One of the most common criticisms of the Bible is that it
was written by men and not God; my response to this is always the same: man
would not write a book like the Bible. Let me give a quick example.
In President Barack Obama’s first book, Dreams From My Father, he records the story of his paternal
grandfather in Kenya, Hussein Onyango Obama. For a brief period in time the
elder Obama converted to Christianity and changed his last name to Johnson, but
that was a short-lived venture. Here is part of his description:
“But he could not understand such ideas as mercy towards your enemies,
or that this Jesus could wash away a man’s sins…this was foolish sentiment,
something to comfort women. And so he converted to Islam—he thought its
practices conformed more closely to his beliefs[1].”
Had man written the Bible independent of God then the idea
of mercy toward enemies would not be in it. A man like Hussein Onyango, who was
physically abusive toward each of his wives, and who would beat up any person
who disagreed with him, mercy is a sign of weakness; you don’t show your
enemies mercy, you show them your strength.
And the idea of needing to be forgiven by Jesus goes against
the grain. It presupposes that there is something wrong with me that I cannot
correct myself.
Contrast this to the religion to which Obama converted—Islam.
Instead of being merciful to enemies, Islam’s tenets are told to kill anyone
who refuses to convert (this is happening all over the world while the media largely chooses to ignore it). This religion, written by man, lined up with the natural
depravity (“conformed more closely to his beliefs”) of Hussein Onyango Obama.
The Bible was technically written by men, but they were just
the pen in the hand of the Almighty God, conveying a message that no man who
ever write.
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