On Taking the Bible Seriously Because We Take Jesus Seriously

RJS, who writes over at Jesus Creed has been posting a very helpful multi-part book review of Tim Keller's book, The Reason for God. Today she writes on why Christians should take Scripture seriously.
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...it [is] perfectly reasonable to take the Bible seriously with respect to the life and death of Jesus Christ. One need not check one's brains at the door to do so. Keller has some of the usual discussion and good list of resources.

If then, one grants the reliability of the [Gospel] narrative, the real question is not "can I trust an old book?" but rather "is Jesus who he said he was?" and perhaps "did the disciples and apostles have a true understanding of who Jesus was?"


I have a personal reflection here. One of the biggest issues for many is a doctrine of scripture that seemed to pit faith and reason in mortal combat. But this need not be. We must be able to take the Bible seriously-- but quite honestly faith does not really demand any more than that. When it comes right down to it I believe the Bible is inspired and authoritative because I am a Christian-- I am not a Christian because I believe the Bible is inspired and authoritative. Even more importantly I have come to the realization that we must let the Bible be the book it is and let the book we have, preserved by God, for us, through the work of the Spirit in the church, define what it means for the Bible to be inspired and authoritative. We get into big trouble when we first define what the Bible must be and then try to make it fit our mold, our mode thinking. This, I think, has been a major problem in much of Protestant, especially evangelical, Christianity.

And then she addresses the Old Testament:

I think Keller is absolutely right that if Jesus is who he said he is we must take the Old Testament very seriously. The entire sweep of the Old Testament points toward Jesus. And Jesus saw himself, as N. T. Wright points out quite persuasively in many of his talks and his books, as the culmination of the sweep of the Hebrew scripture. His actions, deeds, and words only make sense in this context. And in this context they make complete sense. Wright's The Challenge of Jesus is a good place to start here.
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The entire post, "You Can't Take the Bible Literally - Right?" can be read here.