02 - Can We Trust The Bible - Continued 2012

The Bible is very specific regarding its origin.  2 Timothy 3:16 reads:

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God…”

In the original Greek, “by inspiration of God” literally means “God breathed”.

2 Peter 1:20-21 adds to this fact:

“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

None of the writers (approximately 40 men over approximately 1500 years) claimed the words to be of their own origin, but singularly of God.  As a whole, scripture demonstrates the Bible’s claim that God is responsible for the origin of scripture, not men.

Last time we looked at five of ten evidences that the Bible is God’s word. The first five evidences can be easily remembered by the acronym, f.a.c.e.s.

FULFILLED prophecy

ARCHAEOLOGY

CONSISTENCY

EXTERNAL verification

SCIENCE

Now this time we’re going to look at the last five evidences of the Bible being the Word of God.

6. THE MANUSCRIPT EVIDENCE

What is a manuscript? A manuscript is a hand-written copy of an ancient document that predates the invention of the printing press in 1455.

There have been those (including the Mormons and Muslims) who have falsely asserted that the Bible has undergone corruption down through the centuries as it was copied and translated. But the evidence actually proves otherwise.

Today there survives more than 25,000 partial and complete, ancient handwritten manuscript copies of the New Testament alone, not to mention hundreds of Old Testament manuscripts that survive today dating back to as early as three hundred years before Christ arrived in Bethlehem!

These hand written manuscripts have allowed scholars and textual critics to go back and verify that the Bible we have in our possession today is the same Bible that the early church possessed 2,000 years ago.

You can view these manuscripts yourself at places like the British Museum, the Cambridge University Library, the Smithsonian Institute, Oxford University, the National Library at Paris, Israel Museum

Even if we did not have any manuscripts, we have the writings of the church fathers. By church fathers I am referring to those leaders in the church during the first three centuries after the death, burial and resurrection of Christ who followed the original disciples.

I'm talking about men like Justin Martyr, Eusebius, Tertullian, Polycarp. These men, in their writings and correspondence with one another, in their letters to different churches, quote the Old and New Testament over and over again.

In fact, the early church fathers quote the New Testament alone more than 86,000 times. And here is something most people don't realize. Their writings survive to this day!

You can go to Amazon.com right now and buy an encyclopedic size set of the writings of the church fathers and see with your own eyes their numerous quotations of the Bible.

There are enough quotations from the early church fathers that even if we did not have a single manuscript copy of the Bible, scholars could still reconstruct 99. 86% of the New Testament today just from their writings. That is amazing validation of the New Testament!

Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.” Jesus said in Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and Earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”

A 7th confirmation of God’s Word is:

7. THE BIBLE’S FORTHRIGHTNESS ABOUT ITS AUTHOR’S AND HERO’S FAILURES

The Bible’s openness about its very own author’s sins and failures is a seventh reason that I believe the Bible is an honest work. Its forthrightness in this regard makes it absolutely unique among all other religious books. Unlike the authors of other religious writings the authors of the Bible did not seek to cast themselves in good light or to elevate themselves at all.

In fact, they freely confessed that they were just sinful, ordinary men. Consider some of the failures and shortcomings the writers of the Bible told us about. We read of Noah’s getting drunk shortly after getting off of the ark (Gen. 9:21); Abraham, lying (on more than one occasion) about Sarah being his wife (Gen. 12:13; 20:2);

Moses’ outburst of anger, how he misrepresented God, and wasn’t even allowed to enter into the promise land (Num. 20:10-11); Israel’s rejection of God on numerous occasions (for example, see the book of Judges); David’s adultery and subsequent murder of Uriah (2 Samuel 11);

The disciple’s argument over which one of them was the greatest (Luke 22:24); Peter’s denial of the Lord (Matt.26:72) and his fear of being seen eating with Gentiles (Gal.2:11-12); the disciples falling asleep when Jesus asked them to pray (Mark 14:32-41); Paul, confession that he was “a wretched man” (Rom 7:24) the “chief” of sinners (1 Tim.1:15);

Paul and Barnabas argument over whether or not Mark should be allowed to travel with them (Acts 15:38-39). Do these sound like the kinds of things that men making up the Bible would write about themselves? Not at all!

The author’s openness about these kinds of details helps me to believe that these men were being honest about the things they wrote about. Add to this seventh evidence the fact that these men imparted to the world the highest standards of conduct the world has ever seen, and we only strengthen our case.

An eighth evidence of the Bible being God’s Word is:

8. THE WILLINGNESS OF JESUS' DISCIPLES TO SUFFER

The disciples went to their graves, one by one, suffering and dying martyr's deaths for their on-going belief and preaching that Jesus’ resurrection was an absolute fact of history!

Historians like Flavius Josephus, Eusebius and others tell us that Matthew was slain with a sword in a city of Ethiopia. Mark died in Alexandria, in Northern Egypt after having been cruelly dragged through the streets of that city. Luke was hung upon an olive tree in the land of Greece.

James was beheaded in Jerusalem. James the Less (as he’s called in Mark 15:40) was thrown from a lofty pinnacle of the temple. Philip was hung up against a pillar at Hierapolis in the province of Phrygia. Bartholomew was flayed alive.

Andrew was bound to a cross, and left to die. Jude was shot to death with arrows. Matthias (the apostle chosen to replace Judas) was first stoned, and then beheaded. Barnabas was stoned to death by the Jews at Salonica. Paul, that former enemy of Christ (Acts 9), after a variety of tortures and persecutions, was finally beheaded in Rome.

Peter was crucified (just as Jesus told him he would be in John 21) in Rome. Thomas, the former skeptic of the resurrection (John 20:28), was run through the body with a lance in the East Indies for preaching the gospel.The disciples sealed their testimony that Christ was alive with their own blood. They went to their graves still affirming that the events which they had witnessed had actually occurred. I find it hard to believe that these men were lying.

People may be willing to die for something that they think is true, but nobody willingly dies for something they know is a lie. If anybody knew whether or not Jesus was alive after His resurrection, it would have been the disciples.

They were in a unique position historically that allowed them to know whether what they were saying was true or not. They actually lived in Israel at the time Jesus lived and was raised from the dead. They were there.

A ninth evidence that the Bible is the Word of God is:

9. THE BIBLE’S TRANSFORMING POWER FOR GOOD

The Bible claims to be living and powerful (Hebrews 4:12, Psalm 19:7-10) and that has indeed proven to be the case. No other book in the world has had the transforming effect upon lives and societies for good, than that of the Bible.

Wherever the gospel has gone, the Bible has had a transforming effect on every culture and country for good. Down through the centuries, its words have converted millions of unbelievers to faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

Millions of people, who would testify that they were immoral, vile sinners, drowning in drug addictions, alcoholism, pornography, gambling and the like, have been transformed into godly men and women as they have studied and followed the teachings of the Bible. What words of wisdom the Bible contains! People on every continent, in more than 2,000 languages, look to the Bible to guide them through life’s perplexing and confusing circumstances.

The Bible has inspired people to build hospitals, start universities (most of the world’s greatest universities—e.g. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, were started by Christians for Christian purposes).

The Bible was responsible for launching humanitarian efforts to the poor throughout the centuries. It was the inspiration behind the abolishment of slavery through William Wilberforce, an evangelical Christian and member of the British Parliament in the early 19th century who was largely responsible for the abolition of the slave trade.

It was the prime mover behind those who worked for the equality of people among people of different skin colors as well as the fair and equitable treatment of women.

It moved great scientific minds like Newton, Galileo, and Copernicus to investigate the universe scientifically. And the Bible furthered the development of great art and music through men like Mozart, Beethoven and Bach.

Philip Schaff, speaking of Jesus’ influence, aptly wrote, "Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science and learning, He shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of schools, He spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, He set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times.”

And the tenth evidence that the Bible is God’s Word is:

10. THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS, THE SON OF GOD

Another reason that you can be sure that the Bible is trustworthy is because Jesus said it was! Jesus did not just claim to be the Son of God, He proved that He was the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead (Rom. 1:4), fulfilling hundreds of Old Testament prophecies, living a sinless life, and performing a multitude of miracles.

If Jesus is the Son of God, we can trust what He had to say about the word of God. Jesus affirmed at least six things that were true about the Bible.

A. Without Error. In John 17:17, Jesus said in His prayer to His Father, “Thy word is truth.”

B. Historically Reliable. Jesus affirmed as historically true some of the most disputed passages of the Old Testament, including the story of Jonah in the whale (Matt. 12:40), the destruction of the world by a flood in the days of Noah (Matt.24:37-39), the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Matt.10:15; Luke 17:32;) and so on.

C. Divinely Authoritative. Over and over, Jesus said to Satan, “It is written...it is written...it is written” (Matt. 4:4-10).

D. Scientifically Accurate. For example, when He taught on marriage He referred to the literal creation of Adam and Eve (Matt. 19:4).

E. Infallible (Dependable, or Unbreakable). In John 10:35 Jesus said, “The Scripture cannot be broken.”

F. Indestructible. In Matthew 5:18 Jesus said, “For truly I say to you, until heaven and Earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished.”

If Jesus was a prophet of God, as even the Qur’an teaches, or even if He was a good teacher (as so many are willing to believe today), it would be wise for us to take His Word on the matter.

Beyond dispute, Jesus taught that the Bible is a historically reliable, divinely authoritative, scientifically accurate, dependable, error free, indestructible book.

A skeptic might say: “Come on, Jeff! You’re referring to the words of Jesus in the Bible to prove the Bible. You’re guilty of circular reasoning. You’re quoting the Bible to prove the Bible!”

Ah, but as I pointed out earlier, the Bible is not one book. It is a collection of 66 books written by different authors. So when I quote Jesus' words to substantiate what Moses or other authors wrote I am not involved in circular reasoning at all.

Instead, I am quoting altogether independent sources that happen to be bound together between two covers of the same book.

The skeptic might then retort: “Okay Jeff! But, Jesus was only talking about the Old Testament when He said those things. The New Testament had not been written.”

You’re right! It was not written yet. But listen to what Jesus said to His disciples in John 14:26. He promised the aid of the Holy Spirit to His disciples in writing the New Testament.

Jesus said, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26).

In John 16:13, Jesus told His disciples, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.”

As these men went out into the world to make disciples, to preach, and teach, to pen the New Testament gospels and epistles, they were going to have the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit!

So, Jesus validated the trustworthiness of the Old Testament and He promised the trustworthiness of the New. Based on Jesus’ testimony, you can trust both.

Have you had questions about the trustworthiness of the Bible? I assure you that it is based on these ten lines of evidence:

1. Fulfilled Prophecy

2. Archaeological Verification

3. The Bible’s Internal Consistency

4. External Verification

5. The Bible’s Amazing Scientific Accuracy and Foresight

6. The Manuscript Evidence

7. The Bible’s honesty about the failures of its Author’s and Hero’s.

8. The Willingness of Jesus’ Disciples to Suffer

9. The Bible’s Transforming Power for Good

10. The Testimony of Jesus, the Son of God

We hold in our hands an amazing book indeed!