July 14, 2024
Dave Stephens
Do we believe the Bible is true? Do we doubt its validity? How do we know this is God’s word?
If God wanted to authenticate His communication He would have to verify it in a manner that could not be duplicated by mere humans. This narrows the field considerably. It would have to be miraculous…and the Bible is.
The real determination of the Bible’s claim to absolute inspired truth is in its supernatural evidence. God used prophets to speak and write down His Word and God uses miracles to authenticate His messengers.
Examples:
One of the questions that always arises is, “hasn’t it lost something in translation from the original text?”
The Bible can now be read in nearly 700 different languages. For the New Testament, the number jumps to over 1,500 languages. The Bible is the most translated book in history.
In a Newsweek cover story titled The Bible: So Misunderstood It’s a Sin,
“No television preacher has ever read the Bible. Neither has any evangelical politician. Neither has the pope. Neither have I. And neither have you. At best, we’ve all read a bad translation—a translation of translations of translations of hand-copied copies of copies of copies of copies, and on and on, hundreds of times.”
–Kurt Eichenwald
- If our modern Bible translations are a translation of a translation of a translation, then they probably don’t resemble what the authors intended.
Every modern translation has only been translated once. It’s not “a translation of translations of translations”; it’s just a translation. Therefore, modern translators are in the best position possible to provide an accurate translation.
Scholars use what’s known as “textual criticism,” an academic method used to reconstitute all documents of antiquity, not just religious texts.
Scholars have said that The New Testament is over 99% pure. In the entire text of 20,000 lines, only 40 lines are in doubt (about 400 words), and none affects any significant doctrine.
So, can you believe the Bible?
Has anyone ever asked you if the Bible is true? How do we know?
- Maybe you have questioned if you believe the Bible is accurate and true.
Here are a few reasons to trust and believe the Bible:
1) Jesus trusted God’s Word and personally testified to its
We have the eyewitness accounts that tell us Jesus began His ministry by reading from the Old Testament.
- ”The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Isaiah 61:1-2a
He reminded those around, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matt. 5:17 NIV). This statement gives authority to the Word of God…the Bible we have today.
If Jesus believed in the written Word of God…shouldn’t you? It’s trustworthy…
2) The Bible is full of
An imaginary work would not likely include so much historical detail. Detail can be investigated. If you want to make something up, you make it as blurry as possible so it can’t be fact-checked.
For example…look at Luke’s account of Jesus’s life. It includes every detail necessary to provide the full context for Jesus’s birth.
Listen closely…
- “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.”
Luke 2:1-5
3) Historical
Not only does the Bible include truthful spiritual content, but also it records historical and geographical details with remarkable accuracy.
For example, archaeologists discovered evidence of the destruction of Jericho that correlates to the biblical account found in Joshua 1.
Aramaic inscriptions that record the “House of David” have been discovered.
A siege ramp and a mass grave were unearthed that match the Assyrian invasion during Hezekiah’s reign.
Matthew and Mark both describe unusual darkness and an earthquake that occurred when Jesus was crucified:
- ”From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land… And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open.”
Matt. 27:45, 50–52
4) Bible
The Bible contains hundreds of fulfilled prophecies.
Events predicted in the Old Testament and described in the New Testament are some of the most specific prophecies ever to come true. Here are just a few:
- • About 700 years before Jesus’s birth, Micah wrote that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2; Matt. 2:1–6).
• Zechariah predicted that Jesus would be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver (Zech. 11:12; Matt. 26:14–15).
• David prophesied that Jesus’s hands and feet would be pierced (Ps. 22:16; John 20:24–28).
• Isaiah predicted that Jesus’s body would rest in a rich man’s tomb (Isa. 53:9; Matt. 27:57–60).
• Jesus’s resurrection was also predicted multiple times (Ps.16:8–11; Acts 2:24–31).
5) The Bible includes
Many ancient historians exaggerated leaders’ victories and downplayed or eliminated failures to promote ideologies or causes.
But the Bible’s writers made no such adjustments.
Scripture openly reports that…
• Jacob lied and stole.
• Moses committed murder.
• David committed murder and adultery.
• Jonah ran from God.
• Peter denied Christ three times.
• Paul condoned the murdering of followers of Jesus.
If the Bible were man-made, it would probably not expose the flaws of its heroes, but thankfully, the Bible was divinely inspired to glorify God, not people.
6) The Bible includes multiple
Matthew, Mark (under Peter’s guidance), Luke, and John all wrote accounts of Jesus’s life.
The variations that some call “inconsistencies” are why you can trust that these stories are authentic and believe the Bible.
Identical stories from four very different men strongly suggest copying or heavy editing.
7) The Bible values
The cultures in which the Bible was written did not respect women. Yet the Bible praises, rewards, and celebrates women repeatedly.
The Bible reports that women were the first to discover Jesus’s empty tomb while the men hid in fear behind locked doors. If the male biblical authors had invented the resurrection story, they would not have described themselves as cowards, much less chosen female witnesses to Jesus’s resurrection, since a woman’s testimony in their culture was considered worthless.
The Gospels also readily report that Jesus spoke not only to women (including some who were prostitutes) but also to foreigners, children, lepers, and tax collectors.
He openly spoke with all sorts of people that the culture found offensive or worthless.
8) Finally, you can believe the Bible personally through your own
As you read the Bible every day, truths will stand out to you at just the right time.
You will begin to notice the clarity and beauty of God’s Word.
You will start to see connections between different portions of Scripture, giving you a fuller understanding of the spiritual truths contained in the Bible.
Often, reading the Bible will provide you with peace even if what you are reading does not directly describe the same circumstances you may be facing.
Every time you read the Bible, you meet with the Author, and encountering God gives you peace.
What happens when you experience uncertainty in believing the Bible to be true?
Remember, not only does the Bible claim to be the Word of God thousands of times, God tells us He inspired men to write the books of the Bible, and those authors attribute the words they were writing to God.
”Your word is truth.” John 17:17