Answering Humanist's Accusations Against the Bible
THE HUMANIST'S CLAIMS: Another significant false prophecy is at John 14:13-14. Jesus promises: Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye ask any thing in my name, I will do it. Everyone knows there have been millions of instances where Jesus failed to respond to Christians who asked for things in his name. And the graveyards are full of people who prayed to him for health.
As is the case with other incorrect statements in the Bible, false prophecies cast doubt on all biblical claims. If one verse in the Bible is wrong, its possible for many verses to be wrong.
The humanist is correct. If there is even one plainly false prophecy, or a promise that God "forgets" to fulfill, then we cannot trust the Bible at all. We would have no way to know what is true or false. So, the humanists came up with a huge list, picking the proph-ecies most likely to be seen as false, hoping there would that some people would believe at least one Bible prophecy was in error.
BUT, what if every prophecy they bring up turns out to be true? They take their best shot and the Bible still stands. That is a powerful proof the Bible is true, and Jesus really is God and our Savior. If that is the case, will you believe? You have a terrible prob-lem. Sin. You have disobeyed God and there are eternal consequences. Only Jesus can save you. Read the Gospel of John and trust Jesus today. Please do not wait.
Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
It should be immediately apparent that what the humanists say is not true. Jesus is not a magic genie who grants your every wish. Just imagine, if everyone could wish for whatever they wanted, and Jesus granted every one of them. What a chaotic world we would have. It would be a mess! So what did Jesus actually mean?
To do something in the name of someone means to do what they would have done. For example, if a messenger proclaims, "In the name of the king, everyone is to have a day off." What does that mean? That the king wants everyone to have a day off, and he is giving them the day off. The messenger is speaking as a representative of the king. His words are the king's words and are to be obeyed just as if the messenger was the king.
To ask in the name of Jesus, is to speak as a representative of Jesus, asking for what He would want. That is actually a good thing, because what He wants is what is good and perfect.
The Lord's Prayer gives us an example of what we should want and how we should pray. (Matthew 6:9-13).
Pray, then, in this way:
"Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
[For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]
What does Jesus want? What should we want? For what should we be praying? The answer to all three is the same. First, our pray-ers should focus on God and glorifying God. Pray that God will be honored and His kingdom will come. Then pray that what God wants will be done, everywhere and all the time.
Secondly, we can address our needs. Praying for our daily bread means to pray for, and trust God to provide for all our needs. No-tice this is not wants... it is our needs. Then pray that God helps us to forgive those who sin against us, and that He helps us to avoid sin.
So what does it mean to pray and ask in His name? John Mac-Arthur provides a good summary in the MacArthur Bible Commen-tary for John 14:13-14:
1) The believer's prayer should be for God's purposes and the kingdom, not selfish reasons
2) The believer's prayer should be on the basis of God's merits and not any any personal merit or worthiness.
3) The believer's prayer should be in pursuit of God's glory alone.
Once we understand what "in His name” means, this promise becomes clear. It has nothing to do with what the humanists say (having our wishes granted), and everything to do with honoring and glorifying God.
History and the Old Testament
Historians have long known that the biblical story of a worldwide flood is a myth. For instance, Andrew White says nineteenth-century Egyptologists found that Egypt had a flourishing civilization long before Noah, and no flood had ever interrupted it. [White, Vol. I, p. 257.]
We're on to a new category. This time the humanists will see if they can find any errors in the Bible's record of history. Let's find out how well they do. Click here...
The gospel is not social justice nor serving others. The gospel is love in action... Jesus Christ giving Himself so that you can be saved from the wrath of God.
Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. - 1 Corinthians 15:1-8