Laity Reflection: How Do We Know the Bible is True?

Some of us have grown up knowing about the Bible all of our lives and because we grew up in a Christian family that valued it, we have taken for granted that it was true. Others of us have only casually known about the Bible and may see it as a bunch of stories about Jesus and nothing more. I would say that both of these positions might need some more information to form a “true” decision.

Let’s look at some questions: Can we trust that the Bible was handed down to us accurately, even though some of it is over 2000 years old? There are many comparisons, but for simplicity, we will look at the book closest to the Bible New Testament in number of copies.

Homer’s Iliad was written abt. 900 B.C.; number of copies we have now – 643; accuracy – 95%.

Bible NT was written in the 1st century AD 50-100; number of copies we have now – 5600; accuracy – 99.5%. There is overwhelming evidence that the biblical documents have been carefully and fully handed down to us as they were written. Other writings by Plato, Aristotle and many more have much less evidence of being correctly written down, and yet their reliability is not questioned.

The Bible was written in three languages representing several cultures. It was written on at least two continents, by more than 40 authors over 1500 years. Yet all of it from Genesis to Revelation is a unified work, expanding our understanding of God and prophesying and revealing how the life of Jesus fulfilled those prophesies. How could this be? The authors obviously didn’t talk to each other about what they were going to write!

Did God actually know we would have these questions about biblical truth? Two clues about this come from the New Testament itself: 2 Timothy 3:16-17, says, “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” and 2 Peter 1:20-21 says, “Understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” The word “inspired” actually means “outbreathed” (by God in this case), … and “stresses the authenticity and reliability of the very words that were written, without depriving the writers of their individuality.”

Some other questions help us decide if the Bible is true. Do the books of the Bible fit together to tell one complete story? Are the prophecies from the books of the Old Testament fulfilled in the writings of the New Testament or yet to be fulfilled? Are we convinced by what we know about the lives of the authors that they can be trusted? (example: Paul) Has our experience reading the Bible given us spiritual insight into who God is and how he has been at work in our lives? Has our experience seeing God at work in the beauty of creation convinced us to believe in Him?

Reading the Bible, then, is a life or death matter. Life everlasting, if we choose to believe Jesus when he said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) The Bible is no empty word to the Christian; it is everlasting life and heaven or the end of life in hell. Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” “The faith that starts our life in Christ and by which we go on living comes from hearing the Word of God.” The Word of God begets and sustains spiritual life because it begets and sustains faith: “These are written,” John says, “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Please take this acronym to heart: B.I.B.L.E. – Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. We have no excuse not to get it right. We have the instruction manual right before us. But as with many other projects, we often wait to consult the manual as a last resort. Please be smarter about your life than that! READ THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL NOW.

Written to God’s honor and glory.

References

5 – Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry website