Inevitably, there will be skeptics who will point out a connection between the Kaycee-Nicole affair and evangelical Christianity’s belief in a Savior whose existence and deity are derived from the text of Scripture.
“See,” goes the online skeptic’s sentiment. “Kaycee touched us with her stories and her love, but in the end, even though our hearts had been touched, there never was a Kaycee. So isn’t it possible that Jesus wasn’t real? If a blog can make us believe in a cancer-stricken girl’s existence, and can make us love her, even though she isn’t real, how can you say your Messiah loves you if he comes from a book you can’t even be sure of! Just like Kaycee, he could just as easily have been a construct, a fictional character made only to embody Christianity’s ideals!”
To which I respond: The Bible is not a blog, and the evangelists were not bloggers.
There are notable differences between Kaycee’s Living Colours blog and the nature and history of Scripture. I cannot even begin to outline the myriad ways in which the Bible is far more reliable than a weblog.
The reliability of the Kaycee-Nicole story had begun to crumble within hours of her “death,” as people questioned the odd circumstances surrounding the announcement. Within days, the author had confessed, the facts were being investigated and uncovered, and the weblog and its archives had been taken offline.
Scripture, on the other hand, has withstood the test of time and the scrutiny of skepticism. Never mind the naive fallacy which claims the Bible has been translated and edited through 2000 years. That is simply ignorant hogwash. Even the earliest manuscripts dating back to within decades of the original text show that modern Christianity’s translations are consistent, accurate, and reliable. Skeptical archaeologists have themselves gone to the Holy Land, setting out to disprove the “myth” of Scripture, and they have come back Christians, convinced by the evidence.
Furthermore, the authors and adherents of these texts were subjected to far more pressure than the creator of Living Colours went through. It took only a day, maybe two days, of online pressure to bring out the confession of the Kaycee blog.
The writers of the Gospels and Epistles, on the other hand, were spared no torture. They were flogged, whipped, dragged, trampled, stoned, burned, crucified, boiled in oil, and fed to lions. Through it all, not one of them ever recanted or disowned the faith to which they held. They were eyewitnesses to God’s glory, and they knew what they had seen, and they believed in its reality, strongly enough that they would face any fear, any suffering, any threat of death, rather than deny their Lord Jesus, the Christ, whom they had personally experienced.
Through thousands of years, Scripture continues to stand firm. The Bible bears a unique coherence and unity unmatched by any other sacred text, despite its having been writen by dozens of different writers over a span of centuries. The Word of God, its content and message guided by His hand, is trustworthy and lasting.
Weblogs may pass away, bloggers may have been fake, and archives may be edited. But Scripture still stands, testifying to our faithful, loving, saving Lord Jesus Christ.