An Impossible Burden to Carry

Establishing Proof

Within the American legal system, it is considered the proper standard for people accused of a crime to be assumed innocent until proven guilty. This means that the party prosecuting the crime must establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the accused was indeed guilty of the crime. Meeting this requirement is known as meeting the “burden of proof.”

Meeting the Burden

The representation of the facts given by the one accused of the crime is assumed to be the truth until specifically disproved by the prosecution. This kind of responsibility in argument is not limited to the legal realm, however. The same is true in formal debate, in the scientific realm, and even concerning questions related to God, and His Word.

The World’s Assumptions

The world has created many assumptions concerning the existence and power of God. The world challenges God’s authority by limiting His power or purpose in the events which occur all around us. The world challenges the importance and organization of the church which was established by Jesus Christ. The world challenges the very existence of God altogether and His creative power. Because the world makes these challenges so often and with such strong force, many people have come to believe that they are based upon strong evidence and argumentation. However, they are not.

The Bible has stood against the challenges which the world has thrown at it for literally hundreds of years, and continues to stand strong today. The Bible has been proven consistent in the face of many challenges, and has established its own authority and reliability as a source of truth (John 17:17 Psa. 119:142).

Whose Burden?

It is not the Bible which has the responsibility to prove itself, but it is the world. The “burden of proof” should lie with the world to disprove God, to disprove His authority, to disprove His established truth. Instead of having to prove that God exists, we should instead challenge the world to prove that He does not. Instead of having to prove that how we choose to worship and organize as the body of Christ is important, we should instead challenge those who treat Biblical authority lightly to prove that it is not. When the Bible is challenged we should be ready to have a defense (1 Pet. 3:15), but we should not be on the defensive. It is up to the world to meet the “burden of proof” in the allegations they make concerning God. The world will not, because it cannot – it is an impossible burden to carry.