FOUNDATION:The Reliability of the Bible—Nicodem

FOUNDATION: The Reliability of the Bible
by James L. Nicodem
Moody Publ. 2013, 139pp.

(Book #2 in The Bible Savvy Series)

--A user-friendly guide to the origins of the Bible—how it came to mankind and what to make of it!--

This second in the Bible Savvy Series focuses on the nuts and bolts of how the Bible came to be the Bible. What sets the Bible apart from all other books? How do we know it is true? Can we rely on it as an authoritative, fool-proof message from God to us? How do we know the books it contains are not mistakenly included, or that some are not missing? What about the Apocrypha?

Whole textbooks and courses in seminary are devoted to answering these questions, but Pastor Nicodem once again captures the essence of this material for the layperson and devotes four short chapters to the topics of Inspiration, History of the Canon, and Revelation with one final chapter urging the reader to READ this Book that he has now demonstrated to be the inerrant and inspired revelation of God to man. Though the coverage of each topic is necessarily brief, there is always space for anecdote and for clarifying important distinctions and mistaken notions. For instance what exactly does it mean for the Bible to be 'inspired'? Is it the writers who were 'inspired' as they wrote? Or is it perhaps the reader that becomes inspired as he reads, implying that the Word of God is only the Word of God when God speaks through it in a fresh way...Or is there a third option?

And what about all those alleged 'mistakes'? How can we trust a book that contains errors? After offering solutions to a sampling of these supposed errors Nicodem points any unsatisfied reader to a more comprehensive resource for further clarifications while holding to his position that because God is a God of truth, the Bible is true in all facets and therefore worthy as a final authority in matters of life and godliness.

The chapter on the doctrine of revelation deserves a careful reading, as there are many ideas 'out there' about how to get to know God, many of which would decry the Bible as insufficient or outmoded or just not essential for a relationship with God. "I have my own ideas about God" is a commonplace opinion and defense against hearing anything absolute, especially from Scripture. But the author maintains that God has purposely given us the Bible so that we can know Him. It is God's revelation of Himself to man. Without it we cannot accurately know what God is like or comprehend His offer of salvation or our sin problem that necessitates it. Nor can we know what God requires of us apart from God's revelation to us. 'Knowing God' in nature is a limited revelation, demonstrating that He exists and that He is powerful, but not detailing the means of relationship with Him. For this the 'special revelation' of the Word of God is essential.

I also appreciated the advice in this chapter on revelation, regarding knowing God's will. Though the Bible may not contain explicit advice for every conceivable decision we must make, the author states if we will saturate our lives with the Word of God, we will be prepared to make wise decisions, because we will be becoming wise people. Otherwise we'll be scrambling like an ill-equipped football player to study the playbook when it's time to be on the field playing football. This is a great reason not to delay getting to know the Word of God personally.

This potentially theoretical discussion of the Bible's origins is brought down to very practical terms in the closing chapter of this little (139pp) book. In a chapter called 'Get a Grip' Pastor Nicodem comes back to his reason for underlining the reliability of the Bible. He wants the reader to read it! He goes so far as to say that "If we are not voracious readers of God's book, our relationship with God and our spiritual growth are going to be seriously stunted." (107) He then commends five essential practices: Listen to it regularly, attentively and discerningly with intent to put it into practice. Read it daily and completely. (He recommends the NIV Study Bible here and throughout his other volumes.) Study it (This point is covered very minimally here; one would hope to at least be pointed to resources detailing the 'how-to'; perhaps his further volumes will elucidate this point). Memorize it (with a simple 'here's how) and Meditate on it.

It's impossible to read this volume without gaining a fresh appreciation for the supernatural nature of the Word of God and a renewed resolve to dig in and live it out!

--LS

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  I haven’t seen anything so compellingly readable on this topic!  Highly recommended!