Blind faith? Nope! II Peter 1:20-21

I've been so inspired by these next verses in II Peter!

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (II Peter 1:20-21)

Many people today will tell you that the Bible is just another book. It's just ink on paper. They will scoff at believers and say that there are SO MANY problems and contradictions in it. They will knowingly roll their eyes and say how can we be so infantile as to believe that the words are accurate? How can it possibly have been passed down from generation to generation without someone blowing it? Making errors? And they love to poke fun at us about all the many different translations, too!
Oy vey.
Have you had this problem before?
Have you scrambled back to your Bible to try to look up verses?
To the commentaries to find "ammunition" for the argument?
As my grandma used to say, that's a little like closing the barn door after the horse already galloped out of the barn.
(Grin)
I've been there, too.
And I want all of us to be better prepared!
So I hope you will forgive me if we start a several-week study . . . let's really dive in here and grab some facts and supplement our faith, OK?
Let's look at some verses to begin with:

Your word, Lord, is eternal;    it stands firm in the heavens. (Psalm 119:89)

Later in that same Psalm:

The unfolding of your words gives light;    it gives understanding to the simple. (Psalm 119:130)

Paul wrote this in his letter to the church at Thessalonica:

And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe. (I Thessalonians 2:13)

And then he wrote this to a fledgling pastor named Timothy:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (II Timothy 3:16-17)

In the book we call Hebrews, we see this:

 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

And when we studied in I Peter we read this:

For,“All people are like grass,    and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;the grass withers and the flowers fall,     but the word of the Lord endures forever.” (I Peter 1:24-25a)

Wow. I don't know about you, but I really want to understand deeply a book like this. It's eternal. It gives us light, and gives us understanding. It's at work in the lives of those who believe. It corrects us when we are wrong, and equips us for our tasks. It's not a "dead" language like Latin or some language that isn't used much anymore; it's alive. It will endure forever; it was written by men who spoke for God as they were filled with His Spirit.

You bet it's not just another book!
Like we said, most everyone has an opinion about the Bible. Some say it's a bundle of lies, and others say it's a crutch for the weak. Still others say it's God-breathed and that it's the hope of the world.

So many different opinions....
What do you think?
Do you believe it's true?
Is it from God?
How seriously do we take it in our lives?
Is it nice to have on the table and glance in it once in a while?
Or do we seriously read it and follow what it says?
Do we understand it? Are we intimidated by it?
Think about these questions as we move forward in our study this week. I hope the studies will bless all who pause here.