Is the Bible truly the word of God?
When I was younger I didn't really really take the bible to
be true.... like true. It was more like I believed it because I was born
into a Christian home. I was just going through the motions. Then in my 400
level in unilag, something happened to me. Hard to believe but true 100%. I was
sleeping and one morning around 5:30am, I heard the words "...John
15:15". Immediately, I jumped up from my bed startled, I just knew that I
heard the voice loud and clear and I was alone. I rushed to look for my bible
to search what was written in John 15:15. Honestly, I almost cried, the words
were so pertinent to my condition at the time. It was a difficult time in my
life. It was then I realized that God knew the exact words in the bible because
He inspired it. Friends the bible is real.
That was just an intro
The Bible was written over a span of 1500 years, by 40 writers. Some authors were Ph.D. holders, others were unlearned fishermen. Archaeology confirms the Bible’s historical accuracy. Archeology is the study of ancient artifacts discovered in the ground.
It is a boring science. These guys have to dig up stuff from the earth, then they use a method called radiocarbon dating to determine the age of the item. Archaeologists have consistently discovered the names of government officials, kings, cities, and festivals mentioned in the Bible sometimes when historians didn't think such people or places existed. Think about it... these guys were real people... Joseph was a real guy who really really ran away from free sex. For example, the Gospel of John tells of Jesus healing a cripple next to the Pool of Bethesda John 5:2. The text even describes the five porticoes (walkways) leading to the pool. Scholars didn't think the pool existed, until archaeologists found it forty feet below ground, complete with the five porticoes.
The Bible has a tremendous amount of historical detail, so not everything mentioned in it has yet been found through archaeology. However, not one archaeological find has conflicted with what the Bible records. If we can see that there was really a pool of Bethesda, then the healing must have really taken place. Many of the ancient locations mentioned by Luke, in the Book of Acts in the New Testament, have been identified through archaeology. "In all, Luke names thirty-two countries, fifty-four cities and nine islands without an error.
Archaeology has also refuted many ill-founded theories about the Bible. For example, a theory still taught in some colleges today asserts that Moses could not have written the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) because writing had not been invented in his day. Then archaeologists discovered the Black Stele. "It had wedge-shaped characters on it and contained the detailed laws of Hammurabi.
It was pre-Mosaic; not only that, but it was pre-Abraham (2,000 B.C.). It preceded Moses' writings by at least three centuries." It also confirms that God wrote on tables. Remember the bible says the 10 commandments were written on tablets. Archaeology consistently confirms the historical accuracy of the Bible. The accuracy of today’s Old Testament was confirmed in 1947 when archaeologists found “The Dead Sea Scrolls” among today's West Bank in Israel. The Dead Sea Scrolls" contained Old Testament scripture dating 1,000 years older than any manuscripts we had. When comparing the manuscripts at hand with these, from 1,000 years earlier, we find agreement 99.5% of the time. And the .5% differences are minor spelling variances and sentence structure that doesn't change the meaning of the sentence. The new testament was written between 50 - 100 years after the death of Christ, this shows that there were people who were eyewitnesses of the things written. Over 5k scroll copies of the new testament exist till today. No other ancient doc has better historical documentation.
Also, the Bible doesn’t contradict itself. The Bible was written over a period of 1,500 years, by about 40 authors on three continents in two major languages. The writers included and Egyptian-trained scholar (Moses), a general (Joshua), Kings (David, Solomon), a farmer (Amos), a fisherman (Peter), a tax-collector (Matthew), and a rabbi (Paul) but, amazingly they present a consistent viewpoint of life and set of facts.
Spiritual Evidence
In the book of Timothy, we learn that all scripture is Inspired by the Holy Spirit. In other words, the words in the bible are inspired by God. This makes the bible very different from books like the koran. The Koran states that the prophet Mohammed was asked to "read', that is to say, the Quran was dictated to him
2Pe 1:21 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 proves this approach. Now, unlike many other religious books, you will notice that the bible has many translations. Indeed, we are not afraid of the many translations. This is because the bible is inspired and translating it into different languages and types cannot remove the spiritual impetus that it carries.
This is the case for the Reliability of the Bible. Archeological, intellectual and spiritual evidence.
I have had a similar experience several times after that. I
just hear a specific scripture and when I check the bible it speaks exactly to
my circumstance. Maybe God knew I was too intellectual (God helped me graduate
with a first-class degree in MechE) to believe in mere words, so He chose to
speak this way to me as a sign that He is real and that the Bible is true.
That was just an intro
In determining whether or not the bible is accurate, we will
freeze our thoughts into three lines
1. Archeological evidence
2. Intellectual evidence
3. Spiritual evidence
4. Archeological Evidence
The Bible was written over a span of 1500 years, by 40 writers. Some authors were Ph.D. holders, others were unlearned fishermen. Archaeology confirms the Bible’s historical accuracy. Archeology is the study of ancient artifacts discovered in the ground.
It is a boring science. These guys have to dig up stuff from the earth, then they use a method called radiocarbon dating to determine the age of the item. Archaeologists have consistently discovered the names of government officials, kings, cities, and festivals mentioned in the Bible sometimes when historians didn't think such people or places existed. Think about it... these guys were real people... Joseph was a real guy who really really ran away from free sex. For example, the Gospel of John tells of Jesus healing a cripple next to the Pool of Bethesda John 5:2. The text even describes the five porticoes (walkways) leading to the pool. Scholars didn't think the pool existed, until archaeologists found it forty feet below ground, complete with the five porticoes.
The Bible has a tremendous amount of historical detail, so not everything mentioned in it has yet been found through archaeology. However, not one archaeological find has conflicted with what the Bible records. If we can see that there was really a pool of Bethesda, then the healing must have really taken place. Many of the ancient locations mentioned by Luke, in the Book of Acts in the New Testament, have been identified through archaeology. "In all, Luke names thirty-two countries, fifty-four cities and nine islands without an error.
Archaeology has also refuted many ill-founded theories about the Bible. For example, a theory still taught in some colleges today asserts that Moses could not have written the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) because writing had not been invented in his day. Then archaeologists discovered the Black Stele. "It had wedge-shaped characters on it and contained the detailed laws of Hammurabi.
It was pre-Mosaic; not only that, but it was pre-Abraham (2,000 B.C.). It preceded Moses' writings by at least three centuries." It also confirms that God wrote on tables. Remember the bible says the 10 commandments were written on tablets. Archaeology consistently confirms the historical accuracy of the Bible. The accuracy of today’s Old Testament was confirmed in 1947 when archaeologists found “The Dead Sea Scrolls” among today's West Bank in Israel. The Dead Sea Scrolls" contained Old Testament scripture dating 1,000 years older than any manuscripts we had. When comparing the manuscripts at hand with these, from 1,000 years earlier, we find agreement 99.5% of the time. And the .5% differences are minor spelling variances and sentence structure that doesn't change the meaning of the sentence. The new testament was written between 50 - 100 years after the death of Christ, this shows that there were people who were eyewitnesses of the things written. Over 5k scroll copies of the new testament exist till today. No other ancient doc has better historical documentation.
Intellectual evidence
I'll start with a story. In Daniel 8:20-21, we see a story.
.And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between
his eyes is the first king...
[ote, that the book of Daniel was written 500 years before
Christ was born. But,: Daniel in that verse prophesied that there would be a
great empire and that that empire would be broken down into four smaller
empires and then that those four would merge into two and that those two would
merge into a powerful one. Well... those prophecies came to pass exactly as
told. There was a guy called Alexander the great. Alexander the great was a
super-smart general, won many kingdoms then he died young... people said he
died of malaria.
Anyway, so he died and his four general split up the kingdom just as Daniel prophesied. Then later on alliances were formed and the kingdoms merge into two kingdoms... 1. Ptolemy and 2. Seleucid Empire. Eventually, these two merged into the famous Roman empire.... the one that was ruing when Jesus was born. Daniel's prophesy was intellectually accurate. The Destruction of the city of Tyre was predicted in detail by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 26 – written circa 600 B.C.).
Anyway, so he died and his four general split up the kingdom just as Daniel prophesied. Then later on alliances were formed and the kingdoms merge into two kingdoms... 1. Ptolemy and 2. Seleucid Empire. Eventually, these two merged into the famous Roman empire.... the one that was ruing when Jesus was born. Daniel's prophesy was intellectually accurate. The Destruction of the city of Tyre was predicted in detail by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 26 – written circa 600 B.C.).
Also, the Bible doesn’t contradict itself. The Bible was written over a period of 1,500 years, by about 40 authors on three continents in two major languages. The writers included and Egyptian-trained scholar (Moses), a general (Joshua), Kings (David, Solomon), a farmer (Amos), a fisherman (Peter), a tax-collector (Matthew), and a rabbi (Paul) but, amazingly they present a consistent viewpoint of life and set of facts.
Spiritual Evidence
2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness:
In the book of Timothy, we learn that all scripture is Inspired by the Holy Spirit. In other words, the words in the bible are inspired by God. This makes the bible very different from books like the koran. The Koran states that the prophet Mohammed was asked to "read', that is to say, the Quran was dictated to him
But, in the case of the bible, it was inspired. In other
words, God partnered with holy men
2Pe 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the
scripture is of any private interpretation.
2Pe 1:21 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 proves this approach. Now, unlike many other religious books, you will notice that the bible has many translations. Indeed, we are not afraid of the many translations. This is because the bible is inspired and translating it into different languages and types cannot remove the spiritual impetus that it carries.
This is the case for the Reliability of the Bible. Archeological, intellectual and spiritual evidence.
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