The Blasphemy of The Da Vinci Code Part II

Jeffrey Khoo

Christian Conviction

How can we be absolutely sure that the Scriptures we hold in our hands today are truly the infallible and inerrant Word of God? Faith is the answer! “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Heb 11:6). The logic of faith is the key to certainty. God says it, that settles it, I believe it! We do not see to believe; we believe in order to see.

The Apostle Peter told the Church to trust in “a more sure word of prophecy”—the Holy Scriptures—as written by eyewitnesses: “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man (and certainly not by the will of Constantine): but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet 1:20-21).

If we are truly born again and the Spirit of God dwells within us, we cannot but know and believe the Truth of God’s Word. The Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:17). “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth… He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you” (John 16:13-14). “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:27).

Historical and scientific evidences that prove the Scriptures may be helpful, but ultimately, the only basis of our faith and practice must be the Scriptures and the Scriptures alone. The Perfect Bible (and we have it today and know where it is) is our supreme final authority. Sola Scriptura!

In The Da Vinci Code, it is Satan’s voice you hear. True Christians will not follow. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life” (John 10:27-28).

We have experienced the good news and resurrection power of Christ in our life, and we cannot deny that our Lord and Saviour is indeed 100% God and 100% Man, and that His Word is 100% inspired and 100% preserved.

It goes without saying that The Da Vinci Code is truly Fiction. The Bible, on the other hand, is purely Fact. We have a Perfect Canon and a Perfect Text. May we never add to it, nor subtract from it (Rev 22:18-19), but love it and obey it (1 John 2:3-6)! “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Ps 11:3).

For further study, read Timothy Tow and Jeffrey Khoo, A Theology for Every Christian: Knowing God and His Word (FEBC Press, 1998), on sale at the book table today ($3.00 only).

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Testimony

By Judith D’Silva

One year ago, on 5 Oct 03, we started our first FEBC Worship Service in two rooms on the fifth floor of the RELC. We would have been more than happy if 50 had turned up. What little faith we had. The rooms were filled to capacity with about 150 brethren at least. By God’s grace, we were the early birds in a newly renovated RELC, and soon after we moved to the auditorium downstairs to accommodate a larger congregation.

While thankful, it was nevertheless a painful time for many. We had left friends, fellowship groups, Sunday School classes, choir and music/PA ministries, as well as the comforts and all manner of familiarity that we took for granted. I am sure many of us also felt sometimes downhearted, unsure of the future and perhaps even a little fearful, even as we clung to God’s promises that He will never forsake His people.

But we continued to come, week after week. Speaking for myself, it was no turning back. The reason was simple. I could not continue to worship in a church whose leaders declare that there are mistakes in the Bible and claim, with arguments so twisted and flawed, that God never promised that He will preserve His Word to the jot and tittle!

Life B-P Church was where I was convicted by the Holy Spirit to receive Jesus Christ as my Saviour. God in His mercy had led me there, after my rejection of the Gospel of salvation and wandering in the wilderness for many years. Having had a brush with Charismatism, I was so thankful for the fundamental doctrines that were preached from the pulpit of Life Church. These doctrines, I was taught, were based on the Bible and Bible alone – Sola Scriptura. I learnt not to mess around with the Word of God, not to add or subtract from it, but to treat it with great reverence and fear. God said it and that settles it. The Word of God, not the words of man, was the cornerstone and starting point for everything that affected our lives. God was sovereign, omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient, in total control of everything. Faith in God and His Word was the basis of this relationship with God that Life Church had grounded in me.

It was thus a tremendous shock to me that suddenly certain leaders in the church, whom I had held in high esteem as true men of God and pillars of the church, began to campaign for a position that I find even now very confusing. First they said that the KJV Bible is “the very Word of God and fully reliable”. I have no problem with that statement. But in the same breath they “do not believe that the Hebrew and Greek texts that underlie the KJB are perfect” because these texts “which are copied copies of the Divine Originals are not the exact replicas of the Original Writings (i.e., Autographs) of the inspired authors”. In other words, according to them, God did not fully and perfectly preserve His Word to the jot and tittle. If that is the case, I have always wondered how the KJV can be “OK” if the texts from which it is translated are “not OK”! As if that is not enough to confuse me, they went on to “reject any accusation that our position implies that we are saying that the Bible, the Word of God, has mistakes” as they “firmly believe that the Bible is infallible and inerrant, the very Word of God, the supreme and final authority in faith and life”. And yet, the two assistant pastors could not take the Dean Burgon Oath — which makes me wonder what they really mean by what they say.

Tried as I did, reading their various statements produced over time, it was hard to follow the twists and turns, the chop and change, the new meaning of words used, in their arguments. Preservation is only “essential”, perfect is only “99.9%”, scribal errors are not errors, copyists’ errors may exist and some words are lost but “they are so few and insignificant that they do not……distort the message of God to man”. I wonder how they know that for sure, and what their proof text is!? Now, I am told that they deny they ever believed there are mistakes in the Bible! Sounds good! But what am I to believe, when what they say and what they mean are never clear, never the same?

So now, True Life B-P Church is established, and I will be submitting my membership form. Is there anything holding me back? Friends beckoning me to go back to their fellowship? Money that I had put into Life Church? The desire to cast a vote there to make a point? Are those things become so important after one year? Not at all, for why did I come out to the FEBC Worship Service in the first place?

It is my prayer, as I hand in my membership form, that we – all of us who have been worshipping here at RELC – continue with steadfastness and unity in Christ, to serve Him faithfully in True Life B-P Church till He comes. I thank God for leading us to True Life. We are His sheep and “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (Jn 10:27). God is with us. Remember how He found a place for us and led us to it, how He made that way smooth, how He provided us with what we need, with talents and gifts, with preachers and elders and faithful servants. Most importantly, I thank God that we have a Bible without mistakes today and we can be sure of every word of His promises for “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matt 5:18).

I am transferring my membership to True Life B-P Church because it believes in “the divine, Verbal Plenary Inspiration (Autographs) and Verbal Plenary Preservation (Apographs) of the Scriptures in the original languages, their consequent inerrancy and infallibility, and as the perfect Word of God, the supreme and final authority in faith and life”.

Climbers on Mount Sinai, 11th Holy Land Pilgrimage
(Aug 26 – Sep 11, 2004)