So much of the Christian faith is based on the Bible. But is it reliable? Can we trust the Bible? Does a series of documents that were all written over two thousand years ago stand up under modern scientific scrutiny? These are incredibly important questions, because whether or not the Bible is true has extremely important implications for the eternal destiny of all mankind.
You see, the Scriptures claim that they are the inerrant Word of God. They claim to have no errors and they claim to tell mankind the way to have eternal life. These are not claims to be taken lightly. Indeed, they are deadly serious.
In 2 Timothy 3:16, the apostle Paul tells us that the Scriptures were given by inspiration of God…..
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”
So if the Scriptures were given by inspiration of God, then they should be accurate in everything that they say, right?
The apostle Peter reinforces this point in 2 Peter 1:20-21…..
“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost”
So is that really the case?
Can we trust the Bible?
Well, as we will see, the answer is most definitely yes…..
First of all, the Bible is unique among all the religious books of the world in that it contains very specific predictive prophecy that has come to pass. In fact, the Scriptures contain amazingly accurate prophecies that were given hundreds, and in some cases even thousands of years in advance. We simply do not find this in other religions.
Dr. Hugh Ross has done an excellent article about a few of these prophecies that is very much worth reading. We would highly suggest that you check it out:
Fulfilled Prophecy: Evidence for the Reliability of the Bible
In addition, we have previously posted an article that looks at the amazing prophecies found in Isaiah chapter 53 that you can find here:
http://whygodreallyexists.com/archives/messianic-prophecies
We also posted an in depth article about the extraordinary prophecy about the crucifixion of Jesus found in Psalm 22 that you can read here:
Should not the real God of the universe be able to tell us what is going to happen ahead of time?
Indeed, in the book of Isaiah God does tell us that this is what sets Him apart from all of the other “false” gods…..
Remember the former things, those of long ago;
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say: My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please.
God does tell us the end from the beginning in the Bible, and that truly does set the Scriptures apart from other “holy” books.
Well what about archaeology?
Does that give us any clues about whether we can trust the Bible or not?
Indeed it does.
Christian answers has an excellent series of articles that show that the archaeological evidence keeps confirming the Bible over and over and over…..
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aiia/aiia-arch1.html
In fact, the more discoveries that are made, the more it keeps confirming that the Bible is reliable. Once again, this fact clearly sets the Bible apart from the other major religious books of the world.
For much more on the archaeological evidence for the Bible, we would encourage you to check out a couple of articles on this topic written by one of the greatest Bible scholars alive today…..
http://www.grantjeffrey.com/article/article7.htm
http://www.grantjeffrey.com/article/rockcry.htm
Okay, but is the Bible scientifically accurate?
Once again, the answer is most definitely yes.
Unfortunately, there is a common misperception that the Bible and science are at odds, but the truth is that total opposite of that. The truth is that when the Bible speaks about science it is incredibly accurate…..
http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/sciencebible.html
But isn’t the Bible full of contradictions? After all, that is what you will hear when you talk to most skeptics and atheists.
Well, no, it isn’t. Of course there are always some Scriptures that skeptics and atheists like to claim contain contradictions, but all of those objections have been convincingly answered by scholars who have studied these questions for decades. In fact, often the “contradictions” and “objections” are cleared up when new historical or archaeological discoveries are made. For a great online library of Biblical contradictions that have been answered, we would encourage you to check out this website…..
http://www.carm.org/bible-difficulties/genesis-deuteronomy
The truth is that we could go on and on discussing the reliability of the Bible. For more evidence for both the Bible and the Christian faith, we would encourage you to read the article below on some of the key evidence that shows why Christianity is true…..
http://whygodreallyexists.com/archives/does-god-exist