Why Believe the Bible is the Word of God?

26 Apr Why Believe the Bible is the Word of God?

If you’ve been following along in this series on why to believe in God, you’ve seen that if we reject God, we’ve only done half the job. The other half is that we must then explain reality without God – which cannot be done.

The importance of the Bible in our belief in God

As we continue looking at why to believe in God, we need to understand that there is a very close connection between God and His Word. In John 1:1, and in Revelation 19:13, Jesus is called the Word of God. Theologians speak of the written word, and the living word. One cannot fully embrace the living word (Jesus) without also embracing the written word (the Bible).

Most of us initially believe the Bible is the Word of God because someone we trusted told us it was.

But sooner or later, we may feel a need to have more evidence. Because this blog series is written for Christians, we typically, as we’ve said before, do not need the avalanche of information necessary to convince someone who is uninformed or skeptical. Rather, we just need the basic information to assure us that what we believe is true. So, as usual, we’ll keep the discussion of this topic brief in this blog post, and then I’ll list some resources* at the end for those who want to go deeper.

The Bible did not float down from heaven on rays of sun light, fully formed. Rather, it was written by many different human beings over a period of 1500 years. What is more, we don’t have a copy of the original Bible. It is so old that the original manuscripts have long since deteriorated into dust.

So, if we purchase a Bible that was printed this year, how do we know that it is the Word of God?

 Our Bible manuscripts are reliable

The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, while the New Testament was originally written in Greek.   Back in the day, new manuscripts were copied by hand by scrupulous scribes using almost incomprehensibly exacting processes, so as to preserve accuracy.

By comparing the oldest manuscripts, of which there are thousands of samples, with the newest manuscripts, we are able to verify that the manuscripts are astonishingly accurate. There is a minute fraction of variances among the manuscripts which do not affect any teachings of the Bible. They include things like variations in spelling.

 The Bible is historically accurate

The most famous example of biblical accuracy includes the Hittites. Skeptics used to criticize the Bible because there was no archaeological evidence that the Hittite culture, which is mentioned in the Old Testament, ever existed. Then, in 1876, archaeologists discovered evidence of the Hittite nation, and by the early 20^th century the vastness of the Hittite nation and its influence in the ancient world was common knowledge.

In his new book, Is Atheism Dead? Eric Metaxas has listed a bedazzling succession of very recent archaeological discoveries that have rocked the archaeological world, lending towering credibility to the historical accuracy of the Bible. No archaeological discovery has ever controverted anything in the Bible, while find after find have confirmed it.

The importance of this is that if the Bible is utterly reliable when it speaks of physical things, it suggests that it is also utterly reliable when it speaks of spiritual things.

 The Bible contains hundreds of fulfilled prophecies

There are over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament concerning Jesus. They are specific and verifiable. Jesus fulfilled every one of them. Unlike the vague, un-pin-downable prophecies of Nostradamus, or the wild, always-wrong prophecies in the New Year addition of the National Inquirer, there are so many clearly fulfilled prophecies in Scripture that it points to a divine force behind Scripture that ensures its accuracy and establishes its authority.

The unity of the Bible

The Bible was written over a period of approximately 1500 years, with at least 40 human writers, most of whom did not know each other, from many different backgrounds (from shepherds to cup bearers for kings). It was written in three different languages, covering everything from history to a wide variety of complex and subtle subjects, yet it carries one harmonious message. The message from Genesis to Revelation is uncannily consistent. Outside of the inspiration of God over the human authors, there is no explaining such unity.

The Bible claims to be the Word of God

Of course, that in and of itself does not make it the Word of God. But when you add that to all the other points of credibility for the Scripture, it rings true.

The apostle Paul writes that “all Scripture is God-breathed”, also translated “inspired by God“ (2 Timothy 3:16). That is to say, all the words recorded in the original writing of Scripture came from God. Theologians define it this way: “God’s superintendence of the human authors so that, using their own individual personalities, they composed and recorded without error His revelation to humanity in the words of the original manuscripts.”

The apostle Peter also writes that “prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). That is, the writing of Scripture was directed by the Holy Spirit. The Bible does not originate with man and is, therefore, a product of God and carries the authority of God.

 Conclusion

These are but a sample of the reasons why we believe the Bible is the Word of God. Entire books upon books have been written verifying its authenticity. When the information is presented, only a desire not to believe it would cause a person to doubt.

Finally, tens upon tens of millions of lives over thousands of years lay claim to the reality that God speaks through His Word, that His Word reveals who He is, who we are, and how we can be reconciled to Him. Countless believers testify to the power of the Word of God to guide, change, and empower their everyday lives.

For these reasons and more, we can have assurance in believing the Bible is the Word of God. Faithful believers find the Bible to be yet another reason to believe in God, embracing the living Word and the written Word.

*Resources for further study:

What You Need to Know About the Bible, Max Anders

Answers to Tough Questions, Josh McDowell

The Case for Christianity, Lee Strobel

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