Why I Choose To Believe the Bible

Why You Can Believe the Bible

-What authority do you base your life on?

-Why the Bible? Why the Bible instead of other books?

-NOT “because I was raised that way.”

-NOT “because I had an experience one time.”

-I choose to believe the Bible because it’s a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They report supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies and claim that their writings are divine rather than human in origin.

-2 Peter 1:16-21.

· It’s a reliable collection of historical documents:

o The Bible is a collection of books written by various authors.

o The Bible was written on 3 continents: Asia, Africa, & Europe.

o The Bible was written in 3 different languages: Hebrew, Greek, & Aramaic.

o The Bible was written by over 40 authors from various walks of life.

o They gave us 66 different volumes covering hundreds of topics.

o These volumes were written over a period of over 1500 years.

o Luke 1:1-4. Luke’s goal is history and chronology.

o John’s goal is evangelism.

o Mark’s Gospel is about brevity.

o Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience and thus emphasizes Jesus as Messiah.

· It’s a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses:

· 1 John 1:1-4. They were eyewitnesses to these events.

· It’s a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses.

o 1 Corinthians 15:1-7. At least 301 eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Jesus who were still alive at the time of Paul writing 1 Corinthians.

o When Paul wrote it, it was a falsifiable claim that was never falsified.

The Bible is not reliable because it has been translated so many times.

· Bible translation is NOT like the game of “telephone”.

· All translations use source materials that are available to them in their time.

· We don’t have original documents because of the materials they were written on. However, we have the documents that date back to AD 100-120. That’s within 1 generation of when the New Testament was written.

· We have over 6,000 manuscripts or portions of manuscripts of the New Testament.

· Other ancient documents:

o Aristotle's Poetics- we have less than 12 manuscripts and the earliest was written 1,000 years later.

o Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars- we have less than 12 manuscripts and the earliest was written 1,000 years later.

o Homer’s Iliad- we have a few hundred manuscripts, but the earliest copy was written over 2100 years after Homer’s original.

o If the Bible is not trustworthy, then we cannot trust any ancient writings.

If all we had were the writings of the early Church Fathers, we could reproduce the New Testament all but 11 verses.

We have a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses and they report supernatural events:

· The Transfiguration of Jesus.

· Jesus healed the sick.

· Jesus walked on water.

· Jesus died, then was raised from the dead three days later.

We have a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses and they report supernatural events that took place to fulfill specific prophecies.

· Isiah 53:1-12 written more than 700 years before Jesus was born.

· Psalm 22:1-31. Jesus quotes from the cross (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34; John 19:28).

· 2 Peter 1:19.

We have a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They report supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies and claim that their writings are divine rather than human in origin.

· 2 Peter 1:20-21. They came that this came from God.

· You cannot use science to disprove the Bible.

· The scientific method has to be observable, measurable, and repeatable.

· History is not observable, measurable, or repeatable.

· You do not use the scientific method to prove historical events. You use the evidentiary method as you would in a courtroom.

· You ask about:

o Reliability of sources.

o Corroboration of sources.

o Internal and external evidence which supports these sources.

o Who are the witnesses?

o Are they reliable and trustworthy witnesses?

o Is this falsifiable?

o Are there other things which are contradicting this? Or, supporting these claims?

When you ask those questions, you come away with:

three continents; three languages; over 40 authors; most of whom never met one another; they write 66 volumes; these volumes address hundreds of different subjects and topics; they come together in a cohesive unit that tells one Redemptive story; and it's written over a period of more than 1500 years.

Therefore, you have corroboration; you have reliability; you have 25,000 archaeological digs related directly to matters discussed in the Bible that have confirmed what we find therein; you have the writings of contemporaries who confirm what we find therein. Therefore, the intelligent man is not the man who says, “I simply can't believe that”. That's the fool, the intelligent man says, “I choose to believe the Bible because it's a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. They report Supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies, and they claim that their writings are Divine rather than human in origin, and if that's not enough I tried it changed my life!

Q&A Session after the lecture can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQvSg8Yxxkg