TEXT: 2 TIMOTHY 3:16

This is the beginning of a new four part series. 1 Peter 3:15 says, "If you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it" (NLT). That’s easier said than done. Some of the questions people ask about the Christian faith are tough to answer. But if we’re going to be successful in leading people to the Lord we need to know how to respond to their questions. That’s why this month’s messages are going to deal with Tough Questions Concerning the Christian Faith. We will ask, Can the Bible be trusted? Why would a good God allow suffering? Why should I believe in Christ? and Do Christians believe in three gods?

Today’s question concerns the Bible. Can the Bible be trusted? This is a key question. The very existence of Christianity is interwoven with the veracity of the Bible. If the Bible is flawed or unreliable, then everything we believe becomes suspect. So let’s consider the evidence for the reliability of the Bible.

Here are ten reasons why you can trust the Bible [Source - RBC Ministries]:

The Bible positions itself as God’s book. 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right" (NLT). "All Scripture is inspired by God . . ." This is a phenomenal claim. When the Bible says it’s inspired, it’s claiming to be supernaturally initiated and controlled by the Holy Spirit. In fact the word "inspired" (Greek - theopneustos) means "God breathed." That means the writers didn’t originate what they wrote but recorded what was given to them by God (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:13). 2 Peter 1:21 says, "It was the Holy Spirit who moved the prophets to speak from God" (NLT).

While I personally believe that the Bible is God’s message to man, I must nonetheless concede that this is the weakest reason to trust the Bible. All sorts of books make all sorts of claims. That doesn’t mean that their claims are true. But the Bible’s claim to be "inspired by God" is a good place to start because if there’s other evidence to support the claim, then the Bible is absolutely trustworthy.

During His time on earth, Christ referred to the Bible as "the law of God" (Mark 7:13), "the Scriptures" (John 5:39 ), and "God’s message" (John 10:35). He accepted the persons and events mentioned in the Old Testament as historical (cf. Matthew 12:38-41; 19:4-5; 24:37-39; Luke 17:28-32). He used Scripture as conclusive evidence against His critics (cf. John 10:35; Matthew 22:32, 42-44). He quoted from the Bible in order to refute Satan (cf. Matthew 4:4, 7, 10). And He saw His own words as Scripture as we see in John 12:49 where He says, "I don't speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me gave me his own instructions as to what I should say" (NLT).

The individual writers of the Bible accepted other parts of the Bible as God’s Word. For example, when Daniel read Jeremiah’s prophecy concerning the Babylonian captivity, he accepted it as true (cf. Daniel 9:2). Peter accepted the supernatural origin of Paul’s writings (cf. 2 Peter 3:15-16). And John said that the words of the apostles, as well as his words, were inspired by God and authoritative (cf. 1 John 4:6). The writers also believed they were communicating God’s Word. The prophet Isaiah proclaims, "Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! This is what the Lord says . . ." Isaiah 1:2 (NLT). Jeremiah begins his prophecy saying, "The Lord gave me a message" Jeremiah 1:4 (NLT). Paul claimed that what he said was a revelation directly from God (cf. Galatians 1:11-12; 1 Thessalonians 2:13). And Revelation 1:1 says, "This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him concerning the events that will happen soon. An angel was sent to God’s servant John so that John could share the revelation with God’s other servants" (NLT).

The Bible is a compilation of 66 books, written by 40 different writers from different walks of life, written in three different languages (Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic), written in three continents (Asia, Africa and Europe), over a period of 1 600 years. Despite this diversity there is an amazing unity and consistency of doctrine. From Genesis to Revelation the Bible has the integrity of one book. Humanly speaking, that’s unbelievable! Most books contain glaring contradictions or discrepancies in fact or logic. And that’s with a single author! But the Bible is different. Psalm 18:30 says, "The word of the Lord is flawless" (NIV). The different parts of the Bible make up one integrated unit. While there are variations in style and content between the writers, there is full agreement on details of prophecy and dogma.

Isaiah 40:8 says, "The grass withers, and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever" (NLT). "The word of our God stands forever." That’s a phenomenal claim given the fact that none of the original manuscripts of the Bible exist today. But for all practical purposes I can assure you that the Bibles we read today are the same as the original. That’s because stringent rules were followed by the scribes when new copies of the Scriptures were made to replace the old copies.

Concerning the Old Testament: The Scriptures were written on papyrus or parchment. When a copy wore out and a new one needed to be made the Hebrew Masorete scholars (AD 500-900) who copied the texts would count all the letters on the page they were going to copy and when they finished copying the page they’d count the letters on the new page to see if the numbers agreed. If the count didn’t agree they would destroy the copy and start over again. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 proved the accuracy of the copies made by the Masoretes. The Dead Sea scrolls are a 1000 years older than the Masorete texts and yet they are almost identical.

Concerning the New Testament: It is by far, the most well-attested document of its time. There are 14 000 manuscripts or copies that have been discovered and compared. Some of these manuscripts, like the Rylands Library Papyri (AD 125) containing a fragment of John 18 and the Chester Beatty Papyri (AD 200-275) that contain all of the New Testament, indicate that the Bible has been accurately preserved. Despite minor variations like differences in spelling and grammar (textual variants), the scholars, many of them non-Christians, can scientifically attest to the fact that the New Testament we read today is virtually identical (99.9% accurate) to the original texts. Josh McDowell, a sceptical lawyer-turned believer, says, "The logical conclusion based upon evidence is that if one rejects the Bible as being reliable, then, if he is consistent and uses the same tests, he must throw out all classical literature . . ."

Psalm 33:4 says, "For the word of the Lord holds true . . ." (NLT). The Bible isn’t a book of fantasy. It’s about real people, who lived in real places, who experienced real events. Archaeological digs continue to verify the accuracy of the historical record of the Bible. For example, the Old Testament mentions people known as the Hittites nearly 50 times. But in recent centuries no one could produce any evidence of such people. Then in 1906 the Hittite capital was uncovered about 120km east of Ankara in present day Turkey. William F. Albright, one of the great archaeologists, states, "There can be no doubt that archaeology has confirmed the substantial historicity of Old Testament tradition." It’s no different with the New Testament. For example, in Acts 14:1-6 Luke indicates that Iconium is a Phrygian city. Archaeologists believed Luke was wrong because the Roman writer Cicero had indicated that Iconium was in Lycaonia. Then in 1910 a monument was found that proved the New Testament account was right. Sir William Ramsay, another great archaeologist, said, "Luke’s history is unsurpassed in respect of its trustworthiness."

Proverbs 30:5 says, "Every word of God proves true" (NLT). We don’t have to make a choice between living our lives based on scientific data or religious faith. When the Bible is correctly interpreted and science arrives at proven conclusions, they are in perfect agreement. For "the God who created the universe and set in motion the laws that govern our world is the same God who inspired the Bible" RBC Ministries.

That said, there are conflicts between science and the Bible. But I think these conflicts result from people on both sides going beyond the limits of proper Bible interpretation or equating scientific theory with fact. For example, the Bible sometimes uses figures of speech to describe aspects of life that science would explain in different terms (e.g. Revelation 7:1 - the four corners of the earth). And science sometimes states a theory (e.g. evolution) as if it were a fact. But everything in the Bible isn’t meant to be taken literally and everything in science isn’t always mathematically or objectively true.

The Bible gives us a standard to test its trustworthiness. In Deuteronomy 18:22 it says, "If the prophet predicts something in the Lord’s name and it does not happen, the Lord did not give the message" (NLT). In other words, if the prophecies of the Bible are not true then the Bible is not true. In his book Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Josh McDowell lists eleven prophecies from the Bible (p. 319) and said that the probability of them all coming true was 1 in 5.76 x 10 to the power of 59. If this was equated to a pile of loonies, we would have more than enough loonies to make all of the stars in all of the galaxies in the universe. Now suppose we marked one of the loonies before we made all of the stars in all of the galaxies in the universe. Then we blindfolded a person and asked him/her to wonder through the universe and pick out the marked loonie. The probability of him/her picking out the right one would be similar to the probability of the eleven prophecies from the Bible coming true. Yet all eleven prophecies have come true as have many more. This evidence, even standing alone, is sufficient for us to believe the Bible is true.

There are two more proofs that the Bible can be trusted.

Hebrews 1:3 says that Christ is, "sustaining all things by his powerful word" (NIV). The Bible has profoundly and irrevocably affected every culture into which it was introduced. When the Bible impacts society, living conditions improve, morality moves to a higher plane, and freedom is evident. Slaves were emancipated because of the power of God’s Word. Orphans have been cared for because of the power of God’s Word. The starving have been fed because of the power of God’s Word. The sick have been hospitalised because of the power of God’s Word. And the disabled have been humanely treated because of the power of God’s Word. Take away the teachings of the Bible and you take-away human dignity and worth. Eliminate the moral impact of God’s Word and you’re left with lawlessness and debasement. Mankind may be arrogant enough to think he’s pulled himself up by his own bootstraps. But he’s wrong. If it wasn’t for the power of God’s Word, the world as we know it would be a very different place.

Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is full of living power . . ." (NLT). Not only has the Bible profoundly impacted society, it has also powerfully changed the lives of individuals.

The Bible has brought hope to the helpless, strength to the weak, and peace to the restless. You can trust the Bible because it’s changed the lives of millions of people for the better. Chuck Colson, convicted Watergate conspirator, had his life empowered through the witness and clear teaching from the Bible by some of his friends. I found forgiveness from sin and a future worth living for because "the word of God is living and active" Hebrews 4:12 (NIV).

And countless people through the ages can testify to the power of God’s Word and the change it’s wrought in their lives.

Taken together, the evidence is overwhelmingly conclusive. The Bible is the only book you can trust. It is irrefutably God’s message to humankind.

Which raises two practical questions:

1. If you are a Christian, and believe the Bible is true, are you obeying its commands and claiming its promises? Colossians 3:16 says, "Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise. Use his words to teach and counsel each other" (NLT).

2. If you are not yet a Christian, how will you respond to what you’ve heard today? You can’t be neutral about its claims. You must either accept the Bible or reject it. If you accept it, you must accept the claims it has on your life. "It is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don't obey, you are only fooling yourself" James 1:22 (NLT). "And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us" 1 John 3:23 (NLT). Will you obey the message? You can really trust the Bible. The question is this, will you trust the author by believing in His Son, Jesus Christ.

(L. Murray)