Why We Believe the Bible

In 1969, Dr. Daniel Fuller wrote:

"Thus we can never say that the Bible's good news is true news because it is good news. Instead, its truth must be based on something besides our desire for it to be true. There are two ways the attempt has been made to show the Bible as true. One way is to argue from its historical origins; the other, to argue from the gift of faith that God gives a man to credit it as true." (Hermeneutics, Chapter 8)

In the Why We Believe the Bible seminar taught by John Piper, Apprentices were asked to read chapters 7 and 8 of Fuller's 1983 volume Hermeutics (either unpublished or out of print), Appendix 2 of Desiring God (entitled "Is the Bible a Reliable Guide to Lasting Joy?"), and "Scripture's Self-Attestation and the Problem of Formulating a Doctrine of Scripture," by Wayne Grudem from the book Scripture and Truth edited by D.A. Carson and John Woodbridge. We also read a booklet by John Piper entitled Why We Believe the Bible and attended a five-hour seminar by Piper on the same topic.

In my three-page paper, I first explain Fuller's view, and then respond to it.

The Why We Believe the Bible seminar is one of nine seminars on Practical Theology taught by John Piper.