Theology Thursday: The Accuracy of the Bible

Sanctify them in truth, your word is truth. John 17:17

Background for Parents:

This week’s focus is on the inerrancy (accuracy) of the Bible. Inerrancy has been debated in Christian churches, schools, and universities and continues to this day. There are two primary views of Biblical inerrancy. The first is the Bible is only accurate for “faith and practice” which means the Bible is accurate when it comes to issues of faith and ethics, but may contain errors in historical, scientific, and other areas. The second is the Bible is inerrant in every area including faith, ethics, science, history, and archeology. When the scriptures are examined it is clear the second view is correct. 

However, we are not limited to just internal confirmation. There are many extra-biblical sources confirming the truth of all of the scriptures. Archeology has confirmed locations and people from the Biblical text so often that the Bible is used by secular archeologists as a source when planning their excavations.  

You will need the following materials for the object lessons below. A glass of water, index card, hot plate or stove top, soda can, pot holder, and tray of cool water. 

Memory Verse: 

For the word of the Lord is upright. And all His work is done in faithfulness. Psalm 33:4

This verse tells us two important truths. The first is that the word of the Lord, the Bible, is right. This means that the Bible is correct in all it teaches us. Every word in the Bible is true. The second is that all God’s work, everything that He does, is done in faithfulness. 

Introduction:

What is air? Where did it come from? What do we call moving air? Just as God created everything else on earth and in the universe He created wind. Job 28:25 states When He established the force of the wind and measured out the waters. Today we are going to examine the force of air. Today there is a big lie in the world about the Bible. Are you ready? The big lie is that the Bible is outdated and there are mistakes in it. We know that the big lie is false and the Bible is full of truth. There is not even one mistake in the entire Bible! Today, we are going to test some details from the Bible. 

Lesson:

Job 28:25 declares that God established the earth’s wind and water. This entire chapter of Job describes the source of real wisdom: knowing the Creator who made all things. The force of the wind describes the weight of air. If air had no weight then wind would not have force. So how can we know that air has weight? To begin I have a glass of water. This glass is a little over half full. I am going to place this index card over the top of the glass. What do you think will happen when I turn this glass upside down? Let’s see what happens! The card did not fall to the floor, since the weight of the air pressure is greater / stronger then the weight of the water. This shows us that air has weight since it was a strong enough force to keep the index card stuck to the glass.

  

Let’s examine the pressure and weight of air in another way. This burner is very hot. I am going to place this can with a small amount of water in it on the burner. Now when the can begins to have steam come from the top I am going to turn it upside down in this tub of water. Watch what happens! What happened? Yes, the can was crushed! The steam inside the can was cooled quickly and the pressure outside the can was greater, so the can was crushed. The weight of air referred to in Job 28:25 crushed the can. Why did I use an index card to keep water in a glass and crush a can? I wanted you to see that every detail of the Bible is true! Just as Job 28 describes how God made the force of wind, all other details in the Bible are true. 

Let’s say today’s verse together again. For the word of the Lord is upright. And all His work is done in faithfulness. Psalm 33:4 Remember that we know that God’s word is always true. We do not need to test it in order to know this. Every detail contained in the Bible is absolute truth. 

Total Truth:

I have a Total Truth for you today. Are you ready for the truth? Remember the world is full of big lies, but we can always learn the truth from the Bible! Today’s Total Truth is:

All the Words in the Bible are true!  

Yes, every single word in the Bible is true. We know we can trust the Bible because it is the Word of God and every word in it is true. II Timothy 3:16 tells us that All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching… in Titus 1:2 we learn that God does not lie. When we understand that the Bible is the Word of God and that God does not lie, then we know that the Bible is true. Every word in the Bible is true!