Somehow I got to thinking about my freshman speech class. Back in the day we used a book by James McCroskey which focused on the idea of credibility, the degree to which listeners see a speaker to be believable and to which they accept the speaker’s message. McCroskey saw communication as a flow of rising and falling credibility; you could almost describe credibility as an account in which you deposit and withdraw.

As I did, I realized that the subject of credibility applies to biblical writers. Some people don’t view Old Testament writers as particularly credible, for example. These skeptics feel that the writers were merely conveying mythologies that explained certain happenings; by this view, what’s written may or may not have happened. All that matters is that the writers found the stories and writings to be useful for their purposes.

Many others today doubt Paul’s credibility. You hear people talk about valuing Jesus over Paul or saying things like “that was just Paul’s view.” For some, Paul’s writings are merely a historical curiosity, giving us a glimpse into the thoughts of a leader from the first century, but offering nothing of substance to the church of today. Maybe no one would express things in those exact terms, but it’s the idea that is conveyed to many.

I continue to have a high view of Scripture. I believe that God’s Spirit was at work in the compilation process of the text, as well as the preservation of that text. I think we have what we have for a reason. Because of that, I approach every text asking myself, “Why do we have this?”

There is a human element to the Bible. The Bible even presents some ideas that are nothing more than that, like the arguments presented by Job’s friends. But I also believe the Bible to be a highly credible witness (impeccably credible) to the things that God wants his people to know. We work with literary criticism, historical context, and numerous other tools as we deal with the text, but we never lose sight of the fact that this collection of books is much more than a human creation.

I believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God.