Loose the Lion

March 4th, 2022

Today’s blog was written by speaker and guest blogger, Bob Gillespie. We invite you to read this charge to further build your courage to stand boldly on the Word of God.

For centuries, the Bible was caged up in monasteries and limited to only the spiritual elite who decided for everyone else what the Scriptures meant. Then Martin Luther—a German monk who became the catalyst for the 16th-century Protestant Reformation—came along and “turned the Bible loose” for all to read. It was translated into the language of the people so they could read it and be transformed by the power of the Word and the Holy Spirit.

The Bible then became more than just a spiritual book to be read by monks; it was released to the people of the world as the Word from our Creator. Revered by scientists and peasants alike as the key to understanding all truth, God’s Word empowered the common man to act as image bearers of the Creator rather than slaves of an establishment. This new understanding of scripture rekindled the human spirit and brought in more liberty and prosperity than the world had ever known.

The Word of God is like a lion. You don't have to defend a lion. All you have to do is let the lion loose, and the lion will defend itself.
Charles Spurgeon

Of course, Satan, the father of deception, was not going to just lie down and give up. He conjured up another strategy to again cage the lion of God’s Word and relegate it to the status of mystical writings. One of the greatest attacks on the Bible—initiated during the Enlightenment period of the 18^th century and propagated in the 19^th century and following—was to introduce the concept of millions of years and evolution into explaining how we got here.

Sadly, much of the Church has since compromised the authority of the Bible with these satanic lies. In the eyes of the world, the Bible has been relegated to a place of obscurity and has lost its relevance to topics that are of significance to society.

Consequently, the Bible was once again “caged,” seemingly confined only to the church. Even the Church did not rise to the occasion and declare with confidence that science has not proven the Bible is a myth. Instead, Christians distanced themselves from science, reinforcing the notion that the Bible is only a spiritual or mystical book instead of it being the origin of scientific principles that, in fact, confirm creation and order by the Master Designer.

In turn, the Christian witness today has deteriorated to a plea to blindly disregard all the scientific evidence and join us in the “cage of mystical truth.” Obviously, this strategy is not working. The youth are not buying this, and we are losing an entire generation. As the older generation dies off along with their stand for biblical morality and sound doctrine, the world is on the verge of slipping into another Dark Ages, turning to man’s ideas for “truth” rather than the absolute truth revealed by the almighty God.

It’s time for Christianity to actively address real science
and our true history found in Genesis . . .

What we need is a new Reformation. Spurgeon was right—we don’t need to defend the lion; we need to let it loose. To release the Word from the confines of mystical truth, we need to address the vicious attacks on the Word. Since the lies of the world, the flesh, and the devil have been touted and shouted incessantly over time, the population has accepted them as truth. And because the Church has waited far too long to respond, the cage has now been locked multiple times from within and from without.

It’s time for Christianity to actively address real science and our true history found in Genesis even as the world heaps on mountains of unanswered attacks against the authority of the Bible, insisting it is a myth. “But sanctify the Lord God always in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15).

Reasons for Hope (as well as other creation ministries) stands as a modern-day Martin Luther with the courage to confront the Church for its compromise and complacency. Our goal is to uncage the Lion, to call the Church and the culture back to the authority of God’s Word, and to let the Bible do what it is supposed to do.

To further encourage you in your walk with Christ, download our free app where you will find hundreds of digital resources to train and equip you to stay bold in your faith. Just click HERE, and look for the blue asterisk on the black background.

Guest Blogger Bio:
Bob and his wife Lois graduated from Cedarville University in Ohio. Bob then received his master’s degree at Clark’s Summit Seminary in PA. They spent 14 years teaching in Christian schools in Ohio and another 10 years teaching missionary kids in West Africa. Upon leaving Africa, the Gillespies felt God’s calling to go into full time apologetics ministry.