FreeTruth

One of the more ironic (if not almost humorous, because it is so patently false) charges made against Christianity is that it leads to oppression, injustice, ignorance, and numerous other social evils. The guilt of all that's wrong with human society--from slavery to the oppression of the poor to the denigration of women to suppression of science and knowledge--has been laid at the feet of Christians and the Bible for centuries. Are these charges true?

Space does not allow a full answer, or anything like it. But I would assert that the charges are not only not true, they are anti-true. That is, they are actually the opposite of the truth. The truth is that wherever the Christian biblical ethic has taken root in any society for any period of time, there has been a marked:

--increase of care for the poor
--elevation of the dignity and honor afforded to women
--increase of commitment to scientific and creative endeavors
--correction of racial and social prejudice
--development of medical care
--improvement of judicial processes
--improvement of economic systems

In short, wherever the Bible goes and takes root, the care of the poor, the elevation of women, the progress of science, the advancement of knowledge and medicine, and the defeat of prejudice are sure to follow.

Wherever the Bible goes, in time, hospitals get built, women achieve new rights and freedoms, the poor gain new dignity and opportunity, the oppressed are set free, institutions of learning are created, society achieves unprecedented new heights of justice and opportunity for all. Wherever the Bible has not taken root, the opposite happens.

Here's one more reason why I believe the Bible is God's Word: it has an unmatched transforming effect on human society. Plant its teachings in the soil of any culture and that culture will soon harvest abounding fruits of justice, knowledge, and opportunity.

In contrast nothing has done more to foster oppression, poverty, and ignorance, and to obliterate common decency, honesty, and respect for human life than when cultures have been ignorant of or have purposefully rejected the Law of God.

Why do I believe in the Bible as God's Word? Because it doesn't just work for isolated individuals; it changes the course of history and society. It works for the world.

Labels: Apologetics, Bible, ethics, The Word of God