4. Why should we trust the Bible? How do we know it's really from God?
There are many “sacred” books in the world today that claim to be the words of God or messages from some world beyond our own. What separates the Bible from the Koran of Islam or even The Book of Mormon, which is supposed to be a message to Joseph Smith from an angel?
Here are some key differences:
1) Fulfilled predictions
The Bible is very unique in that it contains many predictions that came true even thousands of years after they were predicted. The Bible consists of the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament (O.T.) was written before Jesus was born. The New Testament (N.T.) tells about the life of Christ, written by people who knew Jesus, who walked with Jesus, who ate with Him, and who followed Him. The O.T. contained predictions that there will come a Savior for humankind. It tells us the place of His birth (Micah 5:1-2), that He would be betrayed by a close friend (Psalm 41:9), that He would die by having His hands and feet pierced (Psalm 22:16-18), but that He would rise from the dead (Psalm 16:10, 49:15). And all these prophecies and many more are fulfilled by Jesus in the New Testament. How do you explain the many predictions that came true thousands of years after they were predicted? God can look into the future and has power over it. The Bible has been written under the inspiration of God, and it has proven itself to be true.
2) The Bible’s consistency
The whole Bible consists of a set of 66 different books written by 40 different authors over a period of almost 1500 years, in three languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek). Yet the whole Bible has one central story line--God's redeeming (saving) of humankind. The Old Testament proclaims the Savior is coming ("Jesus is coming"), while the New Testament proclaims "Jesus is here." That's why it's been said the Old Testament is the New Testament hidden, and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed. The books of the Bible are consistent, in complete harmony and in unity with each other despite the fact that they were written over a period of 1500 years by 40 different men (most of whom never even met the others). How could this be? Because there's only one Author who inspired all the writers. The one Author behind it all is God. Can you find another set of 66 books in the world (written by 40 authors in three different languages over a 1500 years span) all of which when combined together tell one central story, and maintain a harmony and consistency with each other? There is no other book like it. The Bible is not just another book. It is divine in its origin.
3) It is thoroughly rooted in history
While some religious texts are compilations of fantastical stories that seem to occur in a never-never land, the Bible includes thousands of details about people, times, customs, and places. The Bible seems to invite people to check out its details.
And people have. Over the centuries, Bible stories that people have said could not possibly be true have been found to agree in many ways with discoveries in archaeology. Just one example is the discovery in the 19th century of the Assyrian capital of Nineveh, in present-day Iraq, a city that many until that time believed to be imaginary. Not only was the city uncovered, but also hundreds of tablets giving information about Assyrian kings whose names are also in the Bible. Over the centuries, other discoveries, such as the Moabite Stone and the excavations at dozens of city sites in the Middle East, have shown that when the Bible speaks of specific times and places, it is accurate.
So do archaeological discoveries prove that everything in the Bible is true? No. Some things in the Bible will never be proven by science or archaeology. That is because the Bible, while it contains historical records, was not written to be a history book. Nor was it written to be a science textbook. The Bible’s purpose is to reveal God to His creation--us. It is also not just a rule book full of “dos” and “don’ts.” Rather, it is a love letter from God, telling people how much He loves them. And how much is that? We have the story of Jesus to tell us.
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