The Bible: Why Believe It?

Broadcast Summaries

The Bible: Why Believe It?

By Dr. Paul M. Elliott

What do you believe about the Bible? What kind of book is it? What authority does it have?

Why believe the Bible?

These are vital questions for every Christian, indeed for every human being. We need to make sure that we understand the right answers.

This week we're going to look at these questions in the book of Second Peter, chapter one, verses 20 and 21, where the apostle writes this: "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit."

How you understand those two verses determines what you really believe about the nature and the authority of the Bible -- and whether you're right or wrong.

Today's message is from a series of programs called "What Does It Mean to Be a Scripture-Driven Church?" We first broadcast this series at the very beginning of our radio ministry, and this message is one of our most requested programs. If you would like to receive an MP3 CD containing the entire ten-part series, we would be happy to send it to you without cost or obligation.

Just visit our website, www.teachingtheword.org, and use the "Contact Us" link to send us your request. Please be sure to include your mailing address.

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Right & Wrong Views of the Bible's Authority

What is the nature of Scripture -- the Book that we hold in our hands? How are we to use the Bible in our daily lives, and in the life of the church?

These are critical questions for the church in all ages, and they are especially critical in the times in which we live. There is a great deal of confusion about these two questions in the church today, and many wrong answers are widely circulated. We need to be sure of the right answer.

The Greatest Story Never Read

When we first began the Scripture-Driven Church broadcast several years ago, the first ten messages we produced were a series titled "What Does It Mean To Be A Scripture-Driven Church?" Some of the archived recordings of that series are of rather poor audio quality. But even so, over the years it has been the most-listened-to series in our archive, and also the most-request resource on CD.

Today we present the first message in an updated version of that series. We have added new content to the messages, and of course the audio quality is much improved. We hope this series will be a blessing, encouragement, and challenge to you.

Message number one explores the crisis state of the Evangelical church, in which the Bible has become, as one magazine puts it, "The Greatest Story Never Read."

Mormonism vs. The Gospel

Mormons call themselves "Latter-Day Saints." But what is their definition of a saint? Does it pass the Biblical test? Today we shall see that four key elements of Mormon teaching combine to put forth a false gospel that condemns rather than saves.

Mormonism's confusing and contradictory soteriology:

. denies Christ's atonement
. says that each person must atone for his own sins by works
. teaches near-universal "salvation"
. says that Mormon men will become gods ruling their own planets, while all others will be relegated to the status of second- and third-class citizens for eternity.

But what does Scripture say? Stay tuned to learn more.