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Can the Bible Be Trusted? Many religions quote portions of the Bible to some extent. They tend to view the Bible as perhaps "one of the many sacred writings available to men." However, God did not leave us with uncertainty in deciding which sacred writings can be trusted.
1. Accurate fulfillment of hundreds of prophecies: A: God inspired Isaiah to prophesy that the Persian king Cyrus would allow Israel to return from captivity. This prophecy was accurately fulfilled 140 years later, including the emperor’s name.
B: Prediction of the
rise and fall of empires, like Babylon, Medo-Persia,
Greece and Rome.
C: Jesus Christ alone fulfilled sixty major prophecies, including His crucifixion and resurrection. Chances that a mere mortal would fulfill just eight of these prophecies is one in 1017, but even today's world population is only 6.3 billion (6.3 x 109 )! There are absolutely not enough people for someone just to "happen" to fulfill these prophesies.
No other religious writings contain thousands of accurately fulfilled prophecies! The fulfillment of these prophecies can be verified by other historical records. Since no human can predict a future with 100% accuracy, the source of the prophecies must have been God.
2. Scientific facts: God revealed scientific knowledge in the Bible thousands of years before science discovered it, for example:
A: The earth is round (Is 40:22) Science then: a flat disk.
B: Incalculable number of stars (Jeremiah 33:22). Science then: Only 1,100 stars.
C: Each star is different (1 Cor 15:41). Science then: All stars were the same.
D: Ocean floor contains deep valleys and mountains ( Samuel 22:16; Jonah 2:6). Science then: The ocean floor was flat.
No other "sacred writings" contain such information.
3. Archeology:
A: The Bible often refers to the Hittite empire, of which there has been no other record for centuries. Skeptics thus concluded that the Bible was in error. However, in 1906 Hugo Winckler uncovered a huge library containing 10,000 clay tablets which completely documented existence of the great Hittite Empire, which rivaled Egypt and Assyria in fame and power.
B: Manuscript Evidence. Compare: Aristotle's Ode to Poetics was preserved in 49 manuscripts, the earliest of which was written 1,400 years after the original. The gap between writing the original of Plato's Tetralogies and earliest preserved copy is 1,200 years. Only seven extant manuscripts have been preserved.
Old Testament: The ancient scribes exhibited such a reverence for God's Word that if they made just one mistake, they tore up the scroll and started over again. They meticulously double-checked every character in each line. The accuracy of the Masoretic texts from 9th century A.D. has been confirmed by recent findings of older manuscripts.
New Testament: There is only 35-40 years gap between the lost originals and the first preserved manuscript. There are 5,300 early manuscripts of the New Testament with a gap of only 300-400 years from the original writings. In total, there are over 24,000 early texts of the New Testament written in several languages, which testify to the overwhelming preserved accuracy of the New Testament writings.
C: New archeological discoveries keep on confirming the information recorded in the Bible.
4. Uniqueness among other
books: A: The Bible is written in over 1,400 languages - no other book comes even close.
B: The Bible has also withstood unparallel efforts for annihilation, throughout the centuries. The Roman emperor Diocletian, as well as the later inquisition burned all the Bibles they could find and the mere possession of the Sacred Book was punishable by death.
C: The Bible reveals the Will and Power of God, which no one can thwart. Voltaire, a talented French humanist philosopher, an enemy of God who mislead many people, boasted that the Bible would disappear within 100 years after his death (1728). Ironically, 50 years after Voltaire's death the Geneva Bible Society moved into his former house and printed thousands of Bibles.
D: The Bible reveals that Salvation is a gift from God, no one can earn it.
As research proves the
divine inspiration of the original manuscripts, we also have to consider
the ability of the All-mighty God to preserve His
Simply said, the Bible has no
equal, even among the most known of ancient writings. The
Sixty-six books of the Bible were written over a period of over 1,500
years on three continents, in three languages, by forty authors who came
from all ranks of society, e.g. a former prince of Egypt, a prime
minister of Babylon and a fisherman Peter. Despite this huge social and
political variety all of the books complement each other and unite in a
main theme, as though
they had only one author. (God, who inspired the human authors.) It is
the only Book you can read over and over again, always discovering
something new. It is the Living Word of God
The Bible shows people the TRUE path to peace with their Creator; to eternal life – as a gift from God. The Bible has also the highest moral standard of all books and societies that lived by it prospered.
Conclusion:
1. There is an overwhelming evidence that the Bible has been inspired and preserved by a supernatural being - the Living God.
2. The collection of the sacred writings contained in the Bible is the ONLY divine revelation of God to men.
3. Other "sacred writings"
do not come even close in the quality and inspiration of the Bible,
because they are mere writings of men with a religious agenda.
These men never new God - if they did, they would obey Him:
Every word of
God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
4. I'd better study and obey God's Word. Since most people today do not study the Bible, their concept of God is rather distorted, usually they make a god in THEIR own image, to suite their lifestyle. That is called idolatry, breaking the 1st and the 2nd commandment. Many even attend the church but do not know what God’s will is for their lives. This is very unfortunate, because Jesus said: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. " (Matthew 7:21)
God gave us a brain and His Word so that we do not have to fall for a blind faith. We can verify for ourselves the errors of evolution and that the man-made religions actually lead people away from the Living God.
To sum it up,
God
revealed
to
us
our
hopeless state and His Mercy
through His Book,
because our
best
efforts
come
short
You can call me narrow-minded, but I am just repeating what God said. Argue with Him, if you like. Only blood of Jesus Christ, (God in human body), spilled for you, can pay for your sin - that is how serious sin is to God! (Read the book of Hebrews in NT).
Let me illustrate: Say, I have committed a serious crime and I stand before the judge. He sentenced me to either $250,000 fine or jail. I know I don't have the money and so I face the stark prospect of doing jail time.
1. "Gee dad, why you bothered. I don't like you and I won't take anything FROM YOU." Stupid stubborn me will end up in jail.
2. "Cool, dad, gimme the money, so that I can get outta here and go on with my life of crime, maybe do some more drug traffickin'. You see that this is a wrong attitude with which to accept my dad's sacrifice. I would soon end up in jail again. (It is like someone "believing" in Christ, but not repenting of their sins.)
3. "Wow, dad, you gave up everything for me, the criminal. I never knew you loved me so much. How could I ever make it up to you?! Thank you for getting me out of jail, I will turn my back on crime and I will honor you for the rest of my life." Apparently this is the attitude of a true repentance from sin.
The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. Acts 3:13-15
But those things, which
God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ
should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Repent ye therefore, and be
converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of
refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send
Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must
receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath
spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
Acts
3:18-21 RELATED LINKS:
RECOMMENDED
READINGS:
1.
Evidence that Demands a Verdict.
Bible quotes are from KJV. 2005 by Milan Tacheci |
Anyone who is willing to
research a bit of information, as if writing a research paper in the
college, will find a compelling evidence.
E: Creation
was made of invisible elements, e.g. molecules and atoms
(Hebrews 11:3). Science then: No clue at that time.
Word
through His chosen people to every generation. Even though there
are many translations, they all say the same thing: The OT pointed
to men's need for the Savior, the NT revealed the fulfillment of man's
salvation and confirmed the Judgment of the unsaved.
I
am not aware that in the meantime, my dad sold his home, his car, and
everything he had. He comes to the court and brings $250,000 to
pay my fine. I have three options: