I haven't been posting in a while, but there is one thing that I have been thinking about recently that I need to share: how we can know the Bible is true and real.
A year or so ago, my church had a service about the 'Authority of the Bible' and a few cases that prove it real. Thanks to my pastor, he sent me a transcript of the service, which I'm adding at the end for you to read. Please take a look if you have any questions about how we can say the Bible is true, besides just saying, "because it is."
I hope you can learn some insight from this and feel free to email me with any further questions you may have.
God bless you all!
Did you know that the bible is the top selling book of all time, each year there are over 100 million bibles purchased. The average home in America has more than 5 bibles in it.Now the bible is arguably the most important foundation of the Christian faith. The bible speaks about God, his nature, and his longing to restore us. The bible isn’t just some list of do’s and don’ts, or even a road map of how we should live our live. In Hebrews 4:12 we read that the bible is living and active, that is sharper than any double edged sword. I often heard it said that when you read the bible, it’s also reading you, showing you things about yourself or how you see God.But not everyone views the bible this way…Now when you guys head off to college, a professor of religion when they talk about the bible, typically we say something like, the Bible its comprised of legends and myths that weren’t recorded until many years after the events actually happened. They are hyped up and embellished; therefore it’s impossible to really know what’s true.Today there is actually a group of people called the Jesus seminar, they go through the whole bible and color code what they think is true and mark what isn’t. They say that we can’t really know for sure that more than 15 to 20% of the whole bible is true.
All of us in the room, who call themselves Christ followers, would acknowledge there is some sort of power held in the pages of this book, but how do we know that the Bible is based on True historical events, that what is said in the Bible actually happened? And how do we know that the books that are in our hands thousands of years after they are written are really God’s intended and inspired words?Today I really want you to walk away understanding two things.The bible is True Historical events, not myths or legends…The Bible is God’s inspired word preserved through the ages…First, the bible is based on true historical events… How can we know…Exercise-I bought a new car; its red and while driving I saw a squirrel carrying an acorn….Around Jesus time, it was far from a cultural norm for people to read and write. Thus oral tradition, or the memorizing and reciting of stories were a common practice. There weren’t face book messages, printing presses; kindles are anything like that at the time. So it was common for stories to be passed from generation. So people, who are looking to debunk the credibility of this book, will say the events weren’t recorded until years after they actually happened. So they are embellished, they are nothing more than myths. Like the telephone game we have no idea of really knowing what actually happened. So the bible is just a myth…Another way you can see the bible is based on historical events is to compare it with non-biblical texts.Tacitus, a roman historian, wrote annals of Rome book 15, which is basically a history book. He is quoted as speaking about Nero and Jesus…"Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus.2 Timothy 2:9for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained.The book second timothy in the bible was written by Paul who was imprisoned by Nero, many suggest after the great fire mentioned above.Matthew 27:2
So they bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the governor.Clearly these stories overlap and accredit each other.Thallus, wrote a history Eastern Mediterranean world in Ad 52, and this was a excerpt of what he said…"On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness; and the rocks were rent by an earthquake, and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down.The bible also speaks about darkness at this time, listen to it..Mark 15:32-34 33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, (something if you want to pronounce you should study greek b/c I don’t know) “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).[a]Flavius Josephus, a Jewish historian, wrote in Antiquities, book 18 chapter 5, about John the Baptist and Herod."Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's army came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called the Baptist: for Herod slew him,In Matthew 14 you can read about the whole story of John and Herod but in verse 9 here you see that Herod actually had John beheaded.Matthew 14:9The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted 10 and had John beheaded in the prison.Now these are just three examples of non-biblical texts that actually correspond with True historical events in the bible. The bible isn’t a myth its based on true historical events that other historians accredit.The first problem with this argument is the bible isn’t written like a myth or legend, its written like a historical book.Think about it most myths and legends don’t include historical people or historical places. The bible speaks about Jesus, Paul, Caesar, Xerxes who you have seen in the movie 300, Herod, and Pilate, and so on. No religion debates the existence of Jesus on this earth, they debate his nature, or whither he was God or man, which is a talk for another time.C. S. Lewis, said, "I have been reading poems, romances, vision-literature, legends, myths all my life. I know what they are like. I know that the bible is not. There are too many little details.Now another important thing to note, when arguing the historical accuracy of the bible is that we know that the synoptic gospels, which is matthew, mark, luke and john were actually written 30-60 years after the life of Jesus.So why is that important?Fight story- finish writitngSee you know if there are eyewitness to an event, at some point the truth is going to come out especially if a lot of people are present. The truth always surfaces to the top.See if I wrote a book that martin Luther king had a heart attack, or that September 11 was just a fire that killed a lot of people, that would be quickly exposed because there are many people that are currently living that were eye witnesses.See 1 Corinthians 15 speaks about eye witness seeing Jesus after his resurrection.1 Corinthians 15: 4-8 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas,[b] and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.See you must understand the Christian was a very unpopular religion, their was wide spread persecution, people were ostracized for their faith, so if the gospels or accounts of Jesus life, were written 30 years after his life there would be many people who would have debunked or exposed the new testament if it wasn’t true.Think about all the miracles, the stories, the interactions, if they weren’t true historical events the eye witness would have exposed the written accounts.See we can know for sure that the bible is based on true historical events. But the bible isn’t just a history book, meant to be studied but rather..The Bible is God’s inspired word preserved throughout the ages…2 Timothy 3:16-17 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.The term breathed is the same word you see in genesis where God literally breathed life into Adam.Genesis 2:7 then the LORD God formed the man of(F) dust from the ground and(G) breathed into his(H) nostrils the breath of life, and(I) the man became a living creature.The same breath that God breathed into adam is the same breath that he breathed life into the scriptures. It’s living and active. See the bible is God’s word written through man personality..I was reading about this missionary who was crossing into the border of a communist country and at the border, the guards asked, "Do you have any guns, drugs, or Bibles?"
To them, the Bible was as dangerous as guns and drugs. The Bible threatens more than their religion of atheism. It threatens their place of power and control over the people because it gives to the people what no government can. The Bible enriches lives, instills hope, and frees the human spirit, which makes it as threatening to an atheistic government as guns and drugs. The bible is living and active and its God’s inspired word.Heres the best part, we can be confident that the word God revealed to the apostles and disciples who wrote the books in the bible is the actual word we have in our hand..
New Testament Homer's Iliad Aristotle's Works When Written: 1st Cent. A.D. (50-100) A.D. 900 B.C. 384-322 B.C. Number of Copies: 24,000 600 49 Earliest Copy: Fragments: 50 years Books: 100 yearsAll: 250 years All: 500 years All: 1400 years Variant Words: 0.20% 5%
Above 10%
Matthew 5:18
18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
So here’s what I want you to know…Paramore- people giving away their worship giving away their hearts. Here’s the thing that was tough on me is I watching as they were singing and they were giving their worship to people they didn’t really know. All they had was some info about them. They didn’t really know them. They would never sit and talk or be invited into a personal conversation.Then the next day I came to impact and I saw several kids just kind of watching in the back. Holding back a bit and just going through the motions. I thought there is a God who is so much bigger and the difference is he wants to be known, he is available and accessible. He wants us to have knowledge of him, not just some facts about him. And this book is one of the ways we do that.
