Can You Really Believe the Bible…If So Why?

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Do you blindly believe the Bible is true? Many people simply believe the Bible is true because a pastor or parent told them so. But it’s only a matter of time before some academic setting will test that belief. Unfortunately many people are ill-equipped in knowing the great wealth of manuscript, archeological, and historical evidence behind the pages of the Bible. Instead they put their faith in a person and then begin to doubt as the foundational writing of their faith is challenged. We should not and must not live life blindly. God has left an amazing witness of His work and plan for us in this world. Here’s a few notes i’m sharing that i put together for a discipleship group i lead on Friday mornings. I hope you enjoy. For further info on this topic, check out the resources posted at the end of the blog!

EVIDENCE THAT THE BIBLE IS ACCURATE & SHOULD BE TAKEN LITERALLY

Most people prove that the Bible is real in the same way they prove that the sun is real. “It warms me and I can see its light – in the same way, the Bible warms our hearts and lights our souls!” This sounds wonderful until we meet someone who claims the same warmth & light from the Koran or the Book of Mormon. What do you do when you look at their life and realize they have great morals and are equally if not more passionate about their Holy Book than you? Is there other evidence than feeling & emotion that Christians can stand on when it comes to the reliability & trustworthiness of the Bible? Absolutely!! While this evidence may not be the single straw that convinces someone to follow Christ. This question and ignorance of historical evidence and knowledge can certainly hold many unbelievers back from trusting in Christ & cause many faithful believers to doubt unnecessarily because they are unaware of the rich heritage of MANUSCRIPT, ARCHAEOLOGICAL, & HISTORICAL evidence.

JUDGING THE PROBABLITY OF THE NEW TESTATMENT GOSPELS

Live in a world that would have us believe that all religions lead us to the same place. All roads lead to God.
- Funny that in academic settings, we are warned about certain books that are full of errors & really not something you want to put your faith in.
- Most people have their faith & evidence in the Bible dismantled at some point in an academic setting.
- Yet some people say that over 1/3 of the worlds population believe in God & that He sent His Son Jesus to save the world.
How can we know that the N.T. books of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John are reliable books?
- Because if they are, then Jesus must in fact be the Son of God & what He says about God and the rest of the Bible must be true.
  - Larry King – wishes he could interview Jesus. Would ask him if he was really born of a virgin. If He was, it changes everything.

1. Whenever you talk about history you can’t prove or disprove what has happened in the past. It’s not about proving or disproving. It’s a matter of presenting evidence and the jury then looks at the evidence & makes a decision.

2. Whenever you judge evidence, it’s not what is a possible explanation but what is a probable explanation.

- The trustworthiness of any historical account is based on evidence, not on proof.
- You can only prove what is observable & repeatable.
  - You can’t observe or repeat the past.
  - So we have to make decisions based on evidence.
    - When drawing conclusions on evidence, probability takes preference possibility.
      - Probable cause (always 100’s of possible causes)
Two ways to look at Ancient Manuscripts (how do you determine if it is trustworthy?)
- Look at manuscript & evidence
- Look at what you know about the people & cultures who wrote them
  - Tacitus: 30 volumes – have 2 manuscripts containing ½ of his volumes; Dated 900 A.D. & 1100 A.D. (1000 years old)
    - Tacitus (considered by many to be the finest & most accurate of ancient historians) is quoted like it is gospel truth – even though he worked for a Roman Emperor & could be subject to questionable content
  - We have more evidence about Jesus Christ than we have about the Roman Emperor
    - Fragments of book of John from 135 A.D. found in Egypt (so broadly distributed)!
    - 250 A.D. of complete Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John
    - Far more manuscripts of gospels than any other literature
- People say, copies of copies – there are errors, right?!?
  - But Historians will admit that they would love to have the quality of manuscripts that we have for the Bible
  - No real conflicts in manuscripts – blatant conflicts are trivial (scribal errors)
  - More than 20,000 ancient manuscripts of various parts of the Bible exist today
  - Over 5,300 ancient Greek manuscripts
    - Only 13 manuscripts of Plato
Why don’t secular historians quote from the history of the Bible & the Gospels?
- There is a prejudice against the supernatural before they even look at the evidence – so they discount the entire history.
  - Fallacy with this – it is foolish & not logical to judge the authenticity of an ancient manuscript acc. to our personal 21^st Century experience. B/c I don’t live in a culture where I see the supernatural happening, I don’t believe the supernatural has ever happened.
    - Like saying the Holocaust didn’t happen – b/c I don’t believe that hatred, racism, & prejudice could really exist. I’ve never felt this way toward a race of people or seen this kind of evil. So I don’t’ think it really happened.
    - Our experience has very little to do with history. Arguing from our experience isn’t an argument. It’s foolish. Have to judge on evidence not on feelings.
God in his wisdom did everything possible, at this time, to deliver to us what actually happened! Upheld his word in an incredible, miraculous way! Delivered to us & continues to deliver amazing evidence. Greater than the evidence of any other person or period of history! About a guy who wrote nothing & recorded only 3 yrs of his life.
The Bible came together over a period of 14 centuries—a fact so enormous that it almost defies belief. Over the centuries ideologies and accepted popular wisdom changed from generation to generation and from century to century. Yet no one revised what had previously been written in Scripture in order to make it harmonize with the latest documents.
- 40 individuals wrote the manuscripts & documents we now call the Bible from every imaginable walk of life! (Kings, peasants, blue-collar, royalty, tax-collectors, etc.)
Ruler after Ruler after Ruler have tried to destroy the Bible. Even as late as the 17^th century men from history (Voltaire) believed the Bible would not make it into the next century. But today a very conservative estimate is that a Bible is printed every second of every day – not to mention other materials.
- China has given up because their suppression has had the opposite effect.