Appendix D

The Bible and Man's Rational Moral Nature

If the Bible taught things which were out of harmony with man's rational moral nature and if the Bible taught things which the constitution of our nature as created by God forced us to reject as false, unjust, or impossible, we would have irresistible convictions that it was not the Word of God, and it would be impossible for us to rationally believe it.

It is because the Bible is in harmony with man's rational moral nature and his knowledge of truth and reality that men have compelling convictions that it is the Word of God. It is so in harmony with the revelation and convictions given to us by our nature, it describes us so faithfully--our moral relations, our lost condition, and our necessity as lost sinners--that we have compelling evidence that it is not a man-made book, but is divinely inspired.

Christians are not gullible because they believe the Bible. They are reasonable and rational. They are living in accordance with the testimony of their rational moral nature, which affirms that the Bible is in harmony with truth, justice, and reality, and is therefore from God, just as it says it is.

On the other hand, those who refuse to believe the Bible are irrational. They are rejecting the testimony of their rational, moral nature which affirms the truth of the Bible. The impenitent sinner is not impenitent because his reason does not testify to him of the truth of God's Word; he is impenitent because he refuses to listen to reason. He does not want to repent, submit himself to God, and obey his Word. Both sin and unbelief are a voluntary resistance and abuse of the dazzling moral light given to man in his moral nature.

If the Bible were in manifest contradiction to reason, no man could believe it without being irrational. But when we look into the mirror of our nature and see the exact same image pictured there as is pictured for us in the Bible, we know that the Bible is the Word of God. If the image in the mirror of our nature were different than that pictured in the Bible, we would know that the Bible was false and not the Word of God. However, our nature agrees in every aspect with the revelation given to us in the Bible. This harmony between the Bible and our own moral nature is supernatural. The harmony is so complete, so exact, and so faithful--it mirrors man's nature and condition so faithfully--that such a harmony would be impossible upon any other supposition than that the Bible is indeed a supernatural book, inspired by God.

 

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