Can We Trust the Bible?

WE CAN TRUST THE BIBLE HISTORICALLY

If the gospels accurately report who Jesus was and what He said and did, then Jesus really did raise from the dead and Jesus really is the Son of God. And if Jesus is the Son of God, then all of His words can be trusted - including His belief that all of Scripture was God’s true and reliable Word.

John 10:35 KJV 1900

35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;

Matthew 15:6 KJV 1900

6 And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.

Mark 7:13 KJV 1900

13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

Matthew 5:17 KJV 1900

17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

WE CAN TRUST THE BIBLE SCIENTIFICALLY

While science and the Bible are often pitted against one another, the truth is that since God breathed out the Bible and created the world, there is no inherent conflict between the two.

“God and science is not competing explanations for the universe and life, any more than Henry Ford and the laws of internal combustion are competing explanations for the Model T. Both are necessary. Learning more about how a car works will never disprove the existence of the car-maker.” - Apologist Frank Turek

Our approach to apparent conflicts between the Bible and science depends on our worldview. Those with a naturalistic world-view will rule out from the beginning any notion of God’s intervention in the world. But those who approach the question with a Christian world-view acknowledge that science works only because God intervenes in the world. Without God holding all things together, natural laws could not be depended on.

If we approach the Scriptures with a theistic world-view, then the miracles described in the Bible are not a stumbling block. While miracles do disrupt the normal flow of nature, if there is a God, then it is not surprising that He can work miraculously in creation.

Believing in a Creator God does rule out the possibility of evolution as a world-view, that all of creation came about simply as the result of natural processes. But believing in a Creator God does not contradict science, since science cannot disprove the existence of God.

WE CAN TRUST THE BIBLE CULTURALLY

When facing the cultural challenges to the Bible, it’s wise to first understand exactly what the Bible is saying.

When Biblical teaching is in conflict with cultural norms, we must ask whether our cultural beliefs, which vary from nation to nation, have authority over the timeless Word of God, which stands as the truth confronting and critiquing all cultures over all of time.

WE CAN TRUST THE BIBLE SPIRITUALLY

Although we can trust the Bible historically, scientifically, and culturally, the way we come to truly trust the Bible is by reading it. Those who immerse themselves in the Bible with a humble and hungry heart will experience the trustworthiness of the Bible and conclude that the Bible is indeed God’s Word which stands as the final authority over every other authority.