’t suit your point, as in Matt 4:8 or the other quotations you
gave, you rely on a translation- not so? Yes, I agree that some translations are
bad, but not because they have sinister motives- they just are not close enough to
the original text. I don’t rely on translations to verify a doctrine: no serious
debater or writer does, just for the sake of fairness or service to the truth.
Nevertheless, having said that, I don’t see what big difference exists between the
two phrases “all evil”, which the Greek original puts as ‘all the evil’ (panton ton
kakon) , and the other expression “all kinds of evil”. Is ‘all kinds of evil’ not
the same as “all the evil’ or ‘all evil’? What’s the difference in this? What a
useless charge!
Greek Transliteration of 1 Tim 6:10
“ riza gar panton ton kakon estin he philarguria hes tines oregomenoi
apeplanethesan apo tes pisteos kai heautous periepeiran odunais pollais”.
Literal ordering of words(with the Greek): “ root (riza) for (gar) of all (panton)
the (ton) evil(kakon) is (estin) the (he) love of money(philarguria) of which (hes)
some (tines) longing (oregomenoi) have wandered (apeplanethesan) from(apo) the (tes)
faith (pisteos) and (kai) themselves (heautous) have pierced through (periepeiran)
griefs (odunais) with many (pollais).”
English Translation:
1 Timothy 6:10 (King James Version)
10For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after,
they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
A PROTECTOR GOD
By the way, lest I forget, these atheistic apologists keep referring to God helping
Israel defeat their enemies as unethical and Kwaku Ba keeps referring to that.
Question is, Kwaku, by whose standards are you judging? Our standards today or their
standards then? Kwaku, when those people surrounding them, like the Philistines and
others vowed to wipe the Israelites out, was that ethical? When those other people
kill the Israelites, that one is ethical, isn’t it? But when the Israelites kill
them to free themselves, that one is unethical. They had their own gods they were
worshipping, whereas Israelites had their God. Each nation relied on its god to
protect it. So the God of the Jews should have allowed the Israelites to be wiped
out, not so? Then you will say He is not powerful enough, not so? Just like some
Arab fundamentalists and nations have vowed to wipe Israel out of existence- so God
should allow that, so that we say God is fair? If you belong
to a people whose very existence is constantly threatened by surrounding nations-
not empty threats, but real threats to kill you and your people, if you, Kwaku Ba,
belonged to such a group, would you wish a more powerful force take care of these
enemies for you or not? Do you know for how long Goliath and his people breathed on
the necks of Israel and how many people enemies like them killed before David
mustered courage to call off his bluff?
Like I said elsewhere, as Ex 19:5-6 says, ‘even though the whole earth is the
Lord’s, since he doesn’t want to force people to himself, but wants us to freely
choose him, he had to use human intermediaries to reach the world. So he chose
Israel as a kingdom of priests, a people among whom God would dwell, and through
whom He would gradually reveal Himself to humans, a revelation that would culminate
in the coming of Christ. He had to go slow, because the people were slow to
understand.
MASQUERADERS AS ANGELS OF LIGHT
The devil knows he has lost the battle to Christ 2,000 years ago, yet typical of
him, he will never give up. We know him. He is now doing what he does best:
suggesting, tempting, putting doubt in the minds of God’s children, suggesting to
them that somehow, somewhat, they have been left in the dark, by God, and that if
they should leave the way of truth which God has given them, he the devil will lead
them to freedom.
That was the way he tempted our Adam and Eve, that is the way he tempts humans; that
is the way he tempted Jesus Christ. In all these temptations, he suggested that
somehow, perhaps what God had told them was not the absolute truth, or that the
scripture they had learned could be misapplied : “if you are the son of God,
then…… command these stones to turn into bread…. Throw yourself to the ground…. Bow
down and worship me..”. They are all very subtle, not appearing as evil nor even as
a temptation, but having the semblance of liberation- making you powerful,
fulfilled, free. If you are not wise enough in God’s word, you will be singing his
praises before you realize. That is what is happening now with Kwaku Ba and now his
other self Ibn Katapingi or whatever.( I know it is Kwaku Ba himself who is writing
under a pseudonym. When Andy C.Y Kwawukume wrote, even though he was on the same
footing with Kwaku Ba, you could see the difference
in style. Moreover, because he was a different person, he acknowledged Kwaku Ba.
But this Ibn Katapingi is Kwaku Ba appearing under a different name – walahi !
Anyhow, that’s not my problem. There can be a 100 of them, Jesus is still God, and
we will answer them, not by our power nor might, but by the spirit of God. The only
thing is ghanaweb should play the role of an unbiased referee, because as at now,
you are being a little of “referee konkonsa” . No offence though, because I’m one
of your fans. But at least give the responses enough front page exposure as you
give their attacks, please, so that those whose faith have been ruffled will know
‘there is still a God in Israel’ You never know in how many ways our God can decide
to bless you if use your disposition to promote His name-especially when his people
are being afflicted).
Back to my analysis of the devil’s instruments- the atheists, and their anti-God
attacks. At first, talking about the Bible, he will appear as if he is earnestly
searching for the truth: so he questions, casts doubts, deliberately mistranslates
and misinterprets, knowing not everyone will find time to research, and presents a
half truth that will “sound right”. Before you realize, he will chip in one
conclusion here and there, asserting there is no God- conclusions like ‘but if the
deity whose word it is will allow illiterates to lie about him blah blah blah, then
he is not omniscient and he is not God etc etc. Every article he writes, he makes
sure he chips in some of such conclusions, and the sum of it is that “SE NIMO
ANNTUMI WO A OTETE WO NTOMA”- Eventually, you will start doubting your own faith,
pray less and less, go to church only when you feel like, become apathetic, start
finding faults with everything about God, start blaming God
for everyone’s including your own misfortunes, and before long, you are another
strong apologist for the devil. The reward? What lasting joy can the devil give
anyone? Ask those in cults and Sakawa.
GOD’S WORD IS FIRM AND SURE
Forever, His word is settled in heaven. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but God’s
word will never pass away. Just as the rains water the earth before they evaporate,
so does the word he sends: it will accomplish its purpose before it goes back to
him. The Bible is God’s word written down. All parts of it are inspired of God,
since the Holy Spirit is their author. Consequently, it contains no error. So far,
none of the charges of error or contradictions as alleged by the atheists have
withstood the scrutiny of the truth, especially as we investigate the original
language, the trusted translations, the context of the text, the authors’ audience
and purpose, the genre of the writing, and the humility of faith to unravel the
meaning. Kwaku Ba’s catalogue of schoolboy charges like- ‘if the whole world went
to Solomon to get his wisdom, did the ancestors of Ghana also go?’ and many others
like it clearly shows he and others like him have
nothing serious or important contribution to offer us by way of progressive or
constructive criticism. They are just throwing dust into public eyes, packing a
whole lot of irrelevant accusations the sheer volume of which may convince the
uncritical mind that perhaps they have a point. Where was Ghana in the time of
Solomon in the 9th century BC? Even the ancient Ghana empire was not till after
Christ. So is it just ignorance of history or deliberate attempt to deceive?
FROWNING ON EVERY FIGURATIVE EXPRESSION AND EVERY MIRACLE
The Bible uses a whole lot of figurative expressions. Often times, words which
should even be taken literally, still have multiple literal meanings. A glance
through Kwaku Ba’s and these other atheists’ catalogue of Biblical errors shows they
frown on every figurative expression and every miracle. But if an action makes
scientific sense as in following laws of nature, then how is it a miracle? If
something has a natural explanation within the same space and time, how does it
become a miracle? And if the Bible is a record of God’s dealing with us, how can it
not have record of miracles? Yet these atheists will cast doubt on every miracle and
tell you it is absurd, illiterate, blah blah blah. This is where you know who is
pulling the strings, because the devil does not want you to believe in Jesus, the
miraculous, etc, so that you cannot pray when you need to. I still maintain, though
that Kwaku Ba and others like him may be genuine people with
good intentions, but just misled. The problem is, we will not allow them to mislead
multitudes since they themselves may convert later- yet lead many astray, like
Darwin did without intending to. When you start a fire you cannot quench, it gets
out of your hand.
When St. Paul talks about being translated to the third heavens, Kwaku Ba has a
problem with it. Is it deliberate or sheer ignorance? Did you never hear about
figures of speech? Should every word mean as it literally sounds? Gracious me! Some
of the charges are just too ridiculous, and seriously, no serious scholarly circle
will entertain such charges . And yet he calls the Biblical author ‘illiterate’,
and calls God ‘ignorant.’
POWER OF GOD’S WORD
Heb 4:12 makes it clear: the word of God is alive and active, cuts through joints
and marrows….. Indeed, as Eph 3:12-17 says, it is the sword of the spirit, with
which we will defeat the devil. No wonder he wants to attack it, but he lies. He’s
been defeated. Indeed, it is the word with which we carry out the offensive action
in our warfare against the devil. In Jeremiah 1:6ff, God promises the power to build
and to plant; to uproot and to destroy- the word of God is the weapon with which we
carry this out, backed with the power of faith. The devil knows that. The person the
devil fears is a prayerful person leading a holy life who is not lacking knowledge
of the word of God. The devil is not afraid of the rich, nor poor, nor authority,
nor one’s degrees, nor anything. He is afraid of a prayerful child of God, leading a
holy life, who knows the word and is not shy about using the word. With the word,
eaten and consumed as Jesus’ mother did, and
as the apostles and saints later on did, backed with a life of holiness and faith,
there is no weapon that the devil can form against us that will prosper, and there
is no tongue raised against us that will stand. Yes, forever indeed, His word is
settled in the heavens. ‘SE OPANIN KASA WIE A NA ASEM ASA’- If the elder finishes
speaking, case is closed. If God has spoken, who are we to add to or subtract
anything from it? The Revelation of Jesus is final, and with his Holy Spirit
guiding His church and present in us His faithful who believe, the Bible is perfect
and complete for us as it is. Whoever is not okay with it should ask God the author
for wisdom.
TO BE CONTINUED
God bless you all.
God bless our homeland Ghana/And make our nation great and strong/bold to defend for
ever/the cause of freedom and of right/fill all our hearts with true humility/make
us cherish, fearless honesty/and help us to resist oppressors’ rule/with all our
will and might forevermore.
-Augustine Anyimadu-Ahenkae
Bronx, New York
gtrabboni@yahoo.com
REFERENCES:
DeYoung Donald, Ph.D. (Physics), Astronomy and the Bible, Baker Book House
Sloat, Joan Ph.D. (Biology and related scientific studies), Science in the Bible
(Chicago: Moody Press, 1978)
The Holy Bible, New King James Version.Nashville:Thomas Nelson Inc.1982. Print.
