Category: Skepticism

How do I know the Bible is True? Part 4

4. The evidence of MANUSCRIPT comparisons supports that the Bible is true.

The historical reliability of an ancient document is determined by the number of manuscripts and the time interval between the original and earliest copy. The more manuscripts and the shorter the time gap between the original and earliest copy, the greater the historical reliability of the document. When comparing the New Testament with other famous writings, the New Testament has far more manuscript authority than any other ancient literature (see above chart), showing that it is historically reliable.

How do I know the Bible is True? Part 3

3. The evidence of Bible PROPHECY supports that the Bible is true. 

The Old Testament predicted what would happen to certain nations, cities, and people, all of which happened or are happening just the way the Bible said. The book of Genesis records God’s promise to Abraham that his descendants would never be wiped out (Gen. 17:7-8, 19-21; 21:12-13, 17-18; 22:15-18); today the Jews and Arabs, descendants of Abraham’s first two children, Isaac and Ishmael, are still with us as distinct peoples. Yet there are no more Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites or Babylonians, Medes or Persians. Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome all rose and fell just the way the book of Daniel said they would (Daniel 2:19-45; 7:1-8:27). There are many predictions about the coming of the Messiah that were perfectly fulfilled in Jesus Christ. For example, Psalm 22 describes the crucifixion of Jesus in vivid detail. The amazing deal…Psalm 22 was written hundreds of years before Roman crucifixion was even established. A glimpse at a few of these prophecies (see above chart) shows that they were given and fulfilled in great detail. 

How do I Know the Bible is True? Part 2

2. The Evidence of ARCHAEOLOGY supports that the Bible is true.

Over and over again archaeology demonstrates that the people and places in the Bible actually existed when and where the Bible says they did. For example, a Time magazine article reported that two Italian scientists at Ebla in Northern Syria discovered documents that demonstrate that people like Abraham’s ancestors and places like Jerusalem actually existed around 2400 B.C. The article states, “Their discovery does more than provide documentary evidence of a little-known kingdom that existed between 2400 and 2250 B.C.; it also provides the best evidence to date that some of the people described in the Old Testament actually existed” (Hedley Donovan, ed., “A New ‘Third World,’ ” Time, 18 October 1976, p. 63). 

A more recent archaeological find took place in 2017 by archaeologists from Tel Aviv University that substantiates a Timna Copper Mine was dated to the time of Kings David and Solomon around 1,000 B.C. They announced that tests of donkey dung discovered at Timna, a site of ancient copper mines along the Rift Valley in southern Israel, showed the animal waste was 3,000 years old. The tests also showed that the donkeys’ diet indicated that their feed came from near Jerusalem—another example of a centralized power at the time of David and Solomon (https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2017/december/biblical-archaeology-top-10-discoveries-2017-israel.html). 

Again and again the Bible has shown itself to be rooted in history. We count our history by it. Every time you write down a date, you write down the date from Jesus’ First Coming to earth. So it is a book that’s rooted in history.

How Do I know the Bible is True? Part 1

There are several different kinds of evidences behind the truth of the Bible that support our faith. The first is:

1. The Evidence of UNITY supports that the Bible is true.

The Bible has 66 books written by about 40 authors over a period of 1,500 years. These authors ranged from kings to peasants…shepherds to tent makers…tax collectors to fishermen…rabbis to cupbearers. Yet all these authors who wrote on three different continents using three different languages (Hebrew, Greek and a little Aramaic) wrote with agreement on what are some of the most controversial subjects in our world today. For example, the first book of the Bible talks about “Paradise Lost” (Genesis 1-3) and the last book of the Bible talks about “Paradise Restored” (Revelation 21-22). How do you get forty people in a room to agree on anything? Yet they agreed on these things. How can this be?

The Bible tells us in 2 Peter 1:16-21: “16For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. 19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”

These verses teach five important facts:

a. The Bible is a reliable collection of historical documents (1:16a).

b. The Bible was written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses (1:16b).

c. The Bible reports supernatural events (1:17-18) that took place to fulfill specific prophecies (1:19).

d. The Bible did not originate from men (1:21a). 

e. The Holy Spirit directed these different authors to write each word down without error (1:21b).