Many in our society today hate the bible…they hate the whole concept of absolute truth and absolute authority…The cry of a Post Modern generation as they reject the supernatural is that the bible was written by man and is therefore to be dismissed.
2Timothy3:16-17 says “All scripture is God breathed and is useful for correcting, for doctrine, for reproof, for instruction and for training in all righteousness.”
Accusations against the bible include:-
- It is anti science
- There is no proof God wrote it
- Its easily dismissed
- Its full of contradictions
Here is some thoughts on the Evidence of the Authenticity of the Bible
2 broad categories:
1) External evidence
2) Internal Evidence
3 external evidences that this book is truly a miracle book:
1. The miracle of it’s origination
This book is really a library of books…66 in all. These 66 books were written over a period of 1600 years.
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They were written by 40 different men,
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from 13 different countries
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3 different continents…
and yet it all comes together as a literary masterpiece, with one central theme. That’s a miracle…with a divine Author overseeing the whole thing!
Those 40 men came from a variety of backgrounds:
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doctors,
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fishermen,
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shepherds,
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soldiers,
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kings, princes
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some were rich, some were poor
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educated, uneducated…
…if we were to take 40 men from this room today, and let’s say they were all equal in social standing, education, and background: if we put them all in a room together, the 40 of them probably couldn’t ALL agree on any one thing, much less everything! And yet, God’s Word stands without contradiction! And they all write about the same hero, Jesus Christ.
The Bible covers a variety of subjects:
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Origin of universe
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creation of man
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beginning of sin
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divine principles of government
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rise and history of Israel
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incarnation of Christ
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institution of the church
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evangelization of the world
Yet, with all of this variety, with all of these colors making its light, with a thousand threads weaving its tapestry, there is one theme from beginning to end: Jesus Christ, and the redemption of mankind.
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Genesis: seed of woman Gen. 3:15
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Exodus: passover lamb
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Leviticus: high priest
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Numbers: pillar of cloud by day, fire by night
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And we could go on and on…
Needless to say…this book is a miracle
2. The miracle of its preservation
No less amazing than the Bible’s origination, is it’s preservation.
“forever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven” scripture says.
The Bible is not the “book of the month”, it’s the book of the Ages!!!
No book has been the object of more attacks, more scorn than the Bible.
No book has ever been despised and rejected like the Word of God.
It’s been burned, ridiculed, outlawed, but amazingly, the more it is attacked, the more it multiplies!
Voltaire in his day said, “in 100 years the Bible will be a forgotten book, only to be found in museums.” 100 years later, Voltaire was dead, and his house was purchased by the Geneva Bible Society for the printing and distribution of Bibles!
Many a man has preached the funeral of the Bible, only to find out that the corpse outlives the pallbearers!
John Cummings said, “the empire of Caesar is gone, but the Word of God still survives, the legions of Rome are moldring in the dust, but the Word of God still survives, the avalanches that Napoleon heaped upon Europe have melted away, but the Word of God still survives, the pride of the Pharoahs has fallen, but the Word of God still survives. Tradition has dug for it a grave. Many a Judas has betrayed it with a kiss. Many a Demas has forsaken it, but the Bible still survives!”
The Bible is a miracle in it’s origination…it’s preservation…
3. The miracle of it’s circulation
No book has been circulated like the Bible. By far the #1 seller of all time. Many people have given their lives for the cause of circulating the Word of God. The Gideon’s are just 1 organization doing this, and each year they distribute over 80 million Bibles worldwide…and I have friends who risk their lives to smuggle the Bible into countries whose leaders forbid it’s distribution………………….and some church members don’t even carry theirs to church…………….what a shame!
John Wycliffe gave his life to translating the Bible from Latin to English, against the wishes of the pope, by the way. (Wycliffe had spoken out against the pope that he was not infallible) After his death, the church actually dug up his bones and burned them, and threw the ashes into the Thames River…what a beautiful picture, though, of what he did for the Bible, for the river carried his ashes to the ocean, and ocean currents spread them over the world, and everywhere that waves lap the shore, the Word of God has been distributed.
It’s a miracle book…in it’s origination, preservation and circulation
Now the internal evidence………..
1. Scientific Accuracy
The Bible revealed scientific facts hundreds and thousands of years before science learned about them.
While it is true that the Bible is not primarily a science book, not a text book designed to speak to your mind, but rather a love letter to speak to your heart, we should remember that the God of salvation is the God of creation…and when the Bible does speak on scientific matters, it speaks with complete authority and absolute certainty and accuracy.
Every once in a while you’ll hear about modern science disagreeing with the Bible. What should we do when this happens? Be patient, and give science time to catch up! Science has always needed to catch up with the Bible. Some examples:
Medicine:
As recently as 1600 doctors and scientists still believed that many ailments and diseases were a result of the human body having too much blood.
But now, science knows, it’s the blood that fights diseases, brings nourishment, repairs tissue, promotes growth. If only they had read Lev. 17:11, “the life of the flesh is in the blood.”
The Plague
14th Century – black plague decimated the population in Europe, as 1 in 4 people died!
It wasn’t the scientists/doctors who brought the plague under control, it was the church. The church applied a principle to the situation that was unheard of in that day, but which we take for granted today…quarantine! Lev. 13:46
46 He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.
People in Moses’ day didn’t know anything about microbiology. They didn’t know what a germ or virus was! But God gave them the principle of quarantine.
Hand Washing
1800’s – physician in Vienna named Semovice, in charge of a hospital there pregnant women were coming in for routine exams immediately after exams, many of them were dying of infection. Semovice noticed that doctors were entering the OB area from all other areas of the hospital, including the morgue, without washing their hands – he made it a rule the doctors had a fit! “this is ridiculous, it will slow us down!”
The medical field today knows to wash up, but only because science has caught up with the Bible in this area.
Thousands of years ago, Moses said in Numbers 19
14 ‘This is the law when a man dies in a tent: All who come into the tent and all who are in the tent shall be unclean seven days; 15 and every open vessel, which has no cover fastened on it, is unclean. 16 Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain by a sword or who has died, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
17 ‘And for an unclean person they shall take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for purification from sin, and running water shall be put on them in a vessel. 18 A clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, sprinkle it on the tent, on all the vessels, on the persons who were there, or on the one who touched a bone, the slain, the dead, or a grave. 19 The clean person shall sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, wash his clothes, and bathe in water; and at evening he shall be clean.
Principles here: quarantine, washing with water, changing clothes, time interval for bacteria to die
How did Moses know these things? “All scripture is given by inspiration of God.”
So far we’ve been looking at the medical field, and all the verses we’ve looked at so far are from the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the Bible, written down by Moses. Where was Moses from? Egypt!
Egypt was the leader in the medical trade in those days. The ancient Egyptians were considered to be brilliant in the area of medicine. Archaeologists found a medical book in 1855, “Papyrus Eburs”: a comprehensive book containing virtually all the medical info they had in the time in which Moses lived. Some of the info it contained were simply outlandish.
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“to prevent the hair from turning grey, you anoint your head with blood of a black cat boiled in oil, or with the fat of a rattlesnake”
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baldness: “apply a mixture of 6 fats, namely those of the snake, to strengthen it, anoint with the tooth of a donkey, crushed in honey.”
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Another cure: soak head in persimmon juice
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Other remedies include donkey’s dung, lizard’s blood, swine’s teeth, rotten meat, moisture from pig’s ears, fly excretion
This is from the brilliant ancient Egyptians, in whose schools Moses was educated. I’m glad in Moses’ writings we don’t find these instructions! I’m glad that when you read the dietary code sanitary code Moses wrote down, you find the highest standards anywhere, and without medical contradiction…why? Because all scripture is given by inspiration!
Astronomy:
We take for granted that the earth is suspended in space, hanging from nothing. Ancient Egyptians believed and taught that the earth was supported by 5 marble pillars.
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Greeks believed earth rested on the shoulders of the god Atlas.
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Hindus believed earth rested on the backs of elephants, when they shook, that was an earthquake…and the elephants rested on the back of a huge tortoise, which was on top of a coiled serpent in the midst of a cosmic sea.
Job said in the oldest of Biblical writings:
Job 26
He stretches out the north over empty space;
He hangs the earth on nothing.
That was a radical thought until just a few hundred years ago. How did Job know that perhaps 8000 years ago? All scripture is given by inspiration!
Nobody believed the earth was round until 1492. “Columbus, you’re gonna sail off the end of the earth…but 700 years before Christ, Isaiah said that God “sits upon the circle of the earth.” Circle in heb. Means globe or sphere. Is 40:22
Number of Stars
150 B.C., Astronomer named Hipparchus laid down his pencil and smiled, “it’s done”! He believed he had counted all the stars in the sky. 1,022! That was the number used in Universities for 250 years. Then Ptolemy came along and laughed, 1,022, that’s ridiculous, there’s 1,026! He found 4 more! And that was science for 1,300 years. Then Galileo came along with his invention, the first crude telescope, he looked thru it for the first time, and gasped. We know now that there are billions and billions of stars in each of the galaxies, which are innumerable!
What did the Bible say long before any of them were even born?
Jer. 33
22As the host of heaven cannot be numbered
God said to Abraham, your seed will be innumerable, (then used an illustration) like the stars of heaven.
Historical Accuracy:
Moses
The Bible records the fact that Moses wrote the first 5 books of the Bible, and Jesus verified that in the NT. For many years, unbelieving historians laughed at the thought that Moses wrote the Pentateuch. ‘that’s impossible’, they said, for there was no written language when Moses lived! Archaeologists continued their work, and in 1887 in N. Egypt 300 clay tablets were unearthed, we know them as the “tel-el-armana” tablets. What were they? Letters and business transactions between Egypt and Palestine, dated centuries before Moses was even born. And now it has been proven not only did they have a written language, they had a postal service!
Daniel
Remember the story in the book of Daniel of Belshazzar seeing the handwriting on the wall? For centuries histories mocked that story as mythology, stating that they have the Babylonian records, which show that the last king of Babylon was NOT Belshazzar, but was Nabonitis. As a matter of fact, they say, we have no record anywhere that any Belshazzar ever lived!
One day a clay tablet was found by archaeologists which revealed the truth: Nabonitis was the father of Belshazzar, and they were co-regents, ruling together! Nabonitis traveled the world, his son ruled the kingdom. Now we have a better understanding of Daniel 5:16
16 And I have heard of you, that you can give interpretations and explain enigmas. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”
What if that tablet had never been found? Should we doubt the Bible, no! But isn’t it terrific how God makes His truth known, often times with an exclamation point tacked onto the end!
Luke
Late 1800’s. early 1900’s Sir William Ramsey was a well-known archaeologist and historian. He was professor of humanities at Aberdeen University. He was considered to be the world’s most imminent scholar on Asia-Minor, and it’s geography and history. He read the book of Acts and said,
“the book of Acts is a highly imaginitive and carefully colored account of primitive Christianity” (in essence, “of my knowledge of history, I have no respect for Luke as a historian”)
Then he went to the middle east for the express purpose of proving the Bible wrong in its history. He came home and wrote the book, “Luke, the beloved physician” in which he proclaimed Dr. Luke to be one of the worlds foremost historians.
Here’s a quote from Sir William Ramsey…this was after looking carefully at the evidence:
“I take the view that Luke’s history is unsurpassed in its trustworthiness. You may press the words of Luke in a degree beyond any other historian, and they will stand the keenest scrutiny, and the harshest treatment.”
Finally, consider the 3rd category:
Prophetic Accuracy
No book in history has dared to predict the future to the degree the Bible has, without being proven wrong.
For the sake of time, let’s narrow it down to just the prophecies that dealt with the coming of Christ, 2000 years ago.
Over 300 direct prophecies in question, like,
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Is. 7:14 He would be born of a virgin Lk. 1:7 it happened!
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Micah 5:2 born in Bethlehem Lk. 2:4 that happened!
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Gen. 49:10 born of tribe of Judah Mt. 3:3 that happened!
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Psalm 78:2 speak in parables Mt. 13:34 that happened!
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Zech. 9:9 ride on colt of a donkey Mt. 21 that happened!
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Is. 61 heal broken-hearted Lk. 4:18 that happened!
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Is. 53:3 rejected by own Jn. 1:11 that happened!
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Is. 53:7 stand silent before accusers Mk. 15:5 that happened!’
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Ps. 22:18 cast lots for His robe Jn. 19:23 that happened!
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Ps. 22 (hundreds of years before crucifixion ever invented or thought of) prophets said they would pierce His hands and feet, and it happened!
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Ps. 22:1 “my God, why forsaken me?” Mt. 27:46 that happened!
v. 5 tongue cleave to jaw Mt. 26:15 that happened! -
Zech. 11:2 sold by enemies for 30 silver Mt. 26:15 that happened!
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Is. 53:9 buried w/ rich Mt. 27 that happened!
One skeptic said, “certainly this is the most striking coincidence of details.”
Dr. Charles Ryrie points out that, by the law of chance, it would require 2 hundred billion earths, each populated with four billion people, to come up with one person who could achieve one hundred accurate prophecies without any errors in sequence. But, in Christ’s coming alone, there were not one hundred, but over 300 prophecies fulfilled! And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, the prophecies dealing with His first coming!
Here is an illustration – cover the state of Texas with twenty cents piece, half a metre deep, mark the back of 1 of them with an X. Fly a man in and drop him anywhere you want in the state, blindfold him, and ask him to find that quarter with the X first try! That’s the same chance of just 8 of the Bible’s prophecies being fulfilled by coincidence!
It’s more than just a coincidence, it’s evidence that demands a verdict!
Conclusion
PostModernism hates the bible ….they hate the whole concept of absolute truth and absolute authority….
But the Bible stands on its own merits. And as it does it therefore demands that we answer the question – What are we going to do with the truth that it preaches?
Ps Peter
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Categories: Church related, Sermon Notes, Theology, Topics to wrestle with
peterpilt 
Excellent Blog Peter…very well researched & written. Thoroughly enjoyed reading it & sharing it.
Thanks mate.
If the bible is accurate. Why are there so many of them? I have I have,King James which is spose to be the most accurate. Why is there? old testament, New testament? Which is accurate? Bibles, I have 5 different ones. Different ways of the same story! I have also heard. The original book. Could not be translated too english. And make it so simple. Any one could understand…No Matthew Nickels
Matthew, Your questions don’t really make sense.
Hi Matthew, The Bible was written in Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament). The Bible has been translated into many languages including English. The King James version was translated in the 1600s. There are many modern translations of the Bible that are easier to understand. Any serious study of the Bible is done in the original languages – not in a translation of the Bible. Most Pastors and Bible teachers study the original languages so they can better understand the original text.
So there is only one Bible but there are thousands of translations of the Bible into different languages.
Hello.. The issue of the historical authenticity is a difficult question especially with the Old Testament. I recently read a book by israeli archaeologist Israel Finkelstein The Bible Unearthed where he argues that the Exodus and Conquest did not happen. The same argument is made in Peter Enn’s book The Bible Tells Me So. Finkelstein teaches at the Tel Aviv University. En’s teaches OT at Eastern University an evangelical college.
Noel, I just came across your comment about the Old Testament authenticity being difficult to prove. In a way you are correct, especially for stories like Jonah living in a fish or Joshua having the sun stand still in the sky for 24 hours. So if you tried to prove the Bible’s authenticity solely on these types of stories, which have little physical evidence, then it is easy to arrive at your conclusion.
But if you start with the Resurrection of Jesus, of which there is ample evidence, you can reach the conclusion that God did indeed raise from the dead, wiping out the death sentence of the Romans and Jews – proving the deity of Christ and that He is King of the Jews. Jesus did many miracles to prove that He is who He said, and as Nicodemus stated, “No one can do these miracles unless they are of God”. It is Jesus that gives testimony that the stories of the Old Testament are true, because He speaks of many of them (Lot’s wife, Noah, Jonah, Solomon, Abraham, Moses, etc: He speaks of several people and places in the Old Testament and quotes from 14 of the books). So our faith does not need to be blind in all areas. Jesus proves that He is God, then He references people and places from the past and gives credibility to the stories of old.
Hope this helps!
Blessings!
The Bible is accurate even there are many versions of them, we should compare what is the right translation or you should go to the older manuscripts like codex sinaitucus.
Reblogged this on byronsteele and commented:
Concise but thorough.
Great blog. I am going to share that on my page. Thanks.
The world so needs to know this! Thanks for sharing Peter. Bless you.
Well done … Lucid, objective and compelling
Awesome. Here’s an interesting one. Linguists have just recently finally been able to count, ( with the aid of computers), that there are ten thousand languages and dialects spoken today.
It’s in the Bible……how awesome is that.
Thanks Peter…..sharing.
Your logic is flawed, particularly when it comes to the validity of prophecies. The only evidence of these prophecies having been made or fulfiled is recorded in the bible. A book written/ compiled by person or persons unknown. You say “the bible stands on it’s own merits.” You cannot logically use content from a book to prove its own validity. If you could then there would be no way to distinguish facts from falsehoods.
Sometimes, you need to understand the background and context of something before one can make a decision about whether it is legitimate. Not understanding the background or context will, of course, leave one feeling confused, as one does not understand the premises.
Mr. Lain did you read the whole article or you are basing you argument on one of the facts stated. Come on, read the whole article understands what it says before you look forward to criticize what you have read. STAY BLESSED.
GOD bless you who wrote this article.
The fact that the earth is a sphere, and the stars are innumerable, and bacteria needs time to die, and running water cleans germs, and quarantine works, is not content from the Bible. It’s content from modern scientific fact. How do you explain how these people knew these things if not divinely inspired?
To Lain:
I could give you a list of extra-Biblical evidence to prove the inspiration of the Bible, but will start with just one simple fact.
The accuracy of the Bible has been challenged for centuries, and some of the greatest minds of the secular world have tried to “debunk” it. Kings have tried to burn it and drown it in the blood of believers, BUT
The scoffers and kings died and the Bible still is the all time best seller in the world.
The very fact that after all this, the Bible still stands should at least cause you to open your mind on the subject.
Let me know if you want more evidence not from the Bible.
i would thoroughly love more evidence not from the bible.
Read the history by Josephus for one thing.
I mentioned the aquatic life first, followed by birds followed by land animals, followed by man. That sequence is both found in science and the Bible.
DNA evidence points back to one family, and that could not be so in the case of evolution.
The Bible has guided archaeologists to several important sites that were long considered fables.
The Bible teaches that the Earth is suspended in space, and is globular.
That’s a few. It is late, I am headed for bed.
If you have trouble finding the information get back to me and I will tell you where it is.
You should read Israeli archaeologist Israel Finkelsteins book The Bible Unearthed where he writes that there is no archaeological evidence for the exodus or conquest. Another archaeologist William Dever also makes this claim. Finkelstein teaches in the University of Tel Alev. You say it is a best seller, perhaps one that has never been read from cover to cover. Peter Enns in The Bible Tells Me So sais “In other words, archaeology and the biblical story don’t line up very well at all. Some parts of the Bible are troublesome. Read Numbers 31 where the Israelites are call to kill everyone except the “women who have not known a man” In other words virgins/sex slaves? Verse 35 ” and 32,000 women who had never slept with a man.” Check out youtube for a video by William Dever, an archaeologist from University of Arizona. He actually says there is evidence that they believed Yahweh has a consort (wife)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZADRRdaUG8 God had a wife.
Have you yourself been to Israel?
No I have not. I have read many works by those who either teach or researched in Israel for example William Dever. When I read negative books about the historicity of the early part of the OT I look for reviews or challenges for their thesis. Since I am no longer studying at the moment I do not have access to academic journals which give one access to peer reviewed articles. One sneaky way I get papers is to check faculty pages of colleges where there maybe free downloads or I might ask for a copy of a paper. Strangely enough they respond. William Dever who has spend years digging at sites sometimes going over old ones. Once Biblical archaeology use to be something only Christian/jewish scholars indulged in like William Allbright and Dr Yadin. Albright was was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist, and expert on ceramics. I remember he was one who argued for the historicity of patriarchs , Abraham, Issac and Jacob. Now archaeology is according to Dever more an academic discipline at secular universities. Helen and I were Mormons for a number of years and I found my way out by research and couple of contacts in the US.Helen and I have been discussing Enn’s book The Bible Tells Me So and Four Views of Hell and What About Those Who Have Never Heard. I asked about this last matter with some folks who were shoving pamphlets at me in front of the Beenleigh Court House the other day. One was an ardent creation scientist and I advised him they there are Evangelical scientists over on biologos.org who accept evolution and a old earth as the way God created things. On creation science challenges you might find this paper interesting https://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted_hildebrandt/otesources/01-genesis/text/articles-books/seely_babel_wtj.htm
You are wrong when you say “you cannot logically use the content from a book to prove its own validity”. The Bible is comprised of many books, with historical qualities that have been proven over a broad spectrum of academia, including archaeology and other historical works. When they, in addition to that, operate as independent works (books), confirming prophetic events spanning centuries, your comment has no merit. In fact, based on the aforementioned, it makes quite the opposite statement from yours. From your perspective, what would make the prophetic true and reliable, if not the Bible, in all of its historical and cross-century authorship? It has all of the ingredients of authenticity if you will look at objectively and not defensively.
So true Paris
Sometimes the evidence forces us to reinterpret the stories in the Bible. Was the flood in the Bible the “whole” world or ‘their world. https://biologos.org/blogs/archive/the-flood-not-global-barely-local-mostly-theological-pt-1
The thing u missed is there are 66 books agreeing with each other compiled in one ..THE BIBLE
Fulfilled prophecy is proof that the Bible is inspired by God.
I call your attention to a prophecy found in Isaiah.
Cyrus prophecy: Isaiah 44:25 and into ch. 45
Isaiah wrote circa 792 –722 BC prophesying that king Cyrus (The Great, or Elder) would allow the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild Jerusalem. Isaiah actually named him about 150 years before his birth and 200 years before his decree to release the Jews.
Cyrus (the great) ruled Persia 600 or 575 – 530 BC
Even Bible critics have not been able to challenge the timeline of Isaiah’s writings, and the dates of the reign of Cyrus the Great are also known.
Since no man can know the future beyond projecting some trend, this absolutely accurate prediction had to come from God.
Then, when you look at the 30+ Old Testament prophecies concerning Messiah (Jesus of Nazareth), and consider the laws of mathematical probability, you can see that the chances of these prophecies coming true by chance are remote to the point of impossibility.
I beg to differ… Daniel/Revelation was fulfilled in 70AD with the destruction of the Temple EXACTLY as prophesied.
Reading the whole document before you come to a conclusion versus you having a problem with me not believing your interpretation of it and you supposedly giving me a blessing for my ignorance is problematic in itself.
Regards
Michel
I have read the bible from Genesis to Revelation, and have also discovered one important fact people like you are missing, which is the fact that the book is not written for everybody, but by and for those(including their descendants) who walked with Moses through the red sea. What is clear is that some group of people are trying tooth and nail to universalise or ridicule it. Approximately, 2.1 billion Christians world wide live in a matrix-scam believing that the person they call Jesus died for them. This is the greatest lie of this life. If you have not read the bible as I have, you have no basis to criticise it, besides if anyone should say anything regarding the authenticity of the book, it must be those it was written for. I have not seen the rightful owners of that book come out to criticise it but only those who are cut out of it, or people who do not even know that the book belongs to them
Yeah because For God so loved the world….is so discriminatory….you have to be human to be included in that verse. Clearly you have not read the bible the way I read it. God was universal when he created the earth and then he became particularistic in terms of his chosen people, but through Jesus He became universal again. Read Romans without the obvious bias you carry and you will see an incredible message of love and hope and redemption. Its so breathtaking its amazing.
I can’t tell from your message if you are criticizing or advocating the Bible, but it’s the non-Christians who are living in a “matrix-scam”. The world conditions you to not believe in the Bible. It’s obvious that the world is wicked. It permeates through everything; especially media which reaches everyone. The people who don’t believe the Bible are the ones who are being fooled by the enemy. You are falling into exactly what the enemy wants you to fall into; a worldly viewpoint. But people didn’t create the world, so we shouldn’t trust man. The enemy’s deception is great, and the Bible warns about that. Don’t be closed in your thinking. Christianity has spread from a tiny place in the middle east to every part of the world, just as Jesus said it would. Now, the most powerful, rich and successful nation that ever existed (America) is almost 80% Christian. Christianity is the most wide spreading religion. It comes from the oldest Religion that is still practiced today (Judaism). The spread of it is testament to it’s true power. All the other religions have either died out or are fading over time.
Forgive me if I misunderstand what you were saying, but the term “matrix-scam” leads me to believe that you think the people of Christ are being fooled. In addition, the Bible wasn’t just written for Moses’ people. The New Testament emphasizes that the word would be taken to the gentiles as well. It’s for everyone.
Hallow sir… I invite you …Try to listen bro eli .soriano ask them what u think that can scramble ur mind…THE OLD PATH..
I know this thread is a tad old, but I just stumbled upon it…
A few thoughts…
1. “… the most powerful, rich and successful nation that ever existed (America) is almost 80% Christian.”
~ NO. Definitely the most powerful, but at the same time, the USA is technically broke. ‘Successful’ is a matter of opinion and ‘80% Christian’ is dwindling at an alarming rate – Currently around 70%.
2. “Christianity is the most wide spreading religion. It comes from the oldest Religion that is still practiced today (Judaism)”
~ Islam also comes from Judaism and is almost as widespread as Christianity but is growing at a greater rate than Christianity making the statement, “All the other religions have either died out or are fading over time.” grossly incorrect.
3. “Bible wasn’t just written for Moses’ people”
~ Actually, it was.. (depending on one’s interpretation) Matthew 15:24 (NKJV) But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
4. “he New Testament emphasizes that the word would be taken to the gentiles as well.”
~ According to Paul, by the time he wrote the letter to the Romans,… Romans 1:8 (NKJV) “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.”
Like I said, just some observations.. .:)
In addition, the conversion of the Roman empire is something that is not talked about enough. For a carpenter from Bethlehem to go around spreading a message that ran counter to the Roman empires beliefs; then 200 years later for that same empire to convert to his religion and declare him as their God is unbelievable! Whether it was Constantine seeing the cross in the sky, or just the fact that so many people in Rome converted doesn’t matter. Either way, it’s a powerful testament to the power of Jesus. Consider this comparison. It would be like a man being born in a small town in America, coming of age, and then going about teaching that America should convert to communism. Then 200 years later, America converts to communism. Can you imagine that happening? If a man did that, someone in America would eventually kill him (just like Jesus), but then in this hypothetical, 200 years later the entire country gives up freedom and converts so communism because so many Americans believed the message and converted to communism themselves, that the govt had no choice but to change over. It’s unheard of, but that’s the same type of thing that happened with Rome.
I can’t see how you can read the prayer of Jesus, the Messiah in chapter 17 of John’s gospel and not see the universality of it. Jesus prayed for his followers (at that time) and ALL who would believe on Him because of their testimony.
The Bible was written to the 144,00 who will rule with Christ from Heaven. Trust me.
One p
I didn’t get to finish my comment. It has occurred to me that the Bible clearly follows the family record of the people and the individual family that the Messiah would be born into.
If God did not inspire that tracking, then it could not have possibly been done before the fact.
Genesis 12:2-3
“I will make your into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; all people of the earth will be blessed by you.”
I believe than in combination with this next passage ends the debate.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16
After a consideration of the external and internal evidences of the authenticity of the Bible as the infallible word of God, anybody who continues to insist the contrary has to examine their hearts.
You can’t use the bible to prove the bible…. If the bible is not 100% true, then you are using something false to prove something your view that it’s factual… If you really believe the bible cover to cover, then we should go killing homosexuals, adulterers, wayward teens etc…. OK so that bit isn’t relevant to today…… Which bits are then???? Let’s pick and choose….. Give me external FACTS without using the bible to prove itself.
Cover to cover the Bible says that the law came to expose sin and that Jesus came to fulfill the law. We are no longer bound to abide by the law and we don’t have to sacrifice or do penance if we mess up — Jesus already did that once and for all.
Aside from that, every thing that’s considered a sin has real-life, factual consequences, even now. When we do wrong things, people, including ourselves, can still be hurt, and that’s what makes it imperfect.
Reblogged this on Moriah's Musings.
If you are truly seeking a seat at God’s table that he has prepared for all of those of us who believe, trust in his word and live by his teachings, then you know there are extensive time lines of desciples, prophets and teachers of his word. Blood lines, ancestry as well as archeological artifacts that have been discovered and are being talked about more now than ever. Until recent years I have lived by my faith of God’s teachings but as time passes more and of our society questions the validity of the Christian faith and doctrine and I am making it a personal endeavor to defend and continue God’s teachings and purpose for the lives of “ALL” of his children. Man was brought into this world in “Gods” image and no I have never believed in evolution and will never believe in such non-sense. 2 Timothy 3: 16-17. Further more if I can not touch your heart and raise the awareness of God’s love for “ALL” of his children then I have failed.
I love re-reading your blogs like this one Peter.
I have just started a scriptural research concerning the existence of God, authenticity of the bible, holy ghost, whether Jesus is God the father among other areas of christian doctrine.The essence of this research is to determine my religious and spiritual path. This blog concerning the bible has being were helpful. Thank you much. If you have any other information relevant to my research I would be very grateful to receive them. Once again, many thanks.
The most ridiculous blog I have read on the internet.
You need to read more stuff on the internet then.
loved this! Thanks for writing it!
On my personal experiences as within the years of my existence, as I come along reading the Bible and linked it with mine. I have found that the bible as I believe the (word of God) is real and authentic..I cannot lie before God and men that this book is amazing! its prophecies thousands of years ago have already happened. I’m want to mention some of its numerous proof prophesied and now happened that no other books written in this universe matches with the Bible. First, there will be strong earthquakes took place in divers places (book of rev),the knowledge of increasing technologies in the last days as never had happened before, (Daniel 12:4), children will become extreme disrespectful to their parents, iniquities abound (book of revelation) hunger and pestilences,etc…It teaches every good thing and loving everyone even your enemy giving food when hungry _no other books teaches these godly thing. Also, teaches how to love and care for everyone as you love yourself…Bible so amazing!!!
Fantastic work!
What a life transforming book. I am evidence of its power. The magic word is believe
Thank you! Fantastic!!
Thank you for putting this informative article together! Just two corrections on two topics that I have a little knowledge of. The spelling of the physician Semovice is Semmelweiss. The fact that the earth is a sphere was known before the birth of Christ and it is not true that ” Nobody believed the earth was round until 1492″.
Amongst others Eratosthenes calculated its circumference in about 240 B.C. Of course this doesn’t invalidate the references to Job 26 and Is 40. God bless.
You can resume the whole article in one sentence ” The bible is accurate because it’s impossible that it is not” It’s called circular reasoning…
The Bible maybe a best seller but not a book that is that much read. My wife is an exception to that.Most read to cherry pick scriptures to support a particular point of view. How many Gideon Bible lay in Hotel bedrooms? Most troublesome for many Christians is the violence in the Old Testament. Moses is accepted by conservative evangelicals to have been written by Moses. How did he write? From memory? Aweful lot of numbers in Numbers 31. Why did the violence have to happen? “New atheists” such as Sam Harris and the late Christopher Hitchens have attacked the Bible over this issue.Paul Copan in Is God a Moral Monster? Making Sense of the Old Testament God attempts to answer this question. Thom Stark has done a long interesting response to Copan. http://thomstark.net/copan/stark_copan-review.pdf Were the Canaanites that wicked? Why did they not preach to them like Jonah did the people of Nineveh repented and God “changed his mind” about destroying the city.
Noel, You make a Great Christian, God always wanted people like you 🙂
To Noel.
You and others are missing a critical point. God made a promise to Eve that “her seed” would crush the serpent’s head. From that point forward until the time Messiah came, the Bible is a record of what God did to keep that promise.
As far as violence is concerned, man himself is responsible for that!
A careful reading will reveal that not every town was put to the sword. The command concerning virgins would obviously have to do with stopping venereal diseases which had to be rampant because of the lifestyles of so many in Canaan.
There were special rites to be observed by those wishing to become citizens with the Hebrews, so obviously, many were left alive.
Stoning rebellious children was talking about grown men who had made their own bad choices.
It is so easy to criticize what you do not understand. I highly recommend that you make the acquaintance of the AUTHOR of the Bible, and then you will understand His book.
I believe that Dever and Finkelstein and Peter Enns have established much of the exodus and conquest story are myth. This men have done the work on the sites and development in science would improved their interpretations. Dever according to his comments on the video was a Biblical archaeologist to someone who someone who now believes it is all myth. Enns is an evangelical scholar at Eastern University.If you have someone who disagrees show me some peer reviewed publication. Yahweh was a tribal God. They believed other gods existed . “The developed monotheism of later Judaism seems to have grown out of an earlier system of “monolatry”, in which the God of Israel was worshipped exclusively but the existence of other deities was not denied. This monolatry in turn developed out of the original polytheism of the peoples of the Levant.” http://religiousstudiesblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/el-yahweh-and-development-of-monotheism.html. Do you notice that it is Deutro-Isiah (50- ) where it pushes monotheism
Perhaps the author needed to audit what they wrote:-
Can a man have sex with a woman during her period?
‘If a man has sexual relations with a woman during her monthly period, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has also uncovered it. Both of them are to be cut off from their people. (Lev 20:18).”Perhaps death or excommunication) (“because this thing is no different than having sex with your sister or aunt” (Peter Enns The Bible Tells Me So p.161.)
“‘If a man has sexual relations with her and her monthly flow touches him, he will be unclean for seven days; any bed he lies on will be unclean.(Lev 15:24). Note here nothing about the woman.
Can Israelites eat the carcasses of mauled animals?
Exodus 22:31 “”You are to be my holy people. So do not eat the meat of an animal torn by wild beasts; throw it to the dogs.”
Leviticus 17:15 “And if any native-born Israelites or foreigners eat the meat of an animal that died naturally or was torn up by wild animals, they must wash their clothes and bathe themselves in water. They will remain ceremonially unclean until evening, but then they will be clean.
How do we celebrate properly the Passover meal?
Exodus 12:8-9 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails.46 “It must be eaten inside the house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones.
Deut 16:7-8 Roast it and eat it at the place the LORD your God will choose. Then in the morning return to your tents.
For six days eat unleavened bread and on the seventh day hold an assembly to the LORD your God and do no work.
Can Israelites keep their fellow Israelites as slaves? yes Exodus 21:2-11, Deut 1512-18 No Lev 25:39-43 .
The Bible might be a best seller but it seems the most disputed book when it comes to interpretation. In the manuscripts discovered and held in libraries and archives evidence appears to show some differences and others great preservation( eg Isaiah scroll). The Lords prayer ends at ‘deliver us from evil” I understand the rest was in the margins and added later. Some disagree.
What amazes me that Peter Enns in The Bible Tells Me So and his other writings still maintains it as scripture with all it’s messiness. He does not go towards fundamentalism with rigid interpretations or the extreme liberal view tossing everything out. He has a site The Bible for Normal People.
https://peteenns.com/
https://peteenns.com/there-are-no-contradictions-in-the-bible/
?
I am imagine that Enns would be considered a heretic in some circles especially the Lutheran church I grew up with.
Might I suggest you read The Bible Tells Me So.
Yes you have suggest that I read that book a few times.
I have been thinking of asking you about a Professor at the seminary (Fuller) where you gained your masters degree. She is Nancy Murphy , Professor of Philosophy. I have two books of hers, one only by her, Bodies and Souls, or Spirited Bodies and one she co-authored Whatever Happened to The Soul Scientific and Theological Portraits of Human Nature. They are books that require concentration and somewhat investigation of the terms used like physicalism ” The physicalist thesis is that as we go up the increasingly complex organisms all of the other capacities once attributed to the soul will also turn out to be products of complex organisation rather then properties on a non-material entity” She talks about “Are humans compose of a body and non-material mind or soul, or are we purely physical beings? Opinion is sharply divided over this issue. She argues “for a physicalist account, but one that does not diminish traditional views of humans as rational, moral and capable of relating to God” There has been research in neuroscience on empathy and it has been argued that psychopaths do not have that part of the brain they think they have found that involves empathy.. Ray Anderson argues “The word “soul” (nephesh) is never used to refer to something external to a person… The soul could never exist outside a person” p.178. These people are Christians who argue from scripture their support for the physical only position. So either the truth is hard to find or one side is being dishonest about it.
I am not aware of Nancy Murphy or her writings.
Great Article, I liked the content and the context!
To All, Don’t just read the Bible as a book, it the Word Breathed by God Himself. Read the Bible with GOD in Context and nothing else. World is filled with many who do not know GOD and His Son Jesus who Died for all. If you faith in the things around you, you should also have faith in the God who created all things!
I know this article is a bit old, but I need to correct something. The world was not discovered to be a sphere in 1492, in fact, Pythagoras first noticed the world was round around 500 B.C. by recording the Earths shadow on the moon. Depending on when you think the Book of Job was written, your argument could be disproved as a whole.
I would suggest Job was written a long time before 500 BC as it was one of the first books of the OT written.
Some thing to chew on. Local or universal flood? Age of the earth see biologos.org for some evangelical scientists argue for the old earth
https://scholarlycommons.obu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1049&context=honors_theses
It seems languages were already diverse. Also were clay bricks in use then?
https://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/ted_hildebrandt/otesources/01-genesis/text/articles-books/seely_babel_wtj.htm
“A handful of evangelical scholars, however, have apparently felt pressured by
the fact that taken at face value the story conflicts, as we shall see more clearly
later, with the archaeological evidence that not every human being on earth was
speaking the same language at the time of the building of the tower of Babel.
They have accordingly sought to adjust the story by suggesting that Gen 11:1
only refers to a small part of mankind speaking the same language, probably the
Sumerians speaking Sumerian. They construe the words “all the earth” in 11:1
as a reference simply to Mesopotamia or even just southern Mesopotamia.”
As to the question about Job Albert Hernandez writes ” “It is important to note that all three of these books – 1 Chronicles Zechariah and Job are post-exilic (after 597 BCE when some of the Israellites returned from the Babylonian Captivity) The Quest for the Historical Satan p.58.
In his opinion.
When does something cease to not be an opinion and most likely a fact Many scholars do not consider Job as historical. Do you think God knew that Job would remain faithful? Bit of a bummer that some family members had to die in order to prove a point?
Maybe its not a pity…..Maybe we view death different to God.
Hey Noel…read my latest blog about men having access to girl’s toilets….Would love to hear what your lefty opinion has on guys using the same toilets as your wife, daughters or granddaughters.
There was some dispute as to whether David was a historical person. Some time ago their was a tekron found with his name. Two views about the find are-
http://www.bibleodyssey.net/en/tools/video-gallery/t/tel-dan-inscription-meyers
Most scholars reject that out of hand at the get-go, and they say even though the Bible is not a history book, it certainly has been using historical sources. It has been using court records. It has been using family traditions, recollections, and from that creating this very dynamic narrative that’s got some elaborations, folk tales, but also has some valid historical information.
http://www.bibleodyssey.net/tools/video-gallery/t/tel-dan-davies
We might say it’s some minimal evidence that there was a figure remembered as David, if that is what the inscription says, but it tells us absolutely nothing about this, except that he had a house. Maybe, a dynasty, it may of course, be a building. There are complications in that the letters ‘DWD’ also occur in another inscription; the inscription of the Moabite King, Mesha, where possibly they occur twice and there might also be a reference; but again, nothing about a king who lived in Judah in either of them. So we really again, have to be very careful that we don’t mislead the public by getting them to think that we know something we don’t; and on this, we know practically nothing. We can only guess. Don’t let anybody else tell you any different.
http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/Minimalism.shtml
Let me reinforce this claim in respect to my own work. The mainstream view of critical biblical scholarship accepts that Genesis-Joshua (perhaps Judges) is substantially devoid of reliable history and that it was in the Persian period that the bulk of Hebrew Bible literature was either composed or achieved its canonical shape.
So you have Meyer from Duke (a Methodist University) and Davies from Sheflield University
Hi, Noel. Most people miss the central point of the Book of Job. It was a challenge from Satan to God.
“Hey, God, the man you point out as one of your choice men only serves you because of what you have given him. He is a bought servant. Furthermore, NO ONE loves you! (If I may be allowed to put words into Satan’s mouth. At any rate, it is the essence of what he said.)
If God is not loved, then He has no right to rule, because He only rules over those who want Him to.
Hence, the challenge could not be ignored, and Satan caused Job much suffering. What we can know from this is that Satan’s challenge against the servants of God has not changed. He is still accusing believers of unfaithfulness toward God, saying that we do not love Him. Satan simply cannot understand that anyone could love God, because he certainly does not.
“We do learn from the story that innocent suffering does exist. Human suffering is not necessarily Go’d retribution for evils committed by humans. The book of Job does raise the theodicy question as to why ba things happen to good people. Maybe the ultimate message of the book of Job is captured in the bumper-sticker truism that “sh*t happens”. True by the end of the book Go does create health and wealth. But really? What about the children? o’s children, seven sons and three daughters are killed by Satan on God’s authority (1:2-9). In a manner of speaking God restores Job’s children. He fathers seven new sons and two new daughters replacing those whom Satan killed ((4213-17). Still for anyone who has ever lost a child no additional children can ever assuage the grief or replace the sense of loss of the original dead child. There is no happy ending for Job ” p. 209 The Quest for the Historical Satan p. 209.
Jhn 10:10
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
In these words of Jesus we have all the information we need to assess blame for why bad things happen to good people.
I find so many who want to blame God for their misfortunes, when it is either because of their own bad choices, or it is because of a spiritual attack by Satan or his allies.
We shouldn’t slander/libel God.
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-crusades/
https://jdstone.org/cr/files/thetruthaboutthecrusades.html
It was unfortunate for Christians in Acer Indonesia to be in the way of a tsunami.
https://onbeing.org/blog/theodicy-defined-the-power-of-god-and-the-problem-of-evil/
“Is God willing to prevent evil but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence, then, evil.”
Hey Noel. I love your passion. I would love to see your passion being focused on contemporary issues. I do love a good spiritual dialogue…but you have challenged my political beliefs in the passed….so I am keen to hear your thoughts on things like the gender fluid toilets, the new NSW abortion clinic protest free zone and even Israel Folau. Here is today’s challenge…..stop commenting on my theological blogs and start commenting on my pop culture blogs.
http://spot.colorado.edu/~heathwoo/Phil160,Fall02/thomson.htm
Most famous paper on abortion by a philosopher who supports abortion..
http://faculty.philosophy.umd.edu/SKerstein/140s09/thomson.html
I love how much you are struggling to disprove God. God loves you….and you know that….Keep trying though…
Hi, again, Noel.
That tsunami in Indonesia. Wasn’t that where the Muslims chased the Christians out into the hills not long before the tsunami hit?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batak_Christian_Protestant_Church I studied theology with a New Testament Professor who was from Acer and lived there for years.
Excellent!
Fantastic comments by all. my family and I are all believers in the Bible as it is written. IF we are all wrong about the authenticity of the Bible ? well i’me not taking any chances. Imagine living forever, no sickness,ever lasting life? I think its the best news mankind has ever heard of.
Sir,
A wonderful explanation and mind blowing interpretation. Could make my detractors understand.
Excellent article! One correction…in regards to “Nobody believed the earth was round until 1492. “Columbus, you’re gonna sail off the end of the earth…but 700 years before Christ, Isaiah said that God “sits upon the circle of the earth.” Circle in heb. Means globe or sphere. Is 40:22”
Specifically, in Isaiah 40:22, circle is translated in Hebrew as chug: vault, horizon (not “dūr” as I believe you translated it)
chug: to draw around, make a circle
Original Word: חוּג
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: chug
Phonetic Spelling: (khoog)
Definition: to draw around, make a circle