How Can I Know the Bible Is True? | Part Two

The Bible teaches that Jesus is the way to heaven. If the Bible is wrong, then we are on the wrong road. And if that weren’t bad enough, the Bible gives us no clue what other road to take. There are thousands of different ways to heaven—or so we are told. Thousands of religions claim to offer eternity. If the Bible doesn’t tell us which path to follow other than Christianity, how are we to know the way? Well, I believe the Bible can be trusted, and that’s why we began last week talking about “How Can I Know the Bible Is True?”

1. What Do We Mean When We Say the Bible Is “True?”

• Inerrant

The Bible is without error. As 2 Timothy 3:16–17 says, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” 

• Inspired

“Inspiration” describes the process by which He communicated His message through human authors through the process of Scripture. According to 2 Peter 1:21, “No prophecy of Scripture was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

2. Evidence for the Trustworthiness of the Bible

• The Bible’s Claims About Itself

The Old Testament writers, the apostles, and Jesus Himself claimed that both the Old and New Testaments were inspired by God. Although this is not proof in and of itself, we need to understand that when we say that the Bible is “inspired” and “inerrant,” we are not claiming anything that the Bible does not claim about itself.

• Fulfilled Prophecy

Unlike any other religious book, the Bible has dozens of prophecies that were fulfilled hundreds of years later and are historically verifiable, including prophecies about the coming of Jesus Christ.

• Unity of the Bible

Although the Bible was written over a period of 1,500 years by more than 40 different authors in different localities, there is a unity of theme and symbolism that can only be explained by the fact that God oversaw the composition of this book.

• Early Acceptance of the Message

When you look at the rapidity with which the message, especially of the New Testament, was embraced, it argues for the trustworthiness of Scripture. You could track down those so-called eyewitnesses and cross-examine them. The theory would fall apart. And yet, think about how completely the New Testament was accepted at such speed. We’re talking about just within weeks of Jesus’ reported resurrection, thousands of, mainly Jews, were converted to Christianity. You had 3,000 on one day, the day of Pentecost, 50 days after the resurrection, thousands of Jews came to faith in Christ. They also gave up their most cherished traditions to embrace Christianity. They almost overnight changed their day of worship from Saturday to Sunday. They discarded the sacrificial system that had been in effect for 1,400 years. They changed the symbol of belief from circumcision to baptism. They also laid aside the mosaic law that they thought was the way to heaven. In fact, Paul wrote in Colossians 2:17 that these laws are simply shadows of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 

• Archaeological Evidence

Archaeology can’t prove the Bible is true. Nevertheless, there’s never been an archaeological discovery that has disproved any person, event, or location in the Bible. 

Evidence for the Old Testament

1. Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19): Clay tablets discovered at Ebla in Northern Syria that date back to 2300 B.C. mention the existence of a number of cities mentioned in the Old  Testament, including Sodom and Gomorrah.
2. Jericho (Joshua 6): There have been excavations in Jericho from 1930 to 1936 that reveal not only the existence of the city but evidence supporting the sudden collapse of the wall encompassing the city. 
3. Ashpenaz (Daniel 1:3): A few decades ago, a brick was discovered in the ruins of Babylon with ­the name Asphenaz, which can now be viewed in the British Museum.
4. David: In 1994, an inscription was discovered that refers to both the House of David and to David as the king of Israel.

Evidence for the New Testament

1. Luke’s Gospel: Luke’s gospel contains numerous references to names and locations. In fact, when noted archaeologist Sir William Ramsay attempted to prove that the book of Acts contained numerous errors, he concluded that “Luke’s history is unsurpassed in respect of its trustworthiness.”
2. Caiaphas the High Priest (Matthew 26:57): In 1990, a tomb was discovered in Jerusalem verifying that a man named Caiaphas was the High Priest in Jerusalem at the time of Christ’s death, just as the Bible described.
3. Pontius Pilate (Matthew 27:2): In 1961, Italian archaeologist Antonio Frova discovered an inscription on a stone slab in Caesarea naming Pontius Pilate as a Roman governor. 
4. Theatre in Ephesus (Acts 19): I have stood in that theatre where thousands of angry Ephesians wanted to kill Paul’s associates for killing their idol-making business.

3. Common Objections to the Trustworthiness of the Bible

Despite the overwhelming evidence for the trustworthiness of the Bible, many have legitimate questions about the Bible they hold in their hands. Here are three of the most common objections to the authenticity of the Bible. 

• “Scribes made numerous errors in copying texts throughout the centuries.”
• “The selection of the books we have in our Bible was arbitrary.”
• “The Bible contains too many errors and contradictions to be trustworthy.”

Explanations for “errors” in the Bible:

1. Language of appearance: Some apparent errors are due to the language of appearance, such as the description of the “four corners of the earth” in Isaiah 11:12, which is not meant to be taken literally.
2. Copyists’ errors: There are a few minor errors in the copying of numbers, such as the age of Ahaziah in 2 Chronicles 22:2 (42 years old) versus 2 Kings 8:26 (22 years old). These do not affect the overall message of Scripture.
3. Poor translation: Some differences in meaning come from translation issues, like in Matthew 13:32, where a better translation would render “smallest” as “lesser of seeds.”

Alleged contradictions:

1. Approximations: Some differences in numbers, such as the number of people who died by plague in Numbers 25:9 (24,000) versus 1 Corinthians 10:8 (23,000), can be explained by approximations.
2. Paraphrases: Differences in wording between accounts like the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5–7 and Luke 6 can be explained by the fact that they may represent different occasions or paraphrased teachings of Jesus.
3. Complementary accounts: Apparent contradictions, such as the number of angels at Jesus’ tomb (Matthew mentions one, while John mentions two), are complementary rather than contradictory. Matthew focuses on the angel who spoke while John records both.

Our Heavenly Father has gone to the trouble of sending a written communication to us because, more than anything else, He loves us. He wants us to know His message. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will never perish but have eternal life. God has a motivation, and God has the ability to make sure the message we hold in our hand is true and accurate and can be trusted. To me, that’s the best evidence for knowing that the Bible is really true.