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Question #414

Was the Bible written by a group of men who hated women?

I have a daughter- in-law who attends the Catholic Church.

However, when we discuss the bible teachings she makes the comment that she doesn’t believe the bible was written by inspired men from God. She believes that a group of men who hated women wrote the books of the bible.

I asked her, (if she believes that way) how does she believe God wants us women to serve him? Her answer was this: God wants us to love everyone and be kind to everyone, and that takes care of all of it.

My Question is this: how do I approach her to undo such a belief and convince her that God’s word is written for us by inspired men of God?

The Answer:

The Bible claims to be the word of God (1 Cor. 2:9-13; 2 Peter 1:19-21). Either that claim is true or it is false. If, as your daughter claims, it is false, all of her other assertions make no difference at all. If fallible men wrote the Bible how can we be certain that there is a God at all, much less one who loved us enough to send and sacrifice his son to save us. On what basis does she say that God wants us to love everyone and that takes care of it all? If the God of the Bible is an invention of men who cafes what they say? What is it that is “taken care of”? One would assume that means heaven awaits all who meet her standard. On what basis does she believe that this standard is better than any other standard? If there is no divine standard isn’t any person’s standard as acceptable as any other’s? If not, why not? She may say that the bible contains God’s standard even though written by men. What is the basis of that statement? Given her reasoning she cannot rationally attribute any part of the Bible to God, and that includes her standard. More significant, she cannot even rationally believe in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ since all that is said about him in scripture is only the imagination of uninspired men. In essence, she has given up all of Christianity but has trouble with it as evidence by her desire to cling to “love.” Why does she bother if God has never spoken to or though men?

Many other questions could be asked but these are sufficient to demonstrate the foolishness of her position. There are many good books on the inspiration of scripture. Inspiration and Authority of the Scriptures by Jimmy Jividen is one that is good, inexpensive, and easy to read.

Your daughter’s attitude toward the bible and women may give a hint of what is really bothering her. She needs only to look back in history and around her world today to see that Christianity has done more for women over the centuries than any other religion or group of people. Would she like to live under Muslim Sharia law? Would she find the treatment the she wants in a third world country? Women are treated with the greatest dignity and respect in Christianity than in any other religion. It is the bible that she spurns that brought it to pass.

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God's Plan of Salvation

You must hear the gospel and then understand and recognize that you are lost without Jesus Christ no matter who you are and no matter what your background is. The Bible tells us that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Before you can be saved, you must understand that you are lost and that the only way to be saved is by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:8) Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6) "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." (Romans 10:17)

You must believe and have faith in God because "without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." (Hebrews 11:6) But neither belief alone nor faith alone is sufficient to save. (James 2:19; James 2:24; Matthew 7:21)

You must repent of your sins. (Acts 3:19) But repentance alone is not enough. The so-called "Sinner's Prayer" that you hear so much about today from denominational preachers does not appear anywhere in the Bible. Indeed, nowhere in the Bible was anyone ever told to pray the "Sinner's Prayer" to be saved. By contrast, there are numerous examples showing that prayer alone does not save. Saul, for example, prayed following his meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:11), but Saul was still in his sins when Ananias met him three days later (Acts 22:16). Cornelius prayed to God always, and yet there was something else he needed to do to be saved (Acts 10:2, 6, 33, 48). If prayer alone did not save Saul or Cornelius, prayer alone will not save you. You must obey the gospel. (2 Thess. 1:8)

You must confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (Romans 10:9-10) Note that you do NOT need to make Jesus "Lord of your life." Why? Because Jesus is already Lord of your life whether or not you have obeyed his gospel. Indeed, we obey him, not to make him Lord, but because he already is Lord. (Acts 2:36) Also, no one in the Bible was ever told to just "accept Jesus as your personal savior." We must confess that Jesus is the Son of God, but, as with faith and repentance, confession alone does not save. (Matthew 7:21)

Having believed, repented, and confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, you must be baptized for the remission of your sins. (Acts 2:38) It is at this point (and not before) that your sins are forgiven. (Acts 22:16) It is impossible to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ without teaching the absolute necessity of baptism for salvation. (Acts 8:35-36; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Peter 3:21) Anyone who responds to the question in Acts 2:37 with an answer that contradicts Acts 2:38 is NOT proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Once you are saved, God adds you to his church and writes your name in the Book of Life. (Acts 2:47; Philippians 4:3) To continue in God's grace, you must continue to serve God faithfully until death. Unless they remain faithful, those who are in God's grace will fall from grace, and those whose names are in the Book of Life will have their names blotted out of that book. (Revelation 2:10; Revelation 3:5; Galatians 5:4)