Can You Really Trust the Bible?

Last week we started a new series in youth group called “You Wanted to Know”. Each week we have the students submit questions for us to answer. Before youth group we put together a video of us asking random people in dowtown Salem those same questions. At youth group we show the video so the students hear how people around Salem answer the question and then we ask the students how they would answer the question. We finish by going to the Bible for the final authority. Since the Bible is our final authority we decided to start out by answering the questions Can you trust the Bible and What is the Bible all about? Click on the link below to see our video talking with people in downtown Salem. Don’t be too judgmental… it’s my first video production.

Can You Really Trust the Bible?

Below is a summary of what we looked at as “proof ” that the Bible is trustworthy:

Biblical Claims

I Thessalonians 2:13

II Peter 1:20-21

II Timothy 3:16-17

One Mind Behind the Bible

The Bible consists of 66 books, written by 40 separate authors. It was written over a time period of 1600 years, 3 different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and  Greek), on 3 different continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe). The authors were kings, peasants, scholars, philosophers, fishermen, herdsmen, poets, soldiers, priests, prophets, a tax collector, a tent-making rabbi, and a gentile doctor. All these authors, from all these walks of life, over a long span of time; and they all agree on each one of the hundreds of topics discussed in the Bible. More importantly, one central message is found from the beginning to the end: redemption through Christ! How is this possible unless God is the One Mind behind the Bible.

Fulfilled Prophecy

Hundreds of prophecies about future events were recorded in the Bible, not one detail of any them has ever failed. The futures of cities, nations, and the world were spoke about with complete accuracy. Specifically, the prophecy about Christ alone completely proves the validity of the Bible. In the Old Testament, which was written over a 1,000 year time period, you can find several hundred prophecies about the coming Messiah. Every single one of these came true in Jesus Christ. The odds of just of those coming true are 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. Or it would be like covering the whole state of Texas 2 feet deep with quarters, putting a red dot on one of the quarters, and randomly dropping it from a helicopter. Then having a guy (who is blindfolded) start walking across the state, picking up a quarter, and having it be the one with the red dot. That’s practically impossible. And that is just for 8 of the prophecies to come true in Jesus, let alone several hundred.

The Effectiveness of the Bible

More people believe in what the Bible teaches than any other religion or creed in the world… and its not even close. Even though it was written hundreds of years ago, it is still just as relevant as they day the last book was finished. We are constantly updating text books or encyclopedias, but the Bible has never had to be revised (there are new versions, but they say the same thing, just in contemporary language.) The Bible changes lives every day. The Bible is relevant to every person, in every culture, in every age, because the Bible is a living message; authored by the Living God.

Moral Standards of the Bible

The morals that the Bible calls us to live by are impossible without God. If the Bible was written by men, they never would have set themselves up to fail. A few authors, maybe, but not 40. We are also taught that we are saved not by what we do, but by grace. Biblical Christianity is the only major faith that does not require some sort of works for salvation. “Religion is man reaching to God. The Gospel is God reaching to man. There are many religions, but only one Gospel.”

Archeological Evidence

The Bible is historically accurate. Even though the Bible is the most critiqued and scrutinized book in the world, no one has ever been able to prove it historically inaccurate. In fact, the more we learn about history, the more trustworthy the Bible becomes. The truth is, many will claim the Bible isn’t true; but no one will challenge it point by point.

Scientific Evidence

The Bible makes numerous claims that we have just recently discovered. To name a few:

The shape of the earth — Isaiah 40:22
The fact that the earth is suspended in nothing — Job 26:7
Innumerable stars — Genesis 15:5
The existence of valleys in the seas — II Samuel 22:16
The existence of springs and fountains in the seas — Genesis 8:2; Proverbs 8:28
The existence of water paths (ocean currents) in the seas — Psalm 8:1,3,6,8
The Hydrologic Cycle (how it rains) — Job 26:8; Job 36:27-28; Ecclesiastes 1:6-7

This week we’ll be talking about why there is so much pain and suffering in the world. I’ll post about that tomorrow…