Thursday, September 8, 2011

Why I trust in the Bible?

Its unity. A book with 40+ authors, written over a period of 1500 years, by men of different occupations living in different countries, under different circumstances and conditions, yet the Bible has one overarching theme: Jesus Christ and His redemption.

Its preservation. There are some 24,000 copies of the Greek New Testament (5300 Greek manuscripts including Latin, Coptic, Syriac, etc). Second to the Bible, we have a whopping 643 copies of Homer’s Iliad!

Its claim as the divine Word. “All Scripture is God-breathed…” 2 Ti. 3:16.

It’s historical accuracy. Prior to 1993, no extra-biblical material mentioned the name of David. To many scholars, he was a myth or legend. That all ended in 1993 when archeologists discovered a 3000-year-old inscription on black basalt in the town of Dan, a little north of the Sea of Galilee in Israel mentioning the king of the “House of David”.

Its honesty. Many a book “whitewashes” the details of an incident so that it is not shown in a negative light. Not so with the Bible! The Bible describes the individual and situation with “warts and all.”

Its prophetic fulfillment. There are some 300 prophecies of the first coming of Jesus Christ (born in Bethlehem in Micah 5:2 and born of a virgin in Isaiah 7:14). The chance of Jesus fulfilling 8 of these prophecies is 1 to 1017. Yet He fulfilled them all!

Its scientific reliability. For many years man believed that the earth was flat, but the Bible has said all along that the earth is round. See Isaiah 40:22.

Its Christological endorsement. Christ gave full weight to the authority of the OT. “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” Matthew 5:17-18.

Its power to change lives. One of the greatest reasons I trust the Bible is when I see what it has done for you!

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