Christianity is the Right Religion Part 2

I want to begin by saying that you have used the idea that I use circular reasoning to defend the Bible. I want to assert that it is not begging the question to use the Bible to prove the Bible when it is proven to be a historically reliable document, Which I will address at some point. Now, Back to the Old Testament and how it points to Christ when talking about the unbelievable unity that the Bible has. As you remember, I last used Stephen's message to show how the Torah and Tanakh point to Christ. Well Acts records Peter's Sermon at Pentecost, In which he reviews for the "men of Israel" Christ's mighty works and wonders performed in their midst ("as you yourselves know"). Jesus, Peter notes, Was the One "delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, " but Whom "God raised. . . Up, Loosing the pangs of death, Because it was not possible for him to be held by it. " In other words, He's saying Don't you dare deny what you saw with your own eyes-that Christ worked miracles and that He was crucified despite His innocence, But still conquered death, Which was powerless to restrain Him, Because God had always planned that He would die for our sins. Peter quotes David from Psalm 16 that God would not let His "Holy One see decay. " Then he tells them "with confidence" that David must have been referring to Christ, Whom "he foresaw" and Whose resurrection he spoke about. "Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, This Jesus whom you crucified. " Peter declares. Upon hearing this speech, The people "were cut to the heart, " and they ask Peter what they should do. He tells them to "repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, " whereupon three thousand people are converted. Just as with Stephen's speech, Peter is tying together the Old Covenant and New Covenant and tracing God's salvation history. Later, When Peter and John are on trial before the Sanhedrin for healing a crippled man, Peter tells them in no uncertain terms that the healing had benn done not in their power, But "by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Whom you crucified, Whom God raised from the dead. . . . This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, The builders, Which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, For their is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved". Knowing that the man had been healed through Peter and John, The Sanhedrin are speechless and set them free, Warning them not speak of what they had seen and heard. But boldly, The pair tells these religious leaders that they-Peter and John-take their orders from God, Not them. All these speeches and sermons served as lessons demonstrating the unity of Scripture and God's purposeful direction of history toward the redemption of mankind. One of my favorite stories in the Bible reinforces the unity of the Bible's message. In one of His resurrection appearances, Jesus approaches two men on the road leading to Emmaus, Some seven miles from Jerusalem. They are kept from recognizing Him, And He asks them what they are discussing. They are amazed that He hasn't heard about the things "concerning Jesus of Nazareth, " a mighty prophet whom they had hoped would redeem Israel but instead was crucified. Just that day, They tell Him, They heard Jesus had been put to death and buried three day earlier, But that morning women reported that His body was missing from the tomb and angels had told the women that Jesus was alive. After listening to the men, Jesus (Who still hadn't identified Himself to them) exclaims. "O foolish ones, And slow of heart to believe all that the prophets had spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? ". Jesus is imparting the same lesson to them that Stephen and Peter had been preaching-that He hadn't come into the world to deliver Israel politically or militarily, But to save people from their sins. But the most interesting part is still to come. The Scripture reads, "And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself". After Jesus left, "They said to each other, 'Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked with us on the road, While he opened to us the Scriptures? '". Just imagine this scene-what could top it as the most exhilarating, Once-in-a-lifetime event? Christ, In the flesh, Back from the dead, Taking men through the Scriptures and showing them how the Old Testament points to Him on every page, Illuminating for them the unity of Scripture, Centered in God Incarnate, Jesus of Nazareth, Whom Scripture says God chose before time began to save men from their sins through His sinless life and substitutionary, Sacrificial death. Who wouldn't be blown away by the greatest biblical lesson of all time delivered by the greatest teacher ever? As Ravi Zacharias says, "If one could only be face to face with Him from whom life comes, Whom to know means Truth and to follow means direction, How delightful would be those moments when the most confounding questions of life are raised. We are not surprised when we read in the Gospel of Luke that the men who walked on the Emmaus Road, Though unaware that they were walking with the risen Christ, Said that their hearts burned within them as He opened up the past, The present and the future to them. When they realized who He was, A light for all of history had been turned on. " Note the way Ravi frames the event: Christ "opened up the past, The present and the future to them. " Is it even possible to conceive of a more resounding affirmation of the unity of Scripture? And concerning "a light for all of history had been turned on"-what better way to describe the epiphany these men experienced, The same epiphany readers of the Bible will experience today when they come to grasp the unity and Christ-centeredness of Scripture? Professor Oscar Cullman, One of Dr. Fuller's mentors, Led him to the realization that the key to understanding Scripture is in grasping its essential unity. Cullman, According to Dr. Larry Helyer, Taught that the Bible is about one story, Not many stories. "The unity of the Bible consists in the fact that a single redemptive history progressively unfolds from Genesis to Revelation. This story is God's self-revelation to human beings and clearly indicates his purpose and goal for all creation. " What Cullman was saying, Then, Is that "redemptive history" is just a small part of overall secular history, But "impacts forever all that transpires on the stage of world history. " It consists of certain specific events "in which God intervenes or reveals Himself in history accompanied by an explanatory word by means of an inspired spokesperson-a prophet or apostle. " That is, The historical events described in the Bible actually occured in history, But the Bible, As noted earlier, Only covers those events that are relevant to God's salvation and redemption plan for humankind. Biblical scholar Alfred Edersheim, A Jewish convert to Christianity, Described the unity of Scripture in the context of God's progressive revelation as follows: There is not merely harmony but also close connection between the various parts of Scripture. Each book illustrates the other, Taking up its teachings and carrying it forward. Thus the unity of Scripture is not like that of a stately building, However ingenious its plan or vast its proportions; but rather, To use a Biblical illustration, Like that of the light, Which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. We mark throughout growth in its progress, As men were able to bear fuller communications, And prepared for their reception. The law, The types, The history, The prophecies, And the promises in the Old Testament all progressively unfold and develop the same truth, Until it appears at last in its New Testament fullness. Though all testify of the same thing, Not one of them could safely be left out, Nor yet do we properly understand any one part unless we view it in its bearing and connection with the others. Dr. Helyer says that a belief in the unity of the Bible necessarily follows from the evangelical view that presupposes the inspiration and authority of Scripture. As the Holy Spirit "superintended the process of inscripturation for both Testaments, " it's to be expected that the result would be "a unified, Coherent message. " Adds Helyer, "God does not speak out of both sides of His mouth. " This unity in Scripture cannot be found in any other Book especially when you consider the time frame it was written in.