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Why Trust the Bible?

The Bible is God's written revelation to man. The term "revelation" simply means that God communicated to mankind what He is like and how we can have the right relationship with Him. We could not have known these things had God not revealed them to us in the Bible. As the inspired, inerrant Word of God, the Bible is the final authority for all matters of faith, religious practice, and morals.

There is no Spiritual Discipline that is more important than reading the Bible. Nothing can substitute for it. If we are to know God and bring Him honor and glory, which is our reason for living, we must know the Word of God intimately.

Evangelist D. L. Moody once said, "I used to think I should close my Bible and pray for faith, but I came to see that it was in studying the Word that I was to get faith."

We are told in 2 Timothy 3:16–17, "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work." So, what does it mean that the Bible is inspired? When we speak of the Bible ais inspired, we are referring to the fact that God divinely influenced the human authors of the Scriptures in such a way that what they wrote was the very Word of God. In the context of the Scriptures, the word "inspiration" means "God-breathed." Inspiration means the Bible truly is the Word of God and makes the Bible unique among all other books.

We must ask ourselves how we can know that the Bible is the Word of God and not just a good book. Is there any evidence that the Bible is truly God's Word? Yes, there is both internal and external evidence that the Bible is truly God's Word.

Following is internal evidence within the Bible that testifies to its divine origin.
• The Bible claims to be the very Word of God (2 Timothy 3:15-17).
• Unity of the Bible.
• The Bible is not just one single book. The Bible is a collection of 66 books called the canon of scriptures. These 66 books contain a variety of genres: history, poetry, prophecy, wisdom literature, letters, and apocalyptic, to name a few.
• Forty different authors wrote these 66 books. These authors came from various backgrounds: shepherds, fishermen, doctors, kings, prophets, etc. Many of these authors never knew each other personally or collaborated in writing these books.
• These 66 books were written over a period of 1500 years.
• The 66 books of the Bible were written in 3 different languages: Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic.
• These 66 books were written on three continents: Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Following is external evidence outside the Bible that testifies to its divine origin.
• Fulfilled prophecy (internal/external)
• I believe the most extraordinary external evidence of the Bible's claim to absolute inspired truth is its astounding number of fulfilled prophecies. Fully one-third of the Bible is prophecy. The Bible contains over 1,800 predictions concerning more than 700 separate subjects in over 8,300 verses. Consider, for example, the prophecy in Psalm 22:16 that the Messiah's hands and feet would be pierced.
◦ That prophecy was written by David about 1,000 years before the birth of Jesus.
◦ It was written 700 years before crucifixion was used for executions.
◦ The literal fulfillment of so many prophecies in the life of one individual can't possibly be a coincidence and validates that Jesus was who He said He was: the divine Son of God.
◦ There are over 300 prophecies about Jesus mentioned in the Bible. These were written between 500 and 1000 years before Jesus was even born.
• A science professor named Peter Stoner used the state of Texas to illustrate the probability of just eight of the prophecies about Jesus being fulfilled accidentally.
• He said to imagine the state of Texas filled knee-deep with silver dollars.
• A plane flies over and drops one silver dollar with a black check mark on it.
• Thousands of bulldozers spend several years mixing up the silver dollars.
• Finally, a man is blindfolded and turned loose in this sea of silver dollars.
• The odds that he will pick up the silver dollar with the black check mark on his first draw is one in one hundred quadrillion! That's the number one with 17 zeroes after it!

• Historical writings.
◦ Josephus, a secular historian who recorded much of the history of Israel during the first century, recorded many events that coincide with Scripture.

• Archaeological findings.
• Archaeological findings support the history recorded in Scripture. Though many people throughout history have tried to find archaeological evidence to disprove what is recorded in the Bible, they have failed. Consider the following.
• Twenty-five thousand sites show connection with the Old Testament that have been located in the lands of the Bible.
• Luke, the author of the Gospel of Luke and Acts, has been proven accurate by archaeology regarding 32 references to countries, 54 cities, and nine islands. That's 95 different references, all of which have been supported by archaeology.

• Accuracy of translations.
Many skeptics say the Bible can't be true after being translated many times. So, let's consider the question: Were the original transcripts copied correctly? How do we know the text used today is the same as the original writings? Establishing the text's accuracy is extremely important if the Bible is believed to be God's inspired Word. We must demonstrate how the current text compares with the originals and how accurately the ancient manuscripts were copied. Although translation from ancient languages is neither easy nor simple, scholars have worked at it for centuries. It is possible for genuine, accurate, and correct communication through translation.

In the New Testament, only a small percentage of content has proven difficult in translation. Most of these variations are minor, not affecting how we ultimately understand the Bible's meaning. The best Bible translations acknowledge these places with a footnote. Moreover, we can confidently say that no major doctrine of orthodox Christianity rests on any disputed or uncertain passage. We know what the Bible says and what it means.

As with other ancient books, the physical pieces of "paper" on which the original authors first wrote Scripture have been lost to history. But we have thousands of other ancient writings (on papyrus, vellum, and parchment) with original language text copied from each book of the Bible. They allow us to reconstruct with a considerable degree of confidence what the originals said. Here are just three ways in which the accuracy of translations is ensured.

1. Manuscript evidence. Scholars compare and analyze ancient manuscripts, such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, to determine the accuracy of the textual transmission.
2. Translation methods and scholars. Translations are typically the work of teams of biblical scholars trained in the original biblical languages (Greek for the New Testament, Hebrew and Aramaic for the Old Testament) and ancient cultures.
3. Peer review and scholarly input. Experienced biblical scholars review translations and provide feedback to ensure accuracy and clarity.

Why is it important to believe the Bible is God's inspired, inerrant word?
The doctrine of biblical inerrancy is an extremely important one because, contrary to what our culture says, truth does matter. Inerrancy means that ALL that is written in the inspired documents is WITHOUT error. This issue is foundational to our understanding of everything the Bible teaches. Here are some reasons why a Christian must believe in biblical inerrancy.

• The Bible stands or falls as a whole. If a major newspaper were routinely discovered to contain errors, it would be quickly discredited. It would make no difference to say, "All the errors are confined to page three." For a paper to be reliable in any of its parts, it must be factual throughout. In the same way, if the Bible is inaccurate when it speaks about hell, then who is to say it is right about heaven—or anything else? If the Bible cannot get the details right about creation, then maybe the facts about salvation cannot be trusted either. If the story of Jonah is a myth, then perhaps so is the story of Jesus.

Every child of God must internalize the Word of God to enjoy God's blessing. So, how do we go about doing this?
1. Read and study the word of God every day.
a. Commentaries, dictionaries, study Bibles
2. Listen to the word of God. a. Rom. 10:17: Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” b. Podcast, riding in the car, CDs, TV 3. Memorize the word of God (if you can)
a. Will know where you can find guidance when you need it.
4. Meditate on the word of God.
a. Meditation is a devotional practice that we engage in with God’s help to know Him better, love Him more, experience a closer communion with Him, and live for His glory.

Tens of thousands die each day, hoping against hope that the Bible is untrue and that God does not exist. Sadly, when they take their last breath, they will discover that God is real and that they will spend eternity in hell. Don't let that be you. Read the Bible with an open mind, let it speak for itself, and find that it is God's inspired inerrant Word. Accept Christ today and spend eternity with Him in Heaven!