Why You CAn Believe the Bible

Why You Can Believe the Bible

The bible is a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses.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 origin.

it’s a reliable collection of historical documents.

The bible is unlike many other religious books, its a collection. There is no one individual who says that they heard from God and everyone else concedes.

The bible is written on three different continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe. it is written in three different languages. Mainly Hebrew and Greek, with little bit of Aramaic.

There are over 40 authors from various vocations and walks of life (Kings, fishermen, military men, doctors, etc.)

There are 66 volumes that covers hundreds of different topics over 1500 years.

This is an incredibly important concept.

Luke was a historian/doctor who told an orderly account. Luke wasn’t an eyewitness but collected information from others.

The Gospels are special because the record some of the same event telling the same story.

-Luke's goal is to give you the order of the gospel story.

-john’s goals is evangelism. he orders his gospel around 7 major signs.

-mark’s gospel is short.

-Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience and he wants to demonstrates that jesus is the promised Jewish messiah.

All of this came together

There are over 6,000 manuscripts.

2) We have a reliable collection of historical documents written by eyewitnesses

(NIV)

1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

2The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.

3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

The bible was written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses.

Some people think that there is a contradiction with vs. 8

‘then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,” they’d say, that Judas was dead at this time. but if you read in Acts chapter 1, Judas was replaced by Matthias. there had to be tweleve. And one of the requirements was that you had to be a witness to the resurrection.

So there is no contradiction. unfortunately this is some people’s predisposition. Some people read the Bible like a judge.

There have been around 25,000 archeological digs related to the subject of the Bible. not one of them have contradicted itself. they mostly confirm or affirm what we’ve learned.

So many of those who witnesses the resurrection were still alive, which meant that the resurrection was falsifiable. This is important when you’re testing the veracity of a claim. If someone makes a claim and it can’t be falsified the claim can’t be tested. But this claim, the resurrection, could have been falsified and it wasn’t. That’s evidence of it’s truth.

Here are some claims from opponents of the Bible:

The bible can’t be trusted because it was translated so many times.

This isn’t a good argument, because when a Bible translation is written, it is written from the Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic manuscripts themselves. in others words its not like you play the game where you whisper in someone’s ear and they tell another person what you said and the message continues through several people until at the end the message it different. Translators translate from the original manuscripts.

We are more capable today than we’ve ever been.

Another argument against the bible’s validity is, “We don’t have originals”. This is true. because of the materials they were written on.

But we do have documents that date back to AD 100-120. This is within a couple of decades of the completion of the NT! We have over 6.000 manuscripts or portions of manuscripts. if this doesn’t impress you, it’s because you aren’t familiar with ancient writtings.

For instance, Aristotle’s Poetics. We have less than a dozen of them. And the earliest we can go back to is 1,000 years after the writing. There are less than a dozen of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars, there is over 1,000 years between the last writing and the most recent manuscript we can put our hands on.

There are a few hundred of Homer’s Illiad. But the earliest one we can put our hands on was written over 2,100 years after the first copy was made. With this in mind, people have the audacity to question the NT.

If the bible is not considered trustworthy, then there is no ancient document that can be considered trustworthy because none of them come close.

You have the over zealous Monk theory. There is a few problems. If there were such Monks who decided to change the NT, they would have to find 6,000 Greek manuscripts and portions of manuscripts, change them all the exact same way, don’t get caught, and never tell anybody what they did.

here is another problem, Jesus told the disciples to spread among every ethic group. So within the first couple of centuries, the NT is translated into Syriac, Coptic, and Latin. To make the Monk theory even more irrational, the Monks would have to find over 6,000 manuscripts, change them all the exact same way, dont tell anyone (this is impossible). then learn how to lie in Syriac, Coptic, and Latin as well as you lie in Greek. because if you don’t there’s going to be a problem, because the Greek manuscripts all have to match.

Here is another problem with the monk theory during Constantine’s reign. The early church father’s qouted and wrote commentaries on the NT. So much so, that if all we have were the early church fathers, we could reproduct all of the NT, with the exception of 11 verses.

So if the monks were to change the NT, they’d have to find all 6,000 manuscripts all over, lie in Hebrew, Syriac, and Coptic as well as you lie in Greek. Go get all of the early church father’s writings make sure their changes (lies) match, get them back to their respective places, and don’t tell anybody what they did!

That’s fantasy!

To this point we have a valid historical book. But they also...

3. They report supernatural events. Not super-human events.

(NIV)

Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.

This was talking about when Jesus was transfigured on the mountain.

The Bible is not just about a bunch of rules about religion. These men claim that Jesus did all these supernatural events.

These super natural events happened in fulfillment of specific prophesies. Not Nostradamus type prophecies.

These super natural events happened in fulfillment of specific prophesies. Not nosterdomist.

Psalm 22 NIV

For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of the Morning.” A psalm of David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises. In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God. Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me. Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen. I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel! For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows. The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him— may your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive. Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!

Is 53:

Isaiah 53 NIV

Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

(NIV)

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?

Jesus quoted this while dying. When he said