How Can the Bible Be Infallible If It's Authors Were Regular People?

How can the Bible be infallible if its authors were regular people? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. Well, hi, this is Bill Meyer along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez.

We pray that you had a wonderful weekend. This is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. Our phone lines are open and we'll be taking your calls for the next 25 minutes or so. Here's the number. It's 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2670. You can also post your question on one of our social media sites.

Of course, you can always email us at questions at corechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to Ralph calling in from New York. Ralph, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Hello, sir. Can you hear me? Hey Ralph, I can hear you, man. How are you?

All right. Hey, how you doing Pastor Adriel? Yeah, I got a question here, man. In Luke chapter 16 verses 22 and 23, right, it came back to poor man died and carried away by Anderson Abraham's bosom, rich man died. Verse 23, right? And in Hades, he lifted up his eyes being torment and saw Abraham far away. So my question is, is Hades a place where the unregenerate spirits are awaiting the final judgment or is it hell?

Because please bear with me. So in Revelation 11 and 13 says, and she gave up the dead which were in it and death and Hades gave up the dead and were thrown into the lake of fire. So it's a lake of fire, hell, or is Hades hell or a place? Yeah, so we're talking about the intermediate state here that is the time between our death and the final judgment, the resurrection of the dead. Now when scripture talks about the lake of fire, Satan being cast into the lake of fire, that's the final judgment. That is the final destination after the resurrection of the just and the unjust for those who rejected the gospel, who are judged and sent to eternal destruction. That's what's being referred to there in the book of Revelation. In between the time of our death and the resurrection, that intermediate state, I do believe that there is a place of judgment where those who reject the gospel go.

Now those who believe in Jesus, we get this question on the broadcast fairly frequently. What happens when I die? Do I just sort of sleep and wait for the judgment? Am I conscious?

What's going on? Well, we believe that for believers, the souls of believers immediately are perfected in holiness and pass into the presence of the Lord and they're worshiping the Lord there having been perfected in holiness, waiting for the final resurrection. I do believe that for those who reject the gospel and the truth of God, there's a place of judgment. You can call it Hades, if you will, but it's not the final ultimate judgment. They're still waiting for the final resurrection and ultimate judgment. I think that hopefully provides some clarification when Revelation is talking about the lake of fire.

It's talking about that ultimate place of judgment for Satan and those who rejected Christ. Ralph, God bless, man. Thanks for giving us a call. Hey, thanks, Ralph. Appreciate you listening to Core Christianity. If you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, maybe there's a passage in scripture that has always kind of confused you. Hey, we'd be happy to explore that with you.

And of course, if there's something going on in your life where you really could use prayer for maybe some area of your Christian walk that's you're just running up against some type of persecution at work or at school, we'd love to hear from you as well. Here's the phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Angie calling in from Missouri. Angie, what's your question for Adriel?

OK, hi. My question is, do you believe the Nephilim in Genesis were fallen angels sent to destroy the pure bloodline for Jesus to come through? Good question. The Nephilim. Well, there are a few different ways to take that text in Genesis. I think there are a few different interpretations that are legitimate interpretations faithful to the text and each of them is not without its problems. And so that's the tough thing.

Sometimes it seems like, OK, it looks like maybe this is the right one, but then there are issues with that. And so one interpretation is that the sons of God that are described there in Genesis 6 are angels. Angels that are entering into these relationships with the daughters of man and creating these sort of hybrid, giant human creatures.

Let me just read some of the text. It's Genesis chapter 6. When man began to multiply on the face of the land and the daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. Now that title there, sons of God, is at times used of the angelic host.

You see this in Job chapter 1. You see this in Psalm 29 verse 1. Angels are sometimes referred to as sons of God. So the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive and they took as their wives any they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not abide in man forever for he is flesh.

His day shall be 120 years. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days and also afterward when the sons of God came into the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. And the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth and so this is what is leading up to the flood. Now the focus of the text is things are really bad.

Things are really bad. That's what Genesis is highlighting here, leading to this universal judgment, this flood upon the earth to wipe it out and to make a new creation, if you will, to start fresh with Noah and his family. So it could be angels. Another interpretation is that you have basically the good line marrying or intermarrying with the line that they weren't supposed to marry with, the good line being the Sethite line marrying the Canaanite line. And so you have maybe mixed marriage here and that's what's being condemned. Another idea is that the sons of God are a reference to these rulers, these kings who are depicted in one sense as divine. You see this in places like Psalm 82 and so there's that sense as well.

They're taking these wives to themselves whoever they want, whoever they choose. You see polygamy there and so maybe that's what's being judged. Each of those interpretations has strengths and weaknesses, I think. I just like to focus on the fact that look, whatever was going on there, it was so bad that the Lord said it's time to flood the earth. It brought about the judgment of God and certainly there was this sort of sexual immorality associated with it.

So I go back and forth frankly, personally. I think that there's some good case to be made that what's being referred to here is this sort of angelic, I mean as strange as it sounds, this sort of angelic angels coming and intermarrying if you are coming to be with the daughters of man, but that's not without its problems. And so I appreciate your question, Angie, and hopefully that at least gives you some of the other interpretations as you continue to think through Genesis chapter 6.

Thanks, Angie. Appreciate your call here at Core Christianity. We got a lot of people who call up and say, you know, I am having a conversation with a friend or a relative or work associate and they start asking me some tough questions about Christianity and I really can't answer them. I don't know how to answer them.

So we've actually created a resource that will help you in those conversations. It's a short booklet called Tough Questions Answered that goes through questions like doesn't science make religion unnecessary? Why is Christianity so exclusive? What about other religions like Buddhism and Islam? Isn't the Bible just a bunch of myths?

Isn't the Bible's view of sexuality and gender overly restrictive? How often do you hear that today? Well, here we have answers to those questions. Get a hold of this resource for a donation of any amount over at corechristianity.com. Again, the booklet is called Tough Questions Answered.

Love to get that in your hands. You can find it at our website by going to corechristianity.com forward slash offers. Again, corechristianity.com forward slash offers.

Look for tough questions answered. We think this will really support you in those difficult conversations you might have with someone who's a skeptic and really wants to kind of pepper you with questions about the Christian faith. Well, we do receive voicemails here at the core and you can call us 24 hours a day and leave your voicemail question. The number is the same number you call us live 833-THECORE. That's 1-833-843-2673.

And here's a voicemail from one of our listeners named Clay. Hi, Pastor Adriel. I have a question about the inerrancy of Scripture. I know there are some Christians who like to use inerrancy and infallibility as different terms. Could you define both of those for me and help me to understand why it's important for someone in the church to know?

Thanks. Yeah, appreciate this question. It really is important for us when we're thinking about inerrancy, you know, understanding that the Scriptures are without error in the original autographs. You know, there's nothing, original autographs, I mean, you know, as they were written down, penned by the apostles and prophets, you're not going to find any error there because they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. This is something that's so important for us as believers to embrace because the moment we start calling into question the authority of Scripture, we begin to pick and choose which portions of the Bible we want to accept and which portions of the Bible we don't want to accept. So a good passage to go to is what the apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16, all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. All Scripture is breathed out, exhaled, if you will, by God. And so when we hear Scripture, the preaching of God's word, what we're hearing, insofar as it's faithful to the text, is the very word of God to us. Now, how did this work? Because it wasn't, you know, some people imagine that the apostles, you know, it was sort of like they were possessed by the Spirit and you had this, you know, like automatic writing or something like that and they just didn't have control of their body and their hands were just writing things down, right?

Well, that's not what it was. God used these individuals, the prophets and apostles, to write these things and they were carried along, that's what Peter says, by the Holy Spirit. It's not that they lost control, it's that God used them, including their personalities, to articulate his truth, his word, for all people at all times. I love the way Peter, again, I just referenced it, 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 20, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Brothers and sisters, we have before us the infallible word of God.

Why? Because it was inspired by the Holy Spirit. God, the Holy Spirit, carrying these men along so that they could write these things down for our good, for our benefit.

As Paul told the Corinthians, speaking about some of the stories in the Old Testament, and so it's important for us to take up and read, and as we receive the word of God, to receive it as just that, as God's very word to us. Thank you for that question. Really well said. Thank you for that, Adriel. Let's go back to the phones.

We have Neil on the line from Kentucky. Neil, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Good afternoon. Thank you so much for taking my call. First, I want to say I really, really enjoy your program and the resources that are available on your website. Matter of fact, we are using tough questions answered in our adult Sunday school class right now, and we're really enjoying that. Wow. Well, Neil, you got the applause there. Hey, thank you for that, and I'm glad to hear. God bless you, and I hope that the resources continue to be a blessing for you and for your church. It has been.

It really has been. Everyone's really enjoying that study. My question for you today is, I have a particular systematic theology text that I use, and I was wondering if you had a recommendation for a particular systematic theology book.

Great question. Yeah, so there are a couple. Obviously, one of the books that we a lot of times recommend on the broadcast, Core Christianity by Michael Horton, is kind of a simple introduction to the core doctrines of the Christian faith. He has another book that's a lot beefier called Pilgrim Theology, which is, I think, a real helpful sort of systematic theology work. He has a systematic theology called The Christian Faith, which is going to be a lot more in-depth, a lot more technical, and so Pilgrim Theology is, I think, kind of a simpler version of that. Another great systematic theology is a work that was written by an individual named Louis Berkhoff. His systematic theology, I think, is excellent, and that would be another great resource that's going to expose you to just the whole of Christian theology, but looking at some church history, looking at biblical texts, exegesis, how we arrive to our theological understandings and conclusions, and comparing that with other systems of belief as well.

So I would say Mike Horton's Pilgrim Theology and Louis Berkhoff's systematic theology, those are two really great resources for you to pick up and to use as you continue to serve in the church and Sunday school and whatnot. I'm just so grateful to hear, Neil, that you guys are using some of those resources already, and so God bless. Hey, Neil, thanks so much for listening to Core Christianity. We really do appreciate you. Our phone number, if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, it's 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Eric, who's listening in Texas. Eric, what's your question for Adriel?

Hey, guys, thank you so much for taking my call. I've got two heavy topics together, so I'm not sure if you know this, but Houston, Texas is part of what's called the Texas Triangle of sex trafficking, and before that I lived in the San Diego area. I went to a seminary that you all might be familiar with, and apparently San Diego is also pretty big on that, or a pretty bad place for human trafficking as well. The topic that I, or the issue that I have, or maybe some counsel, is in the event that someone gets pregnant, in that life that they didn't choose, I know that the short answer to, is there any time where abortion is an okay choice? I know the short answer to that is no, but if you were to be given the situation where someone came to you, and you knew that if that baby was carried to term there was almost 100% certainty that that child would also become a victim, how would you counsel that person?

Yeah, Eric, being in San Diego, when my wife and I first moved to the area where we're currently living, there was a pretty big sex trafficking bust that happened shortly after we moved there, and it was something that I didn't know, that that was such a significant issue just in my own backyard, something that's so horrific, but it is happening all around us, something we need to pray against. You're right. I would agree that the short answer is no. It's not justified. You think of all of the horrific things that go into the scenario that you've painted, and the question is, well, does that mean that it would be, in this situation, permissible to say, okay, well, she could just go ahead and get an abortion?

No, I don't think that that would be the right answer. It would still be wrong to get an abortion, but this is where we need to grapple with the reality in some circumstances for some people and think about how the church can come alongside and really provide the kind of support that people need to say, look, no, but we're here to bring healing, to bring support, to adopt, to love, to care for. It's not just a question of, yes, I know by and large when we think about the question of abortion, there are so many people who just view human life as nothing, and so it's just whatever, and many people even celebrating which is really grotesque, but then there are instances like this where a person is a victim of sexual abuse and rape, sex trafficking, and they're in this situation, and we have to be able to minister to that woman, that young woman so often, and to come in and say, the church is here. The church is here to wrap her arms around you, to wrap her arms around your baby, to give you whatever you need to support you and to support your child, and so that's the stance that we need to have. It's one of compassion. It's one of love. It's one of action as well, and still one of conviction, not saying, well, in this situation, we're going to change our views. We think it's now okay.

No, it isn't okay, but it's also not okay when we don't step up and pursue and provide for those who are in need and those who are the victims of these horrific things, and so may God give us compassion and wisdom, and may He, I mean, truly just destroy and bring an end to these horrific things, these sex trafficking rings that you said in Texas. I'm thinking of Southern California as well, but throughout the world, throughout the United States, Lord, have mercy and bring healing and mobilize your church to bring about change. Eric, thanks for giving us a call. Some great counsel for a difficult issue. Thank you for that, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Morgan calling in from Kansas. Morgan, what's your question for Adriel?

Yes, sir. Pastor Adriel, what your thoughts are on deep study and, like, the book of Enoch. I know it isn't in our Bible that we read and study every day, but the Lord wants us to grope and crawl and get more information. Wanting to know what your thoughts are, seeing the book of Enoch, Yasher for another one. Also, with the flood coming, and Noah of course knew that, he would put all of his precious belongings on that ship, on that boat. It is said in there that he had Adam and Eve garments on that boat, which were later stolen by Noah's youngest son, Ham.

Hey, thank you for this question. I mean, simply what I would just say is it depends on what we're reading these books for. They're not a part of the biblical canon. Sometimes when you're reading some of this other literature that was written, ancient literature that was written kind of around that time commenting on the biblical text, sometimes you can find some helpful things. I mean, some of these books are even quoted. I think of Jude, for example, who make some quotes from these passages. These are books that people would have been familiar with, even believers in the first century would have been familiar with, and so that helped to color their view and understanding, but they're not a part of the biblical text. Personally, what I would say is so many Christians have a hard time just grasping the scriptures and focusing on the word of God and studying the word of God. That really needs to be the priority, and so I would say if the word of God is the priority for you and you're understanding it as such, as we were talking about earlier, God's very word to us inspired by the Holy Spirit without error, without deception, right, then great, you're grounded in that. Then if just for your own sort of reading pleasure, you're looking at some of the other historical context stuff and background, you could read those things with a grain of salt, but just be careful that you're not beginning to sort of take those as also on the same level as scripture, and so making that differentiation there is important. My concern is when Christians get caught up in all of these things, they're saying, well, boy, I'm really going deep in the book of Enoch right now, but they haven't actually read the Bible in months, and so I would just say focus on the word of God, focus on the scriptures. There's nothing wrong with studying these other things.

I think it's helpful at times to study those other things, but we just want to get our priorities straight, and so appreciate your question, brother. You know, before we go, you've talked about this before, Adriel, just how did the canon of scripture first get signed, decided on? Yeah. Well, there was a lot of rolling of the dice and drawing straws, no, just joking. It's not something that the church decided on per se. It wasn't like a vote was taken. It's something that the church recognized and received. They understood, right, that what we have here isn't just man's words. It's the very words of God to us, and so I would say there's a lot that we could say, but understanding that the canon wasn't something that the church decided on. It was something that the church received, and there was this universal reception. It wasn't just some churches in some places. It was the whole church together saying this is the word of God because they could hear God speaking through the scriptures, and so can you today.

So open them up and read. Thanks for listening to CORE Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at corechristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833-The-CORE. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program, and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.