We all have to start somewhere and when we do, we start on
the basis of some presuppositions. This blog is no different. It starts from
the presupposition that the Bible is the Word of God and, as such, is true and
contains everything we need for life, faith and practice.
- Why start here?
The Bible claims to be ‘pure’ (Psalm
12v6; Proverbs 30v5), ‘perfect’ (Psalm 19v7), true (John 17v17), and ‘God-breathed’ (2 Timothy 3v16).
If those claims are to be true, then the Bible must be a reliable document; if
it is not reliable, then those claims are not true and if they are not true,
then it is unreliable – a catch 22 situation. But what of those who think the
Bible is partly reliable and partly not; that it contains errors, falsehoods
and inaccuracies? If it is not reliable in its entirety, then that reflects on the Author
Himself. A person who habitually writes documents that are full of errors soon
won’t be believed no matter what he writes, even when what he writes is
actually true. If the Bible is full of errors as some would claim (even among
those who say they are Christians) then God cannot be trusted. Which bits of
the Bible are error and which are true? Who should decide? No, the whole Bible
either stands or falls as a whole. It is not a hotchpotch of bits and pieces,
some reliable, some not, from which individuals can pick and choose what to
believe and what to reject. If any part of it is unreliable, then the whole is
going to be considered unreliable and we have no way of knowing what is true and what isn't. If the Bible contains errors, then God is
not true (because He says the Bible is true – an error is not true); if God is
not true, then He ceases to be God and ceases to be good.
The Bible is our only guide for
faith and practice. If it is not true, then our whole foundation crumbles. We need
to be able to trust God; He asks that of us. If He is untrue, then how can we
trust Him? If we doubt His word, then we doubt Him; our faith is not on a
secure foundation. If we cannot trust Him when He says His word is pure, then
we cannot trust anything He says. So if we are going to consider the subject of
Radical Discipleship, we need to be sure we are standing on a firm foundation.
- Is there any evidence for the truth of the Bible?
I am not going to go into depth
in answering this question. There is plenty of information available for those
who wish to look into it further. My intention is simply to mention the types
of evidence available and give some examples and a few links for further study.
a. Manuscript
evidence – there are more than 5000 documents relating to the Bible.
Not all the documents contain the whole Bible, but there are several copies of
each part – and the miracle is, they all in the main agree with one another. Where there
are discrepancies, they are of minor or grammatical points. There is more
consistency between the various texts of the Bible than there is between the
various texts of Plato, or Socrates, or Aristotle, for example. You can read
more of this in the book, ‘New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? By F. F.
Bruce.
For further information see: http://carm.org/manuscript-evidencehttp://carm.org/manuscript-evidence
b. Archaeological
evidence
A few examples:
Genesis 10v10-12 lists several
cities, the first cities mentioned in the Bible. Archaeologists discovered
these cities over a century ago and have positively identified them, thus
providing evidence for an historical basis of the accounts of Abraham’s
journeys.
Many of the Israelite kings have
been attested to in inscriptions and carvings, such as Omri, Jehu, David, and
Jeroboam, to mention a few.
A stone discovered in 1868, known
as the ‘Moabite Stone’ describes a battle between Mesha King of Moab and Ahab,
son of Omri. The latter two were kings of Israel; you can read about them and
the battle in 2 Kings 3v4-5.
Dr. Nelson Glueck, probably the greatest modern authority on
Israeli archaeology, has said:
"No archaeological discovery has ever controverted a
Biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been made which
confirm in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible.
And, by the same token, proper evaluation of Biblical descriptions has often
led to amazing discoveries."
c. Eye
witness accounts
The New Testament was written by people
who either witnessed first hand the events of which they wrote, or were
companions of those who had witnessed the events. Many of them were put to
death for their beliefs. Had those beliefs been a lie, then surely they would
have changed their stories to save themselves from being used as sport in the
arena, eaten alive by wild animals, or burned alive? It beggars belief that
anyone would cling to a falsehood, knowing it was false, in the face of such
opposition. While there could have been some deluded souls who might do so,
there are far too many accounts of Christians being martyred for their faith to
make it credible that they would have died for a lie.
http://www.tektonics.org/guest/truthfulness.htmhttp://www.tektonics.org/guest/truthfulness.htm
d. Fulfilled
prophecy
There are more than 300
prophecies in the Old Testament pertaining to the birth, life, death and
resurrection of Christ. The Bible was written by around 40 authors (under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit), over some 1600 years, yet many of the books
have prophecies about One who was to come – and these prophecies were fulfilled
in Christ.
One of the most remarkable is
Psalm 22, which clearly describes the crucifixion, but written hundreds of
years before the Romans invented crucifixion as a method of execution.
To read other fulfilled
prophecies, please look here:
e. Scientific
evidence
People will tell you that science
has ‘disproved the Bible’ long ago and only brainwashed, unintelligent people
could possibly believe it. We are considered deluded, gullible, and are the
subject of ridicule and derision. They tell us that evolution is a fact and
therefore the creation story is a myth, or a fairytale. However, science looks
at the facts and then interprets those facts. An apple falling to the ground is
a fact; gravity is a theory. Geological layers and fossils are facts; evolution
is a theory. The self same facts are available to Christians too, but they
interpret them differently. Starting from the basis that the word of God is
true, Christians look at the facts as presented and formulate a theory or a
hypothesis that fits both the facts and
the Biblical account. The interpretation is not the facts, it is a conclusion
drawn from those facts. Some scientists have concluded that God cannot exist;
others have used the same facts to indicate that God is powerful and creation
is wonderful (full of wonder).
Please see:
This list is not exhaustive, nor is it meant to be. It
simply gives a brief taster of the reasons for why the Bible is reliable. Does
it matter whether the Bible is true or not? For the reasons given above, yes, I
believe it does matter. If the Bible is not reliable, or contains errors, then
God cannot be trusted. If God cannot be trusted, then why believe anything He
says? Which parts of the Bible can we
simply throw away as unreliable? Why live our lives as Christians at all? What becomes of the hope of heaven that Christians speak of? But
if God is true as He claims, and His word is true as He claims, then we can
trust Him and trust His word. As more evidence comes to light, scientific,
newly discovered manuscripts, or archaeological discoveries, there is nothing
that contradicts the Bible, but these discoveries actually support the Biblical account.
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