I have this horrible habit of reading comments people leave on social media, especially when it has something to do with Christianity, God or Jesus. As a Christian, I normally don’t respond but if I do, I try to not be angry or defensive as that doesn’t help matters when unbelievers are waiting to see your weakness and use it against you. The best light I can be for Jesus is to show love even when I’m called “fool” “crazy” or “weak-minded” for believing what I do, but it still hurts and makes me angry because these people aren’t doing their research.
One of the biggest arguments I’ve heard is that the Bible is unreliable because it’s been “re-written” so many times and the stories are all fairytales we read to make ourselves feel better. Now, I’ve never been a “yes-man” Christian. I like to get my own proof and read the Bible on my own, not just listen to preachers and assume their teachings are accurate. It’s because of this that I conducted my own research.
We know the Bible is a collection of 66 books divided into two sections; 39 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testatment. These books were written “by God through men” under “divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit” (2 Tim 3:16). Now, I understand why a non-believer doesn’t understand that so let’s see if we can get some facts about the Bible as our foundation to prove its accuracy.
First, the name “Bible” comes from the word biblia sacra which translates to holy book and appeared for the first time somewhere in the middle ages (1154-1485). In 1611, we see one of the first, if not the first, mention of the words “Holy Bible” written on the cover of a King James version. So the Bible was clearly in circulation prior to this time and it was revered as the holy (sanctified and set apart) words of God.
Let’s fast forward about 700 years later to the caves located by the western shore of the Dead Sea. In 1946, after their initial discovery, some of the texts were studied and confirmed by scientists to be the scrolls and manuscripts belonging to specific books of the Bible. Within the eleven caves, the following books were found and matched the all ready circulating Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deutoronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, Chronicles, Job, Songs of Songs, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel & the Minor Prophets (Hosea, Amos, Micah, Joel, Obediah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi). Now, when you go to view these peices, you’ll see they’re worn and tattered but the writing is there which scientist confirmed to be the same biblical passages we use today.
So, what about the New Testament or New Covenant?
Well, we have proof of that also. A fragment of verse 18 in the book of John written in 96 A.D. can be found in John Rylands Library in Manchester, England. The oldest text for the Gospel of Mark has been dated back to the first century A.D. by Dr. Daniel Wallace. Of course, the oldest known forms of the new testament would be the Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus which are dated back to about 300 A.D. and written in the orginal Greek.
Yes, these versions have been translated to our language and others. Of course, there’s room for human error or interpretation from these scribes, but nothing so great that it has damaged the integrity of the message. The message of these books that make our known Bible today is still the same.
When you read the Bible you’ll find that the books actually compliment one another to complete the validity of it’s accuracy and show it’s deeper truth. For example, in the book of Psalms, chapter 22, verses 1-21 we read about the cruxifiction of Jesus and what he went through which was recorded later on in the New Testament. However, the cruxifiction form of execution wasn’t invented until the 6th century B.C. (600 B.C. – 501 B.C.) and the 22nd Psalm was written 1,000 years before that. Isaiah 53 also gives us an account of the life and excecution of Jesus but it was written about 700 years before Jesus was even born.
Even recently we’ve seen a phrophecy recorded in the book of Ezekiel, Chapter 36, verse 24 fulfilled concerning Isreal: “For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land”. On May 14, 1948 Isreal was declared a nation and Jews began going back home to their own land.
We can even go beyond the Bible to validate its truth by using history and archaeology. In 1993, at the foot of Mt. Hermon in Tel Dan (North of Isreal) basalt fragments were used in construction that contained the inscription for the house of King David. Similarly, the inscription of Pontius Pilate, the Roman judge who handed Jesus to be crucified, was found within the wall of an amptheater in Ceasarea in 1961. In addition, Robert Ballard, the same man who found the Titanic, has started his own research into Noah’s great flood and it’s beginning to prove positive that it actually did occur some 5,000 years ago. As the data and his findings are showing, he reasons that it was “violent” and covered 150,000 kilometers of land to be completely under water.
The names of kings within the Bible can be confirmed by our own scientific findings and some ancient customs of the Jewish recorded in the Bible are still being practiced today. But regardless, many people still don’t want to believe the Bible is true. If you can nullify it’s existence and accuracy then you don’t have to obey it’s commandments and teachings.
See, the real problem people have with the Bible is that they don’t like what’s inside of it. They don’t want to know what sin is because then they are accountable. The verses that talk about no sex outside of the marriage covenant, or to be honest and pay your taxes, or not to lie, cheat, steal or hate really make life a little bit harder. To feel the weight of sin is far too difficult and it’s easier to make fun of the Bible and try to disprove it. But people have been trying for hundreds of years and they still haven’t convinced enough people because this book is still being reproduced. It’s still a #1 best seller and will endure until the end of time (Matt 5:18).
I’m okay with people hating me because of Jesus. Like all other prophesies, He said they would. But I do feel bad for them. They act so superior and so correct, but on the day of judgement, there’s no hope for them. The world hates Christians, and I understand that because we really haven’t done the best job in standing up for ourselves or showing love. We get defensive and we argue harshly which we were NEVER supposed to do. I’ll accept that mistake and I am sorry for that. But what I will never be sorry for is believing that the Holy Bible and every word in it is truth.
If you don’t believe me, read it for yourself. Don’t Google it or try to find someone’s watered down version or their view, actually read the book. I read it seven times, cover-to-cover, and I’ll read it again and again and again. I have to because I need to. It works for me and my life and has helped me so much. But even if it didn’t work for me and I hated it, that doesn’t take away the truth that’s written on every single page. You may not like what’s inside, but it’s still the truth and God will use it to judge each and every one of us.
Becoming Invincible 