10 Reasons to Believe in the
Bible
Its Honesty
The Bible is
painfully honest. It shows Jacob, the father of its
"chosen people," to be a deceiver. It describes Moses,
the lawgiver, as an insecure, reluctant leader, who, in
his first attempt to come to the aid of his own people,
killed a man, and then ran for life to the desert. It
portrays David not only as Israel's most loved king,
general, and spiritual leader, but as one who took
another man's wife and then, to cover his own sin,
conspired to have her husband killed. At one point, the
Scriptures accuse the people of God, the nation of
Israel, as being so bad they made Sodom and Gomorrah
look good by comparison (Ezekiel 16:46-52). The Bible
represents human nature as hostile to God. It predicts a
future full of trouble. It teaches that the road to
heaven is narrow and the way to hell is wide. Scripture
was clearly not written for those who want simple
answers or an easy, optimistic view of religion and
human nature.
Its
Preservation
Just as the modern
state of Israel was emerging from thousands of years of
dispersion, a bedouin shepherd discovered one of the
most important archeological treasures of our time. In a
cave of the northwest rim of the Dead Sea, a broken jar
yielded documents that had been hidden for two
millennia. Additional finds produced manuscripts that
predated previous oldest copies by 1,000 years. One of
the most important was a copy of Isaiah. It revealed a
document that is essentially the same as the book of
Isaiah that appears in our own Bibles. The Dead Sea
scrolls emerged from the dust like a symbolic handshake
to a nation coming home. They discredited the claims of
those who believed that the original Bible had been lost
to time and tampering.
Its Claims For
Itself
It's important to
know what the Bible says about itself. If the authors of
Scripture had not claimed to speak for God, it would be
presumptuous for us to make that claim for them. We
would also have a different kind of problem. We would
have a collection of unsolved mysteries, embodied in
historical and ethical literature. But we would not have
a book that has inspired the building of countless
churches and synagogues all over the world. A Bible that
did not claim to speak in behalf of God would not have
become foundational to the faith of hundreds of millions
of Christians and Jews (2 Peter 1:16-21). But with much
supporting evidence and argument, the Bible's authors
did claim to be inspired by God. Because millions have
staked their present and eternal well-being on those
claims, the Bible cannot be a good book if its authors
consistently lied about their source of information.
Its
Miracles
Israel's exodus
from Egypt provided a historical basis for believing
that God revealed Himself to Israel. If the Red Sea did
not part as Moses said it did, the Old Testament loses
its authority to speak in behalf of God. The New
Testament is just as dependent upon miracles. If Jesus
did not rise bodily from the dead, the apostle Paul
admits that the Christian faith is built on a lie (1
Corinthians 15:14-17). To show its credibility, the New
Testament names its witnesses, and did so within a
time-frame that enabled those claims to be tested (1
Corinthians 15:1-8). Many of the witnesses ended up as
martyrs, not for abstract moral or spiritual convictions
but for their claim that Jesus had risen from the dead.
While martyrdom is not unusual, the basis on which these
people gave their lives is what's important. Many have
died for what they believed to be the truth. But people
do not die for what they know to be a lie.
Its
Unity
Forty different
authors writing over a period of 1,600 years penned the
66 books of the Bible. Four hundred silent years
separated the 39 books of the Old Testament from the 27
of the New Testament. Yet, from Genesis to Revelation,
they tell one unfolding story. Together they give
consistent answers to the most important questions we
can ask: Why are we here? How can we come to terms with
our fears? How can we get along? How can we rise above
our circumstances and keep hope alive? How can we make
peace with our Maker? The Bible's consistent answers to
these questions show that the Scriptures are not many
books but one.
Its Historical And
Geographical Accuracy
Down through the
ages, many have doubted the historical and geographical
accuracy of the Bible. Yet modern archeologists have
repeatedly unearthed evidence of the people, places, and
cultures described in the Scriptures. Time after time,
the descriptions in the biblical record have been shown
to be more reliable than the speculations of scholars.
The modern visitor to the museums and lands of the Bible
cannot help but come away impressed with the real
geographical and historical backdrop of the biblical
text.
Its Endorsement By
Christ
Many have spoken
well of the Bible, but no endorsement is as compelling
as that of Jesus of Nazareth. He recommended the Bible
not only by His words but by His life. In times of
personal temptation, public teaching, and personal
suffering, He made it clear that He believed the Old
Testament Scriptures were more than a national tradition
( Matthew 4:1-11; 5:17-19). He believed the Bible was a
book about Himself. To His countrymen He said, "You
search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have
eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.
But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have
life" (John 5:39-40).
Its Prophetic
Accuracy
From the days of
Moses, the Bible predicted events no one wanted to
believe. Before Israel went into the Promised Land,
Moses predicted that Israel would be unfaithful, that
she would lose the land God was giving her, and that she
would be dispersed throughout all the world, regathered,
and then re-established (Deuteronomy 28-31). Central to
Old Testament prophecy was the promise of a Messiah who
would save God's people from their sins and eventually
bring judgment and peace to the whole world.
Its
Survival
The books of Moses
were written 500 years before the earliest Hindu
Scriptures. Moses wrote Genesis 2,000 years before
Muhammad penned the Koran. During that long history, no
other book has been as loved or as hated as the Bible.
No other book has been so consistently bought, studied,
and quoted as this book. While millions of other titles
come and go, the Bible is still the book by which all
other books are measured. While often ignored by those
who are uncomfortable with its teachings, it is still
the central book of Western civilization.
Its Power To Change
Lives
Unbelievers often
point to those who claim to believe in the Bible without
being changed by it. But history is also marked by those
who have been bettered by this book. The Ten
Commandments have been a source of moral direction to
countless numbers of people. The Psalms of David have
offered comfort in times of trouble and loss. Jesus'
Sermon on the Mount has given millions an antidote for
stubborn pride and proud legalism. Paul's description of
love in 1 Corinthians 13 has softened angry hearts. The
changed lives of people like the apostle Paul,
Augustine, Martin Luther, John Newton, Leo Tolstoy, and
C. S. Lewis illustrate the difference the Bible can
make. Even entire nations or tribes, like the Celts of
Ireland, the wild Vikings of Norway, or the Auca Indians
of Ecuador have been transformed by the Word of God and
the unprecedented life and significance of Jesus Christ.
