The Truth about the Bible – Rev. Kenneth Crews
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness – 2 Timothy 3:16
In 2 Timothy 3:16 the word inspiration literally means God-breathed. The Bible is God-breathed. As with all things spiritual, the foundation of believing in the Bible as the express Word of God is our faith. It takes faith to believe in God. It takes faith to believe that He spoke, and that the Bible is His Word spoken to us. Where there is an absence of faith, it will be difficult to convince anyone of the truth about the Bible. However, there is evidence that supports the fact that the Bible is God’s eternal Word.
- The harmony of Scripture is evidence.
The Bible was written over a period of 1500 years. 40 different authors put their pen to paper under divine unction. These men included King David and King Solomon, Moses, a learned Pharisee (Paul), and even a fisherman (Peter). It was written on three different continents and in three different languages. There was even a period of silence between the Old and New Testaments that spanned 400 years. Yet the Bible carries one message throughout the many pages and stories: God’s love and pursuit of man through His Son Jesus Christ!
- The preservation of Scripture is evidence.
The writers of the Bible did not have a backup hard drive or a cloud to send their writings to for safe keeping. Yet centuries later we are still reading the Bible. There have been over 24,000 manuscripts of the New Testament uncovered by archaeologists. That is by far the most of any ancient literary document. Homer’s Iliad comes in second with only 643 uncovered manuscripts. Prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which contained copies of the Old Testament that predated Christ, the oldest copies of the Old Testament were from around 900 AD. When comparing a copy of the book of Isaiah from the Dead Sea Scrolls and what had been previously discovered, there were only seventeen letters in question. The documents were around 1,000 years apart in their dates of writing.
Another point of preservation is that there are more Bibles in print than any other book. It has been printed in more languages than any other book. There are cities that you can visit in the Middle East that were mentioned in the Bible. There have been artifacts, ruins, and remains from battles described in the Bible excavated by archaeologists. The preservation of the Bible is unmatched!
- The fulfilled prophecies of Scripture are evidence.
Take a look at all of the Messianic prophecies fulfilled by Christ. Jesus fulfilled over 300 such prophecies. The odds of someone fulfilling eight prophecies is 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000!
It was foretold in the Old Testament about the Jews being taken into exile, and it happened. It was also foretold that the Temple would be destroyed. That took place in 70 AD. There are many more examples that we could go into, but we will move on to the final piece of evidence that I want to talk about today.
- Personal experience with the power of the Bible is evidence.
Psalm 119: 130 – “The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” Another translation of the Bible uses the word inexperienced instead of simple.
A twitter handle, @ChristianDefORG, recently asked this question: “How did you become a Christian?” One man replied, “I was an atheist. I decided God might exist and if He did I should at least ‘check it out’. I looked into other things a bit but also started reading the Bible. Several months later while reading 1 John I had a ‘Holy Spirit’ encounter. I saw God was real and I needed to repent.” (italics mine)
Did you catch that?
The man, an atheist, thought God might be real. Then while reading Scripture he had a life-changing encounter with the Holy Ghost and became a Christian.
The Word of God is alive! It can touch you, heal you, encourage you, strengthen you, etc., because it is the Word of God! And if the Bible is God’s Word then it will reflect His character. He cannot fail, and His Word cannot fail. He makes no mistakes, and in His Word we will find no mistakes. He does not change, and His Word does not change! You can take Him at His Word!