Dr. Jessica Peck talks with American Family Radio listeners about biblical worldview
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Hello and welcome to the Dr. Nurse Mama show, prescribing Hope for Healthy Families here on American Family Radio. Here's your host, professor, pediatric nurse practitioner, and mom of four, Dr. Jessica Peck. Well, hey there, friends, and welcome to my favorite part of the afternoon, getting to spend time with you, prescribing Hope for Healthy Families. I am so grateful for this opportunity. And it is Worldview Wednesday, y' all. I feel like that's my Texas coming out, but I am really excited to talk to you. Continue the conversation about biblical worldview. I'm talking with Dr. Josh Mulvihill. If you have missed the prior episodes of Worldview Wednesday, we have been walking, taking a very slow walk through his book called Biblical Worldview, what it Is, why it matters, and how to shape the worldview of the next generation. We I would encourage you to really be thoughtful and intentional. Many of us as Christian parents would say, oh, yes, absolutely, want our kids to have a biblical worldview. And I think some of you are nodding along as you're listening. But here's my question. What have you done? What steps have you taken? What actions have you had to make that a reality, to make that happen? It is not just going to happen by accident. It is not just going to happen. By taking your kids to church every Sunday, although that's a great thing to do, it requires intentionality. And so, as I said, we've been walking so slowly through Dr. Mulvihill's book. We have introduced you to a biblical worldview. We've talked about why it matters. We discussed six reasons every child needs a biblical worldview. This is so important because in a world that is chaotic and where change is the only constant, we need the one thing in the whole wide world that is unchanging. That is the truth of God's word and a biblical worldview. We also talked about what is a biblical worldview. What set of beliefs determines a biblical worldview. We use that term a lot, but what does it actually mean? We unpacked that in the second episode in this series that we did. And the last time we were together, we talked about who shapes a child's worldview. And there was some surprising answers in that and probably not the influences you would think. We explored the five greatest influencers in the life of a child. And today we are moving on to part two of this book and we are talking about the Biblical Foundation.
Josh Mulvihill talks about helping children develop a love for the Bible
So today, Josh, we're going to talk about helping children develop a love for the Bible. And Josh, I'm so appreciative you have so much experience. You've been a pastor to families and children for 20 years. You are a dad, you homeschool, you have a PhD in family ministry, and you are at renewanation.org you can find out more information about Dr. Mulvihill about his ministry at renewanation.org josh, thanks so much for being back with us today. I'm so grateful.
>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: It is always a pleasure to be on the, on the show with you.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: It is. It's such. I just feel like we start talking and we could just talk forever, which is why we're having all of these series, because this is something that you and I are both passionate about.
Josh Mulvihill is passionate about helping families develop a biblical worldview
And for those who may have missed the other episodes, why don't you just give us a little brief introduction to you, your family, and your passion for helping families develop a biblical worldview.
>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: Yeah, I, just think the home so much depends on what we do as parents. And so I not only want to get it right with my own kids, but, I want to help other families, parents, grandparents, do the best they can by God's grace, of course, to, help our kids love Christ and walk with Christ. So that's my passion live, in Minnesota. Been here for basically since my teen years. I grew up in Texas, so I appreciate your y' alls and just, you know, my calling is the next generation. And so if I can be of service to any families that are listening, everything I've written really is towards that end. So parenting, grandparenting, the church, all focused on discipling children, grandchildren. So.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, I love that we can take my y' all and your. What is it? You betcha or what? What is. What is a common saying in Minnesota. What do you say?
>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: you betcha works great.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Okay.
>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: The OGs. Yes, we can. We got a long list. And if we, if I want, I can pull out the O's, the bags, the Minnesotas, and we can have some fun with it.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: I love it. And you know, I mean, really, we are at opposite ends of the country here, but our hearts are united in this desire to provide a biblical foundation for our kids. Josh, that is something that you and I share as parents and we really share also a desire and to, to minister to others, to help other families do this. And in our past three episodes that we've talked about, we've really talked about what is the biblical worldview, why it's important. But now we're going to get down to some pract things. How does, how do they develop the worldview. What do we actually do? And it begins with a strong foundation of doctrinal beliefs about the Bible. You know, this is something I feel really passionate about, Josh, because there are so many things that are said that are attributed to things that are said in the Bible that are not said in the Bible or misapplications of Scripture. Like, how many times have you heard, money is the root of all evil? Or judge not lest you be judged, Or God helps those who help themselves. I mean, just all of these things that, you know, they're like, well, the Bible says. I'm like, actually, no, the Bible does not say any of those. I know some people right now are thinking, wait, the Bible does say that money is the root of all evil. No, no, it doesn't. Go back and look at that verse. Why?
>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: That's right.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Why is it so important to have strong doctrinal beliefs?
>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: Well, I mean, everything is based on, of course, what we believe about the Bible. So if that domino falls in a bad direction, everything else falls behind it in that same direction. So this is, this might be an interesting one for some people, you think about worldview, but this is literally the foundation upon which it is built. So think of, of course, building a home. And if the foundation is bad, long term, of course, that means bad things for the whole structure. So if there's one area that we would, you know, it'll never be a waste of time to spend, talk time, discussion time, study time on. It is just building this strong view of God's Word. I call it kind of a high view of the Bible rather than a low view. and I'm curious for you, Jessica, where did your love of God's Word get really developed and fueled? Was that, like, was at home? Was it a teacher? Was it just on your own pastor? Like, how did that happen for you?
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, Josh, this is always a plot twist with you. I don't have many guests who turn the tables on me and start asking me questions. I'm supposed to ask you the question. No, I'm kidding. I love that you ask me questions. And this is a great, great question. So I was raised in a Christian. I was always in church. Always, always, always. Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and pretty much every other night, the revivals. Like, I was there all the time. So I was always exposed to God's Word. And I had a grandmother who was just deeply, deeply, committed to God's Word. She was always in Bible study. She was always learning things about God's Word. And she really had a big impact on me. But I'll tell you, Josh, actually, my, my, my love for the Bible came through meeting my husband. So I've shared this story before, but kind. When I first met him, we went on a date and, you know, we had a nice time. But he, he asked me out again and I said, well, I need to know if you're a Christian, because if not, like, this is just not going to work. And, that's not going to happen. And he said, I'm really not sure what you mean by that. And I thought, well, that's a no. So, no, this is not going to happen. But through that conversation, he accepted Christ. And he accepted, really was a life transformed. He made it to. I told him I wasn't going to go out with him again, but he could come to church with me. And he, he was there before the janitor was there. Josh, that first Sunday, the janitor actually called me and said, there's a guy here. Is this like, okay? Are you safe? Do you need help? But he was so excited about it. And so he would work in, he. He works. He's a rocket scientist. And he would go, to Florida to work at Johnson Space center. And we didn't have, you know, cell phones during that day and send him with a bunch of stuff to read. And then he would come back and ask me all these questions. And one day, Josh, he asked me, he said, do you believe all of this stuff that's in the Bible? And I said, well, yes, that's why I'm telling you about it. And he said, how does it not set your heart on fire? How does it not transform, your life? Like, this is amazing. And I felt like I had the head knowledge, but he really gave me a glimpse of that heart fire. And that's where I really started to, to appreciate God's word. So that's my answer to the question, what about you, Josh? I'm gonna turn the tables back on you.
>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: I love that. by the way, it sounds really smart to say that your husband's a rocket scientist.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Oh, let me tell you how much my kids troll me. Mom, it's not rocket science. Oh, it hurts.
>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: That's hilarious. I love it. mine came, I think, from my parents. And, you know, I think we tend to gravitate a lot towards the passions of our parents, good or bad. And one of them for my parents was the Bible. I remember, you know, you'd wake up in the morning or walk into a room. And there one of your parents are with the Bible, open reading and studying. And you just see that day after day, week after week. And then, you know, then, our parent. My parents not only valued themselves reading it, but they would read it with us as children. Sometimes, you know, little devotionals, other times straight from the Bible. And as we got shifted more towards, from reading little chunks of the Bible to reading, studying books of the Bible together. So my dad, I think I may have shared this, I can't remember, but my dad, asked me what book of the Bible I wanted to study with him when I was a teenager. Any book. You have 66 to choose from. And I chose Revelation. And I remember his eyes got like biggest saucers when I said that.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Obviously, that's not an easy start.
>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: Yeah, yeah. but my dad, to his credit, we studied the whole thing together. And, you know, as a teenager, you know, Revelation is a pretty exciting book and all the imagery and symbolism, hard to understand. But, you know, just those that kind of consistency and value of placing a high view of the Bible in their life and in our home really translated for me. And if, you know, if this is something that's important for them, it's got to be important for me. Right? I mean, that's just the natural, thought process that I had. And, so I, you know, I value it not because it was just something that was important for my parents, but as that now as you get into God's Word and start to read it and realize, wow, there is so much here that is so important for life. And as you mentioned, like, literally, like the Bible is. The Bible is different from every other book that has ever been written because it is from God himself. We open up the Bible, we are literally. It is like God is speaking to us. Obviously, it is not audibly, but it is literally His Word, all of it. And so it is like, wow, I can hear from God when I open up the Bible. And so I get to know God through His Word and of course, Christ through His Word. And their love translated to a love to get me in the Word. Then when you get in the Word, it translates to a love for who's in the Word, which is God himself. I just am so grateful to have that kind of, that kind of, I don't know, environment in the home that translated over. And I just pray.
Josh: Statistics show that the Bible is actually the most read
I got five kids, I pray that if I can develop, by God's grace, help develop a love for God's Word in their heart. Just think that, you know, when they leave our homes, as they get older, they, if they have this, this love for God's word and this consistency in it themselves. Man, what a, what an accomplishment as parents because we know they'll be, they'll, that will be their plumb line by which they, they measure truth and live their life. And we can feel pretty good that, okay, we've set them on a firm foundation for all of life.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, you know, to the best of my knowledge, I looked up some statistics about the Bible, Josh, and this is what I found. That the Bible is actually the most read.
>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: It's gonna be depressing.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: no, it's good. It's really good. It is the. No, no, it's gonna be good. No, depressing. It's the most read, most translated, most smuggled and most quoted book in history. There are. It is the best selling book of all time. Over 5 billion copies of the Bible have been distributed globally and 100 million Bibles are sold or distributed each year. And Bible sales are actually on the rise. More people are buying Bibles. The full Bible translated into 736language is the New Testament, available in 1658 languages. And portions of scripture exist in over 3600 languages. And the YouVersion Bible app is on 700 million devices. We will talk more about its authenticity, historical reliability and why. Where did it come from? We'll tell you after the break. Because of listeners like you. PreBorn helped to rescue over 67,000 babies. Your $28 To sponsor one ultrasound doubled a baby's chance at life. Your tax- deductible gift, saves lives. Please join us in this life saving mission. To donate, go to preborn.com/AFR. Will you take a moment and celebrate life with me?
Last year PreBorn helped to rescue over 67,000 babies from abortion
Last year PreBorn helped to rescue over 67,000 babies from abortion. Hi, this is Jessica Peck, host of the Dr. Nurse Mama Show. And I want to thank you for your partnership. Think about what you did. 67,000 babies are taking their first breath now because of you. Your $28 sponsored one ultrasound that was given to a woman as she was deciding about the future of her child. Once she saw her precious baby for the first time and heard their sweet heartbeat, her baby's chance at life doubled. But PreBorn's mission is not only to rescue babies' lives, but also to lead women to Christ. Last year PreBorn Network Clinics saw 8,900 women receive salvation. Your help is crucial to continue their life saving work. Your caring tax- deductible donation saves lives, so please be generous. To donate, go to preborn.com/AFR, that's preborn.com/AFR, or dial pound 250 and say the keyword baby. That's pound 250, baby. Your love can save a life! PreBorn's whole mission is to rescue babies from abortion and lead their families to Christ. Last year PreBorn's Network of Clinics saw 8,900 mothers come to Christ. Please join us in this life saving mission. To donate, go to preborn.com/AFR.
>> I Believe by Phil Wickham: I believe there is one salvation, one doorway that leads to life, one redemption, one confession. I believe in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in the crucifixion by his blood. I, have been set free. I believe in the resurrection. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. His life is destiny. All praise to God the Father. All praise to Christ the Son. All praise to the Holy Spirit. Our God has overcome the King who will be in Jesus mighty name. I believe.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That song is definitely in my top 10. And yes, I have approximately 72 songs in my top 10. But who's counting? That's I Believe by Phil Wickham. And what a statement of faith. So many of those lyrics come straight from scripture. And that's what we're talking about today with Dr. Josh Mulvihill. We are having a Worldview Wednesday and we're talking all things about the Bible Now, I shared in the first, segment that it is really hard for me to see a lot of scripture misused. Things like God helps those who help themselves or everything happens for a reason or God won't give you any more than you can handle, or money is the root of all evil. That's only half true. It says the love of money is the root of all evil. There are so many ways that scripture is misquoted, misattributed, misused. And it's so important for our kids kids to have a biblical worldview. So today we've been taking a slow walk through Dr. Mulvihill's book, Biblical Worldview. What it is, why it matters, and how to shape the worldview of the next generation. I have talked with Dr. George Barna several times about his deep concerns about the crisis of worldview and how worldview is very set by about the age of 13. And we need to be talking about how to intentionally cultivate a worldview. So if you are listening, not a student of the Bible, if you are not doing everything that you can to learn more, to read more, this is your conviction call for sure.
Josh: Where did the Bible come from? What is its authenticity
So I want to talk about Josh in this segment, start to talk about a little bit of where did this book come from? What is its authenticity? What is its historical reliability? And we know that actually the Bible has more manuscript support than any any other ancient document. I mean, when we look at how many Greek manuscripts, Latin manuscripts, the Dead Sea Scrolls that date back to the third century, we think about the earliest New Testament manuscripts that have that they're in date of within 30 to 100 years of the originals. And by comparison, Homer's Iliad has a 500 year gap or M. More. We know the Bible was written over a span of about 1500 years by more than 30 authors and has 66 individual books. It's not a random collection of writings, but unified whole. So let's walk back to the beginning, Josh, and tell people what is the Bible? Where did it come from? And why are we saying it's so, so, so important?
>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: That question, where did the Bible come from? Is a super critical question that we want our kids to answer with a very firm conviction that it came from God himself. And this is, you know, don't, I would say don't make the assumption that, that our children are going to believe that it's from God. And I'll just give you an example from my own life. when I was a pastor. I was a pastor before I went to seminary and finished Bible college. And then, about two or three years into pastoring, went to seminary, went to a seminary called, Bethel Seminary here in Minnesota. And one of my theology classes, the professor opened our class the very first day, the first thing that we did in class, he asked this question, where did the Bible come from? We have a class of, I don't know, 20, 30 of us that were pastors or training to be pastors. And the professor let it hang a little bit before he answered. It was kind of a rhetorical question in our minds that he answered. And he said with 100% seriousness, the Bible is not from God. The Bible is a collection of writings that would be equivalent to journal entries of people's experiences with God. No different than if all of us in this room collected our experiences and put them in one book. What, and this, this was right? This is not. We think, yeah, you're saying what, you.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Know, that was, that took a turn.
>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: That took a turn. God used that experience. in that class I ended up defending, the, the fact that the Bible was from God. The, you know, the inerrancy, authority, sufficiency of Scripture. that was at a, supposedly I'm holding up quotes, conservative Christian, seminary, evangelical seminary. Now Bethel has struggled today. If you look at their numbers, they've gone down significantly over the last decade in part because people are hearing these kinds of examples coming out of a school like that. So, here I was as a pastor and the authority of God's Word is being attacked in a seminary classroom. Now that's in a Christian setting. There will be, you know, we don't think that would happen in a Christian setting. And we think as families, well, maybe that will happen in the world. They're going to attack God's Word. But our kids need to be prepared for those kinds of attacks on God's Word. I'm sure everybody that's listening has heard of Thomas Jefferson, former president of our country. Thomas Jefferson did not believe that the Bible came from God. And this, this is an interesting, little thing. If you want to do it, go on the Internet and search Thomas Jefferson's Bible and what you will see is that Thomas Jefferson actually cut out, he cut out the whole Old Testament and he cut out anything supernatural or any miracles in the New Testament. And he only, he had an 84 page version of the Bible. That's all it boiled down to for him, kind of the, the good sayings of Jesus Christ because he didn't believe it was from God. And so he just used it as kind of like rules for living. No different than, in any other book. I give those two examples because we want to protect against that kind of view from God's Word that it is from man. Thomas Jefferson believed it was from man. My seminary professor believed it was from man. But the Bible teaches very differently. The Bible teaches that literally every chapter, every verse, every word is from God himself. And he uses this terminology, the phrase God breathed to tell us it's literally from his mouth or thus says the Lord, meaning this is God is the author of the Bible. In fact, when we think like, okay, how did that actually work? How did it get from God to this form that we have today on a printed page? I am not going to be able to describe that. Perfect to take all, mystery out of that. But the Bible does give us some, understanding of how that works. Second Peter 1:21 says that basically we have the Bible. It was spoke from God as he carried the authors along through the Holy Spirit. So basically God communicated through thoughts and dreams and visions, and sometimes in limited times, but sometimes by dictation. That's what he did with Moses. And the Ten Commandments. And so the Bible claims that it is from God himself. And so this comes down to a faith, a belief. And of course it's not a blind faith. It's not a blind belief. And you gave a little bit, Jessica, you gave some apologetics for why we can believe the Bible is from God. You mentioned that it's the best selling book of all time, 5 billion copies sold. That of course doesn't prove that it's true, but it does prove that there is something very special about the Bible that is not true of any other book that has ever existed. And what is that? Why would the Bible be translated into so many languages and be desirable and stand the test of time like no other book has? And I think you can point to that impact in fact, because it is from God himself. So we want, you know, we want our kids to believe what's in the Bible. But in order to do that we have to help them develop faith about the Bible. And so this is kind of almost like an apologetic for why, you know, the why of belief that it is from God. It's without error. It is it is crucial in the overall belief system there.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: You know, it's so interesting to me to look at those historical accounts and most everybody is familiar with Homer's, the Iliad, the Odyssey or Shakespeare or other, you know, ancient work works of literature. And when you look at the comparison, there just is no comparison. But you know, talking about it being the best selling book of all time, Josh, I think about people I've interviewed. I recently interviewed, a woman named Mary Jo Sharp and she is an atheist who, who converted to Christianity and she did that solely through reading God's word. Her band teacher gave her a Bible. She opened it up to the book of John and she said the words were so convicting and the narrat so compelling that it superseded anything she had ever been told about her worldview or about her lives. I think about the Word of God is living and active. It is sharper than a two edged sword, you know, piercing through amen bone and joint and marrow. That is the power of the Word of God. I've heard so many testimonies like that. I think about Lee Strobel, who was an atheist and a journalist and who went to go investigate the Bible for himself and now is, you know, on a, on a mission to share about how the Word of God has transformed his life.
Josh Mulvihill: Without the Bible, we wouldn't know God
I think these things are so important to know about what, what is the Bible and why do we believe it? How do it? Can our kids answer that question? Where did the Bible come from? And one of the other questions you ask in this book, Josh, is why did God give us the Bible? Why do we have it? And what would be your answer to that?
>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: Well, it's within the word of God that we learned about God himself and of course, Christ. And so, without that, we wouldn't know God. We'd only know him, through what theologians call general revelation. We can know a very limited amount from m. God's creation, that he exists, and a few of his, character qualities. But beyond that, if we didn't have the Bible, just think of, we would not know God in any way, shape or form. And what, What a blessing it is to live at this time in history. We are so blessed because we actually have the full Bible. It took 1500 years for the Bible to be written. And so think about the individuals who lived, 2,000 years ago. They only had part of the Bible or in process. And their understanding of Christ was. It was in the Bible. We could break it up into two parts, promise and fulfillment. So they were in the promise phase. If they had the Old Testament, they were kind of waiting for the fulfillment, the New Testament, and so we have the whole Bible. What a blessing to live at this time in history, to have that at our fingertips and to have it in God's word, to have an English Bible. People died, literally gave their lives to translate that into. I think, was it William Tyndale that translated into English. And he literally gave his life so that we could have an English copy of God's Word. And we take this for granted that we have. You know, I don't know how many Bibles are in your house, but we got a lot.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: We got a lot.
>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: Yeah. man, what a. So why did God give us the Bible? Why have people died to get it in different languages? What has been. What's so great about the Bible? It is. We learn about God and Christ in a way that we couldn't otherwise. And it is the Bible talk. The way the Bible talks about itself is. It is a delight. it's a joy. It's a treasure. It is, I mean, these terms that are like, ultimate value over all else in life. Of course, not Christ. It is the means to know Christ. But, man, if there is one thing we could have in life, like your house was burning down, I would be like, grab the Bible and. Actually, you know, that sounds maybe kind of weird. My mom, died of ALS in 2008. And I'm sharing this story because my mom, as she's, as she's, you know, she's terminal, we know she's going to die. And before she died, she said, all right, I got all this stuff. What do you guys want of mine to remember me by? You know, she had. My parents were full time in ministries. They didn't have a lot of earthly possessions. But the thing I said I wanted of my mom's was her Bible. And so I have that today. That was 17 years ago. She died 18 years ago. and it's. I'll tell you, it is a sweet treasure to open up her word and, you know, her Bible and see what she has underlined, things she wrote in the notes in the Bible and all the yellow pages that her fingers touched a million times and prayed over notes in there. And, man, I just. God gave us the Bible because it is of immeasurable worth, because he is the focus within it. And I want my kids to feel that worth and to, as you said, kind of transform their heart, that it is, the greatest thing in their life.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: It is. You know, I was recently on John o' Leary's podcast, and John has such an, inspiring testimony. He was burned almost 100% of his body when he was nine years old, but survived and has just really been a beacon of hope for the world. And he asked me this very question, Josh. He said, what would you grab out of your house if it was burning? And I didn't even have to think twice. Is my Bible, because I gave myself a Bible when I was 16 years old. And I still use that Bible every Sunday in church. I use it very carefully and very gingerly. But there's something so powerful about seeing dates where I had prayed about something I had agonized about, something that God has completely answered or that he is restored or that I'm still praying for. And when we come back, I have a really good story about a Bible that God used to help someone that was involved in human trafficking. Amazing just to see all of the miracles so convicting. Josh, to hear you talk about people died so that we could have this word, and for us to disregard it is just inexcusable. Hey, more conviction when we come back. Don't. Don't go away. We'll see you in a second. Here's Dr. Ben Witherington from the American Family Studios documentary, the God who Speaks.
I like to say a text without a context is just a pretext for whatever you want. Want it to mean. In other words, without the historical context, you can twist that text and make it mean whatever you would like it to mean. And more importantly, Christianity is a historical religion. I would put it this way. Nothing is theologically true that's historically false. The historical foundation of the Christian faith is fundamental to our faith. So therefore, it follows that studying the historical context of the New Testament is critical to understanding it at all.
Visit thegodwhospeaks.org
>> Friend in Jesus by CAIN: I have a shepherd.
Who.
Always, always keeps me safe and I found a healer Yes, I did who knows my everything and this is my story of redeeming love I have come to know him well oh, I found a friend Friend in Jesus is everything to me and I have found a friend in Jesus yes, he is my everything oh, I found a friend in Jesus he is everything to me I, I found a friend in Jesus My.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Everything welcome back, friends. That is Friend in Jesus by CAIN, also one of the 72 songs in my top 10. I love that song. And friend, that is the testimony of my life. I have found a friend in Jesus I have found such hope in God's word.
Dr. Josh Mulvihill talks about Biblical worldview on WorldView Wednesday
I'm talking today on WorldView Wednesday with Dr. Josh Mulvihill We are taking on a slow walk through his book, Biblical Worldview. What it is, why it matters, and how to shape the worldview of the next generation. And before the break, Josh, you were sharing the story of having your mom who passed away from als. I'm so, so sorry that you went through that, having her Bible as a treasure. I have my granny's Bible. She passed away a couple of years ago. That is the one thing that we wanted from her. We said, we want your Bible. And I'll tell you, reading scriptures at her funeral, we gave those to her Sunday school teacher who read those scriptures. Funeral reading those out of her very own Bible with notes taken by her very own hand. It was so encouraging to know that God had written, a better story than we could ever have written. And, you know, I think about Josh, I. When as a professor, when I first made full professor, which is a big deal in the academic world and got tenure, I was able to donate a book, any book that I wanted. The book that had been most instrumental to me in my career, to the library at the university, and I looked at all of these, you know, kind of stuffy textbooks, and I thought, oh, there is, there is no, there is no second guessing for me. I donated a life application Bible because I said there is no greater words of hope or healing in The Bible. And I wrote a note, inside of that, you know, for the seeker to say, this is if you have found anything in my career that's inspirational, it is only inspired by the word of God. I could go on and on, Josh. I. I sense you and I, our passion.
Josh: I promised to do a story about a Bible
I wanted to share really quickly as I promised to do a story about a Bible. Ah, my primary work is in human trafficking. Working against that as a professor. And there was a story of a girl who had been involved in human trafficking. She was trying to find her way to recovery, and she ended up not having a ride when she needed a ride. And one of the workers from the organization I worked with ended up picking her up, and she was talking with her about God's Word. And this girl had really had no exposure at all to God's Word. And the. The worker, the volunteer, she thought, oh, I've got my Bible here. But then she thought, oh, it's my Bible. Like, you know, my Bible like, that I have written in that is very deeply attached. I don't know. And she was having this internal prayer, thinking, can I give her my Bible? And she just felt the Lord convict her so strongly to give her the Bible. And what she realized is that she had written in the Bible so many prayers for her daughter and written out her daughter's name and said. Called her by name, and I'm praying the Scripture for you. Well, Josh, when she went to give the girl the Bible, she asked her her name. And that girl's name was the same name as her daughter. And so when that girl opened the Bible, she saw all of those prayers that God used for her. There are so many stories like that that I could tell you about the Bible. It has transformed my parenting, Josh. When I use the words from Scripture, they are so much more infinitely wise and kind and gentle and patient and corrective than any words I could come up with on my own. I, I just. I'm so passionate about this.
You use three words that may be unfamiliar to some people
So my question for you, Josh, my next question is. I want to go back for just a second because you use three words kind of quickly, just kind of off the cuff that I think are really important to go back to because they may be unfamiliar to some people. You said inerrancy, authority, and sufficiency. Can you take a slower walk through those three words and tell us why you use them and why they're so important?
>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: Yes. well, we have. I have specific chapters on. On, two of those three. So we'll really give us a preview.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Yeah.
>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: Going forward yeah, so inerrancy means without error, that the Bible we can believe is error free because it comes from God and God is without error. So we have Psalm 119, verse 160 makes this claim. It says these five words like tattoo them on your heart and believe them 100%. The Bible claims that. It says all your words are true. So all. Not a few, not Most, literally all 100% your words, God's words are true, meaning without error. We can take that to the bank. So that's inerrancy. And there was a huge battle for the inerrancy of scripture in the 20th century. That was like, that was the battle, that was the theological battle. and there were, you know, groups broke on both sides of that and those that believe the Bible had error in part, tended to go down paths that, you know, if you believe there's errors, then you what what's believable and what's not. If you, if it's false in one, it throws a domino. How do you know the resurrection is true if you're not willing to believe some of what the Bible writes? So that is a, that is a huge issue. authority means it has the the authority to tell us how to live and what is right, what is wrong. And everything in life follows this plumb line. functionally I think many of us would say we believe in the authority of God's word, but we don't operate that way. So I'll give you an example. when we need the how to guidance of life, we're trying to make decisions about certain things. We often don't, we don't know the Bible well enough or we don't turn to the Bible for guidance. And we look to other sources, especially experience, whether it's our own, our parents, other people, social media. And that becomes our authoritative guidance. And so, you know, whether it's, you brought up dating and marriage with your current husband, I mean that would be a functional authoritative piece. I'm only going to date a Christian because that's what the Bible dictates. And we could throw out a m. Bazillion examples, of different kinds of things that we don't often follow the authority of God's word on, either be out of disobedience or ignorance. If we don't know God's word, we're open to all kinds of errors. and then sufficiency is really the how. it's very practical. It's the how to side so if God, what the Bible claims is that it is sufficient for all matters of faith and life. So meaning, if God calls us to parenting and raised children, he also has given us everything we need in order to accomplish that from the Bible. So if it was, that was all we had, the Bible would be sufficient. Now it doesn't mean it's exhaustive. If you come into my world, you'll see bookshelves with, I have lots and lots of books. I believe there are very helpful things. All truth is God's truth. You see this, you know, God's created two worlds in the sense of how he communicates. We have the world general revelation and we have, have Bible specific revelation. And the Bible helps us understand the world, not the other way around. sometimes we get that mixed up. We try to understand the Bible through science or through the world. And we can get really wonky with the Bible. Rather we need to use the Bible to interpret science and the world. That is our foundation. And sometimes we get those backwards. But sufficiency, the, it's really the how to piece. So how do we do all the, you know, if we have a child that's disobedient, what do we do with that? How do we help that child? What does God's word say? you know, I have lived in the parenting, grandparenting, education world. the Bible provides so much clarity around these areas that oftentimes we just don't know. It's not something we're intentionally trying to do. So we'll really dive into that in a future episode. But I think that sufficiency piece, a lot of people say, I believe in the authority. The doctrine of sufficiency is a, ah, relative unknown to a lot of people. And many individuals have said that is the most important doctrine not lived out in the last, last couple of decades in the church. And so, that'll be a good episode to really, really kind of tease.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Out that it will and to further the conviction. I promise conviction. And I'll tell you, you brought down the hammer in this book and it's something that needs to be said. It's deeply convicting to me and I hope it's deeply convicting to everyone listening.
Josh: Neglect of the Bible is like disease to the body
I want to read a little passage from the chapter that we're talking about in this in your biblical worldview book. Use the said. Let us remember that it is one thing to have a Bible, another thing to read it, yet most important to live it. I am persuaded that many young People have a Bible but never read it. It sits on a shelf, a stand, in a book bag. It collects dust and is in pristine condition. Neglect of the Bible is like disease to the body. Every living thing requires food. Our body needs food to, to sustain and nourish it. It is equally so with our spiritual life. The only food that will sustain and nourish our soul is the Word of God. Let us not read the Bible as a duty, but as a delight. Pray that God will give us appetite for His Word and a pleasure in reading it. And then you go on to say there is not a single reasonable excuse for not reading the Bible. Many say they have no time to read it. But if a person makes time to eat, eat, sleep, or be involved in athletics or the arts, surely they can make time to read the Word of God, which is of much greater value. And then you last say errors arise from ignorance of the Bible. There are countless young people who know little about the Gospel. The exclusiveness of Christ. The commands of God are the contents of Scripture. Many young people cannot explain its core teachings and have little idea of the meaning of faith. Conversion, justification, sanctification. As a result, false teachings are not identified and indifference to false doctrine reigns. We must not neglect or abuse the Bible. And we talked, earlier, Josh, about misusing m the Bible. But this is very, very convicting. And I think I would like for you to speak to that, Josh, speak to those people. It's not about being legalistic. If you don't read the Bible, you know, God's going to be angry with you and you're going to lose points in your Christ Christian account, you know, or some kind of nonsense like that. But it is, it is sinful for us to neglect the spiritual discipline of reading God's word. And that is the truth. So can you speak a word of conviction to that?
>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: Yeah, let's use a different example to, you know, to just maybe help grasp what I was saying there. You know, I'm married. I've been married 25 years as of this June. And, and I can, you know, I love my wife. I can get so busy with work and other things that I neglect my wife. And we don't communicate at the same level. We don't spend a lot of time together. And of course that's going to impact our relationship. There will be a growing emotional distance. There will be, you know, they're just. Their problems flow out of that. And can we, you know, can we function married and, you know. Yeah, absolutely. But there is just. I don't have a conversation with my wife or spend time with her because I'm obligated to. I do that because I love to. And the. And the, Joy, she's my, you know, she's my best friend. And so, And so sometimes, you know, there's just this, you know, we get in this pattern and then we realize, oh, man, we need to course correct. And there's. For all of us that have been married, there have been those seasons where we realized, oh, man, I probably. I need to course correct here and reprioritize. Make this, make m. The depth, the strength, the health of this relationship, this marriage relationship a priority. It hadn't been, And then, man, the result is just a sweetness. It is like, man, that the times that are together is joyful. There's laughing, can't wait for the next conversation, the next time together. The same with God's word. Even better. And that we don't come to. You know, we get up whenever we read the Bible. I read in the morning, some at night, some during the day, whenever that is. It's not like this. Oh, I gotta check the box. It truly is. I have a hunger. I enjoy this. And I'm. I'm getting to spend time with the God, the creator of the universe, the individual that loves me more than any other person. Even my wife, my kids, they. I mean, this individual sent me this letter. He died on the cross. Not just for me, of course, to glorify himself ultimately, but, man, what. What a joy. What a pleasure. So I would say, you know, this. We're not talking about this from a, legalistic point of view, but if you're not reading God's word regularly, you know, start somewhere and prioritize that, and I bet God will work in your heart as you do that to.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Amen, Josh.
>> Dr. Josh Mulvihill: love for his word.
>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Amen. I feel convicted. That's exactly it. It is not a chore. It is a privilege and a joy. The book is Biblical Worldview, what it is, why it matters, how to shape the worldview of the next generation. May the Lord bless you and keep you and make his face shine upon you. I'll see you next time. Jeff Chamblee The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
