What about the Bible?: Is the Bible a fantasy? (part one)

Recently a popular radio talk show host empaneled a group to discuss the upcoming national election.

A very particular direction emerged in their discussions. Very bright and discerning people were asked to speak to the issue of the demographics of the electorate and they delivered their opinions.

One curious theme revealed itself very quickly. The folks on the panel generally agreed on the thinking and attitude of one specific group of people.

According to the panelists, all experts in their fields, there is a most dramatic change in viewpoint of the greatest majority of younger people. Reflected in the idea is that the old standards — largely the standards presented and held by the Bible and the “older” and more “religious” generations of the past — would not and do not represent the majority of younger groups. They seem to have little confidence in those old standards as they no longer fit in this modern and fast-paced world that we live in today.

Do you suppose it is at least partly true, that as a result of decaying mores and ethical structures we may be left with no standards at all?

Could it be at least within the realm of imagination that there could come a time in our great land when men and women of a more dominate demographic may have no way to judge their actions and thinking?

What if the principals of truth and the voluntary adherence to them ceased?

With that absence of a generally accepted standard of ethics and morality how would it be possible to design or maintain any societal rules by which we may govern ourselves?

Maybe the question should be: “Can we prevent decadence and immorality from becoming the order of the day?”

If churches and their natural and proper extension — homes, schools and communities — become nothing more than a reflection of those societal elements that prohibit nothing, allow everything, provide nothing of any lasting and demonstrable good, what then?

Could we eventually see a constant and progressive decay of any of that which some still regard as necessary to maintain the core values that heretofore have provided the forms of civilization that some still rely on?

It has been said in some media presentations commonly heard in America that “contradictory truths are at war with each other in various countries and societies.” That statement from more media “experts.”

Here’s a question: Is truth no longer an absolute? Has the new truth become so subjective as to allow everyone to have an opinion about what constitutes truth in the world today?

If it is a fact of life today that truth as principle no longer applies to any aspect of our lives, so negating the absolute, then what may we rely on?

If it no longer applies, then maybe we should sit down with our children and grandchildren and discuss the guide, the source of all truth: God’s Word, the Bible.

Historians tell us that ancient and powerful Rome fell not because its walls of defense fell, but because its ethical and moral walls fell, a failing of its own design.

Today, there are thousands of the once faithful who have in their own minds gone beyond any further study of God’s Word because they have become satisfied with the knowledge they possess.

Next month, part two of “Is the Bible a Fantasy?”

What about the Bible?

R. B. Ward has been a long-time preacher in the Churches of Christ. He has served in that capacity in Page for 10 years.

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