How do we know the Bible is the Word of God?
Why is the Bible any different from all other religious books? It’s a question people often ask. There are seven reasons why we say the Bible is God’s Word, why we bank our lives on the Bible and why you should too…
First because of its internal consistency. The Bible contains 66 books written by 40 different authors in 3 different languages over the course of 1500 years. And yet they all paint a picture of one story that revolves around the one true God creating men and women, who sin against God, and God making a way of restoration for all things through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
All 66 books contribute to that story and the good news of Jesus. If you were to ask 40 people at random for their views on God, what’s wrong with the world and how things can be put right, there is no way that they would agree. But the message of the 40 authors in the Bible is coherent and consistent from start to finish.
Second because of the Bible’s manuscript reliability. We base our knowledge of world history on writings where we frequently only have a handful of manuscripts. But we have over 5000 full or partial manuscripts of the Greek New Testament. More manuscripts are discovered every year. None of those new discoveries has ever resulted in a major revision. That makes the Bible the most reliably attested document in human history.
Third because of its historical accuracy. Over and over again the Bible has been proven to be historically, geographically and archaeologically accurate. One non-Christian, non-Jewish archaeologist said, “It may be stated categorically that no archaeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference.”
Fourth the Bible has predicted history. It contains thousands of prophecies fulfilled with uncanny precision, including more than three hundred specific prophecies in the Old Testament that are fulfilled in detail in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The odds of that happening by chance are less than 1 in 2 followed by a thousand zeros! One scholar says, “The very dimension of the sheer fulfilment of prophecies in the Old Testament Scriptures should be enough to convince anyone that we are dealing with a supernatural piece of literature.”
Fifth the Bible contains eyewitness testimony. In many cases the authors were writing down either what they saw themselves or what they learned from others who were there and saw what happened. And keep in mind that those who wrote the books of the Bible were often persecuted or even martyred for what they were writing. But they wrote it anyway. Pascal said, “I believe the witnesses who get their throats cut for what they’re writing.”
Sixth there is the Bible’s timeless authority. Century after century the Bible has shown itself to be our Judge. Its authority has been attacked, questioned, criticised, disputed and denied in every age by different people. But the Bible still stands. The French atheist philosopher Voltaire once claimed, “100 years from now the Bible will be a forgotten book.” But, interestingly, after Voltaire died, the house in which he lived became a printing press for the distribution of Bibles across the World. Today most people have forgotten Voltaire. But they have not forgotten the Bible.
But lastly I bank my life on the Bible because of its supernatural authenticity. By that I mean that throughout history wherever the Bible has gone it has supernaturally changed lives. It has brought peace and joy and eternal life to those who open it, read it and then bank their lives on it. That’s why we say to everyone who asks us, whoever they are, that the Bible is necessary for your life.
