Reasons the Bible is God’s Word

HISTORICAL ACCURACY

To attack the historicity of the Bible is to attack our salvation.

The God who is the controller of history would write a book that is true.

ARCHAEOLOGY

Archaeology should vindicate and validate the accuracy of the Bible. We are living in the Golden Age of archaeology.

William Albright- affirmed the historical accuracy of the OT tradition

HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL TRUSTWORTHINESS OF THE BIBLE

Millar Burrows- On the whole, archaeological work has unquestionably strengthened confidence in the reliability of the scriptural record. More than one archaeologist has found his respect for the Bible increased by experience of excavation of Palestine.”

Of the 5,000 archaeological sites available in Palestine, only 200 have been worked.

1845- Nineveh- 2600 tablets

Nuzi tablets

1933-1960- tablets

Dead Sea Scrolls

Camels in Egypt- 3000 BC

WRITING-

writing not invented- Moses could not have written Pentateuch

tablets found alphabet predating his life

Archaeology proves the house of David as well.

Dan- Laish- place where inscriptions proved the history of David

SARGON- proven

BOOK OF ACTS- historically-reliable book-

Sir William Ramsey set out to prove the unreliability of the book of Acts.

“Luke was an historian of the first rank!”

MEGIDDO- facts about Solomon

LACHISH- a buffer city before Jerusalem- 1935- found letters written on pottery- break pots and use as “post-it notes.”

SILOAM TUNNEL INSCRIPTION- King Hezekiah- Assyrians came against city-

II Kings 20:20: “And the rest of the acts of Hezekiah, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought water into the city, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?”

II Chronicles 32:30: “This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.”

In 1838, Edward Robinson discovered the tunnel- 1,750’ in distance

Inscription

GEISLER: “While many have doubted the accuracy of the BIBLE, time and continued research have consistently demonstrated that the Word of God is better informed than its critics.”

MORRIS: “Not one unquestionable find in archaeology that proves the Bible to be in error at any point.”

OVERALL UNITY

40 different authors- princes, kings, shepherds, farmers, doctors, tax collectors, scribes, fishermen, etc.

Over 1,500 years

3 languages- Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic

3 continents- Asia, Europe, Africa

Literary styles- historical narrative, religious poetry, didactic treatise

FF Bruce- “The Bible is not simply an anthology; there is a unity which binds the whole together. An anthology is compiled by an anthologist, but no anthologist compiled the Bible.”

Central Theme- JESUS

SPROUL: “....amazing symmetry and coherency...”

MORAL SUPERIORITY

The Bible has an incredible moral and social impact.

Bible

cleanses us

nourishes us- food for our bodies; Bible by our souls

Psalm 19:8: “The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.”

comforts us

encourages faith in us

transformative power

Josh McDowell regarding his father: he did not need alcohol any more

Unbeliever- leap into sin and love it; believer- lapse into sin and will loathe it

An unbroken pattern of sin marks the life of the unbeliever. The gospel does not provide a disclaimer for that.

I John 2:4: “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

Such were some of you! The Bible changes lives. There is no argument against the changing of someone’s life.

Textual Superiority

It stands alone in comparison with books that claim to be divine.

- Science of Islam-

7 heavens

moon split in 2

heavens held up by pillars

Historical Errors

identifies Haman as a minister of Pharaoh at time of Moses

confuses Mary, mother of Jesus, with sister of Moses

Surah 2:49-50- confusion with story of Saul and that of Gideon

Divine Testimony

Jesus Christ affirmed the authority and inspiration of the Word of God.

THE INCARNATE WORD OF GOD AFFIRMS THE WRITTEN WORD OF GOD.

STOTT: Jesus Christ Himself taught it.

Jesus promised the NT:

Jesus was more letter than word in His view of inspiraiton.

jot- an apostrophe (yod)

tittle- a part of a title (resh for a dalet based upon the title)

Jesus used the authority to the written Word in condemning Satan. It is written...

prophetic accuracy

unity

inerrancy

divine authorship

Ryrie: …in a manner that evinced His total confidence in their historical veracity...

TEXTUAL RELIABILITY

Inspiration and preservation meet at God’s Word.

Luke 16:17: “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.”

History has bee marked by

175 BC- Antiochus Epiphanes- destroy Hebrew Scriptures or die (Judas Macaabeus)

Diocletian- ordered the outlaw of Christianity- burn Bibles and kill disciples- The Name of Christianity is Extinct- after his death, Bibles were propagated; followed by Constantine who ordered writing of 50 more copies

translated into 2,000 languages

Dead Sea Scrolls- we still have the same OT as was present in Jesus’ day

NT textual criticism- not do we have God’s Word but which variant is God’s Word (variant- a difference between 2 texts)

spelling; word order; pronoun or antecedent;

99.5% is without question…none of these areas overturn any doctrine of the Bible

SCRIBAL RULES AND PRACTICES

only clean animal skins were to be used

each column of writing- no less than 48 no more than 60 lines

special recipe for ink- as to not fade

must say each word aloud when writing

must wide pen and wash entire body before writing the word YHWH (every time they wrote it); reverentially write it

required review within 30 days

if any more than 3 pages need reviewed, the entire manuscript was discarded

letters, words, and paragraphs were counted-- document was invalid if letters touched one another

stored in sacred places

if discarded, they were buried, not burned

Josephus: We have given practical proof for the preservation of our texts--- not a symbol--- instinct of Jews to revere and protect them.

NT MANUSCRIPTS:

so short a time between writing and preservation

bibliographical test

Matthew- AD 42

Mark AD 60-67

John- before AD 90

Luke- AD 58-60

All written by a baptized Jew between AD 45-90

earthly church fathers- apologists- Luke- does not report destruction

Paul- martyred by Nero-

internal evidence test- consistency within and without

external evidence test- Josephus (death of John Baptist; mentions Jesus); Polycarp; Pliny Younger; Lucian; Celcius; Talmud

biographical- witnesses wrote within a short period from occurrence

David Hume- witnesses many? truthful? contradictory? non-prejudicial? Authors died for what they wrote. They agree. They are non-prejudicial, disbelieving in Jesus at first.