The Bible is not...

I heard a story recently about a Catholic who was in a debate with a pagan. The Catholic made a solid point that everyone in the room noticed was virtually impossible to refute. The pagan answered quickly, and though he used a lot of big words, everyone knew he had no real response. People will often use any argument when they know they are cornered. It does not always even need to be a good argument; as long as they have a response they believe they are ok (kind of like screaming at an attacker -- it does no good, but it makes you feel like you did something).

Many people today have swallowed, "hook, line, and sinker", a pagan view of creation and tried to blend it with the truth of God. When you point out to them that the Word of God has a different perspective, they will frequently try to justify ignoring the Scriptures by saying, "the Bible is not a science text book" (as though science text books are always right, and are able to correct the Scriptures!). While it is true that the Bible is not a science text book (for which we can thank God!), it does not end the argument.

Consider this: the Bible is not a cook book, but it will not tell you to eat dirt. The Bible is not a math text book, but it will not tell you that two plus two equals five (but some college professors will!). The Bible is not a history book, but it will not give errant descriptions of past events. The Bible is not a health manual, but it will not say that poison is good for you. The Church dogmatically teaches that the Bible is inerrant (Bishop Athanasius Schneider's book Credo has a fantastic explanation of the Church's dogmas about this).

It may make an evolutionist feel good to say "the Bible is not a science text book", but it does not refute the truth of the Bible. If we spend our time focusing on what the Bible is not, we will likely miss what the Bible is. The Bible, properly translated by Church authorities, is the inerrant Word of God; hard to interpret, yes, but still completely perfect.