Why the Bible?

EIGHT POWERFUL REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD BELIEVE THE BIBLE

“The Word of the Lord came,” and “God said,” and “God spoke:” according to the search engine on the Esword LT APP, those phrases appear in the Bible (KJV) a total of 785 times. The Scripture testimony regarding its own origin is overwhelming: “no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit” 2 Peter 1:21 (ASV). Don’t you think that these extraordinary claims are worthy of investigation? If they are true, then the Bible is the most important book in existence. 

But how can we know if the Bible is really the Word of God? Is there any reasonable corroborating evidence? Skeptics say that the Bible is nothing more than a collection of folklore and fantastic legends invented by religious fanatics, and that the majority of the characters in the Bible never even existed. Are there logical and convincing answers to such objections? Is there a rational justification for believing in the Bible? Read the following evidences and decide for yourself! 

1. The Bible’s Survival. The vast majority of ancient books have been lost to us, due to a number of factors, first of which is no doubt the difficulty of reproducing them prior to the invention of the printing press. Whole ancient libraries of painstakingly hand-copied manuscripts often fell victim to wars and disasters. In contrast, the Bible has survived the passage of centuries, and even millennia, a fact made even more remarkable because the Bible was at times illegal to possess on pain of death in some cases, and concentrated efforts were even made to exterminate it completely. No other book has been banned on so many occasions in so many places. During the French Revolution, for example, Bibles were publicly burned and Voltaire boasted that the Bible and religion would soon disappear. Ironically, years after his death, his house was acquired by the Geneva Bible Society and Voltaire’s printing press was even used to print portions of Scripture! As the Bible itself proclaims, “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:8).The precision and accuracy with which the Bible has been preserved is another marvelous fact of history. The vast majority of ancient Biblical manuscripts match one another almost perfectly, partly due to a rigorous and careful system in which highly trained scribes reviewed their work by counting the words, syllables, and and even letters in each line of the original text and in their copy. Without a doubt, God has not only kept His Word, but preserved it too, as the Psalmist says: “The words of the LORD are pure words: […] Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever” (Psalms 12:6-7).

2. The Bible’s Trans-historical, Transcultural Relevance and Appeal.   The truths of the Bible have appealed to people of every race and place throughout the ages of time, giving comfort, counsel and spiritual sustenance. No other book has ever come close the Bible’s ability to reach and positively impact the complete spectrum of humanity. Even a superficial study of the impact that the Bible has had on entire societies and people groups throughout history reveals that the Bible is the book that has changed the course of history more than any other. Furthermore, the Bible continues to be the  absolute best best-seller, with more copies printed, translated and distributed worldwide than any other book in existence. No other book even comes close to the Bible in these categories. Such facts are even more impressive considering how old the Bible is, as most best-sellers quickly lose their relevance and importance, often within a generation or two. Jesus Christ put it this way: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”  (Matthew 24:35). 
3. The Bible’s Perfect Internal Harmony. Despite being written by more than 37 different authors of diverse occupation, age, and nationality over a period of fifteen centuries, the Bible is consistent with itself. It contains no real contradictions, but rather a supernatural congruency and coherence. All 66 books contain the principal theme of the conflict between good and evil and the redemption of a planet condemned to destruction. The same main character, Jesus Christ, can be found from Genesis to Revelation. No other collection of literature with such a diversity of authors comes remotely close to the unity and agreement found throughout the Bible.

4. The Bible’s Scientific Wisdom: The Bible contains scientific truths that were recorded hundreds and even thousands of years prior to their study and confirmation by modern science. For example, Isaiah 40:22 speaks of “the circle of the earth.” If the earth were flat, it would not look like a circle when viewed from any position. Only a sphere will appear as a circle regardless of the viewer’s perspective. Deuteronomy 12:23 and Genesis 9:4 prohibit the consumption of blood, declaring that the life is in the blood. For hundreds of years, doctors and scientists did not agree. In fact, for a long period of history, blood letting was common treatment for sick patients. George Washington, the first president of the United States, died because his doctor removed too much of his blood, believing that his fever was a result of having too much blood in his system. Now of course we know that blood is essential for life, and we donate blood for the sick rather than taking their blood away. 

5. The Bible’s Confirmation by History and Archaeology: History and archaeology have confirmed the Bible again and again in its records or people, events and even timing. Not only that, but many criticisms of the Bible have been eradicated by archeological discoveries. Here are jus a few from a host of examples: 

1. For years, skeptics mocked the Bible because it often speaks of the Hittites, a people group completely unknown outside of the Biblical text. However, archeologists later discovered entire Hittite cities full of artifacts and inscriptions confirming that they  were a prominent and powerful people exactly during the time period when they appear in the Biblical record.
2. King David was the object of much secular criticism until about 1993 when Dr. Avraham Brian and his team found a basalt stele from the ninth century B.C. in Tell Dan. Inscriptions on the stele clearly mention the house of David in connection with the kingdom of Israel. Since that time, other finds have further verified the historicity of David and his dynasty.
3. William Ramsey, a famous atheist archaeologist and historian, proposed to demonstrate that the Bible is untrustworthy. He spent twenty-five years investigating the historical places and events mentioned in the books of Luke and Acts, conducting excavations in 32 nations, 54 cities, and nine islands that are mentioned by Luke. Instead of disproving the Bible, his findings confirmed the Biblical record again and again with such overwhelming certainty, that Ramsey himself became a believer and  a strong defender of the truth of the Bible. 

6. The Exact Fulfillment of the Bible’s Numerous and Specific Prophecies. What would you think if someone described a future event to you in detail and then it happened exactly like he said? You might be impressed, but maybe you would still dismiss it as mere coincidence. But what if he did it again, not once, but hundreds of times? Wouldn’t you be convinced that there was something supernatural going on, far beyond human capabilities? Did you know that the Bible contains more prophecies than any other book? The Koran, the Vedas, and writings of Buddha and Confucius contain almost no prophetic content. In contrast, more than 8,300 of the 31,123 verses in the Bible are direct prophecies, and many of them have already been conclusively fulfilled in convincing fashion, including prophecies about Babylon (Isaiah 13:19-22), Tyre, (Ezekiel 26:3-5), Sidon (Ezekiel 28:21-23), Cyrus (Isa 44:28; 45:1, Ezekiel 4:3, 5:13-14), Medo-Persia and Greece (Daniel 8:20-21), the birthplace of Christ (Micah 5:2), among many others.  Fulfilled Bible prophecies are powerful evidence that the Bible is the trustworthy  word of the omniscient God. God Himself declares that fulfilled prophecy authenticates His Word as Divine so that we will believe that He is the only true God.(Isaiah 46:9-10 and John 14:29).

7. The Bible’s Spirituality and Surprising Truths. The Bible contains surprising truths, principles and wisdom that contradict and astonish human thinking (Deuteronomy 4:5-8). For example, the teaching of forgiveness, of loving and doing good to your enemies,  and blessing those who curse you, are completely contrary to human nature and logic (Matthew 5:44). This alone is solid evidence as to the supernatural origin of Scripture. 
8. The Bible’s Power to Change Lives: Thousands if not millions of Christians affirm that they have found the Bible to be the voice of God speaking to their soul, and that Biblical truth is responsible for drastic changes in their lives. Selfish and arrogant men, alcoholics, drug addicts, brawlers, gluttons, adulterers, murderers and robbers, have been completely transformed into altruistic and humble men, pure, disiciplined, kind, gentle and honest members of society by the power of the Word. Despite our differences in personality, experience and character, the Bible speaks to each of us in a powerful and personal way, revealing Christ and transforming us into His image.