•4:24 PM
Can we trust the Bible as the word of God?
Topic(s): Bible Infallibility, Atheism, Unbelief
In an age when we have little to trust or rely upon, we may wonder if we can even trust the Bible.
There are many reasons, however, that we can trust the Bible as the word of God.
First, we can trust the Bible because we trust God and it is God's book, revealed to mankind, and in perfect harmony with His nature and character. God is not a man, that he should lie (Numbers 23:19). Just as Jesus Christ, He is the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever (Hebrews 13:8). What God has produced is true, perfect, and without change, in keeping with His character.
A second reason to trust the Bible is that we know that God inspired it. Paul wrote to Timothy, 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). Speaking of the inspired Bible writers, Peter said, For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (2 Peter 1:21). The message of the biblical writers was not their own message, but the message of the will of God. Since the Bible is God's inspired book, it is without error and absolutely trustworthy.
A third great reason to trust the Bible is the evidence from the vast number of New Testament manuscripts archaeologists have discovered. They have unearthed more than 24,000 manuscripts or parts of manuscripts, dating all the way back to the first century. The Dead Sea scrolls, discovered in 1947, included manuscripts of Old Testament books dating from at least one hundred to one hundred and fifty years before Christ. As scholars began to study the scrolls, they sought to see how much the text of the Bible had changed over the centuries. What they found was that the ancient manuscripts were virtually identical to manuscripts of a thousand years later. The careful work of the copyists and the providence of God have preserved the inspired text over the centuries.
A fourth great reason to trust the Bible is the truly amazing fulfillment of prophecy within biblical history. This demonstrates clearly that God controlled the writing of the book. The prophecies fulfilled in the life of Christ alone are enough to show the Bible to be the word of God. The Old Testament prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), would be sold for thirty pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12-13), would be crucified with criminals (Isaiah 53:12), would be buried in a rich man's tomb (Isaiah 53:9), and many other events in the life of Christ. This would not have been possible if God had not inspired the Bible.
Since the Bible is trustworthy in these areas, we can know that it is trustworthy in other areas as well. The Bible is the one book that men can trust today. Any apparent contradictions come from our misunderstanding, not from actual problems within the Bible itself, For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints (1 Corinthians 14:33).
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