Snellville Church of Christ: Online Resources

Foundations of Faith
An online correspondence course
Lesson 6: Why the Bible Is God's Word

"The best evidence of the Bible's being the word of God is to be found between its covers. It proves itself." (Charles Hodge.) Indeed, were it not for the internal evidence of its inspiration, the Bible would never have become the world's most widely circulated book. The Christian should become thoroughly familiar with the evidence of the inspiration of these writings upon which his faith rests. For if we do not know why we believe the scriptures are inspired by God's Holy Spirit, our faith in God's revelation and in the Christ it portrays may be shattered by biblical critics.

Christian evidences is the term usually applied to the study of reasons for believing in the inspiration of the Bible and the religion of Jesus Christ. Whole books have been written in this field, and it is impossibie in our space to more than touch upon the theme. While in the absolute sense we cannot prove the divine origin of the Bible, there are a number of valid reasons we shall consider for accepting its claim to come from God.

MORALITY. The Bible sets forth the highest standard of morality that the world has ever known. Never has there been a finer principle regulating human relationships than the golden rule. "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets." (Matt. 7:12.) We usually quote it, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The Buddhist, Hindu, and Moslem religions cannot match the ethical teachings of Christ. Can anyone point to great moral strides accomplished under the guidance of atheists? Men have fallen woefuly short of properly applying the principles of Jesus, but his teaching is still valid. The best explanation for the superior morality of Christianity is that it has been divinely revealed.

UNITY. The Bible was written by about forty different authors in three languages over a period of about 1600 years. Yet, its remarkable unity of thought, emphasized by its absence of real contradictions, points to the divine inspiration of its penmen. One common theme may be traced throughout these books--the redemption of man from sin through the Christ in accordance with God's eternal purpose. Such unity cannot be satisfactorily accounted for apart from divine inspiration.

THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST. No student of history can doubt that Jesus has more profoundly influenced the world's history than any other individual who has ever walked on earth. Yet he wrote no books, fought no military battles, held no office, and even had no home that he could call his own. How shall we account for this? The explanation is found in his character, a character so superior to that of the greatest of human beings that we must consider him to be divine. Where else in history can we find one so completely unselfish, so unquestionably good, without the slightest taint of wrongdoing to mar his reputation? Surely, this man who was subjected to every human temptation and suffering without doing wrong was no mere mortal. As one studies the person of Jesus he is led to conclude that he was the essence of goodness, and if so, then in fact the son of God. If divine, then the scriptures upon which he placed his approval and which relate his story must be inspired by God.

IMPARTIALITY. The Bible tells us the best of the worst men, and the worst of the best. In this it stands in sharp contrast to the literary efforts of human authors. Even the sins of David, "a man after God's own heart," are painted in bold relief with no effort to justify his transgressions. In the New Testament the ugly anger of James and John in calling down fire upon a Samaritan village (Luke 9:51-55) and the cowardly denial of Jesus by Peter (Matt. 26:69-75) are described without apology on their behalf. The Bible tells it like it is because it is concerned with truth, even at the expense of great men of God.

PRESERVATION. No book has been subjected to more physical and verbal attacks than the Bible. The persecution of the Roman emperors resulted in the destruction of many handwritten copies of the scriptures, yet the Bible survived. Such men as Celsus in the second century bunched vicious attacks against it. In his Age of Reason published just before the end of the 18th century, the English infidel Thomas Paine sought to destroy belief in the Bible by exposing its supposed "contradictions." He failed, and still the Bible is revered in millions of human hearts. No effort to stamp out the written word of God has succeeded. The best explanation for its preservation in the face of such attacks is that it has come from God.

RELATION OF THE BIBLE AND SCIENCE. A few words should be said about the relation of the Bible and science. The Bible is not a book of science and does not use scientific terminology. It speaks in the language of the common man. Had it used modern scientific words it could not have been understood by the people in the day it was written. It is even difficult to measure biblical teaching in terms of science since scientific thought is constantly changing and today's textbooks will be out of date in a few years. The Bible mentions the "sunrising" (Deut. 4:41) when speaking of the east. Technically this is inaccurate as we know that it is the movement of the earth, not the sun, that causes the sun to appear to rise and set. Yet we talk the same way today and no one accuses another of error when he speaks of viewing the sunset. This is the speech of the common man to which the Bible is addressed.

Supposed conflicts between the Bible and science stem from two primary sources. First, some Bible believers try to force their interpretations of scripture on others. In effect, they make the Bible say what it does not. To illustrate, the Bible does not tell how old the earth is. Yet some insist that we must believe that the earth was formed in 4004 B.C. because they see this date in their King James Bible. They may not realize that the dates found in that version were calculated by Bishop Usher in 1650 AD. and are one man's opinion only. In Genesis 1:1 we are told, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." When was the beginning? We are not told. Some time later in the six days of creation God placed the earth in its present state. No information is supplied about the length of time between "the beginning" and the six days. It is wrong to insist that one's interpretations must be accepted as the undisputed teachings of the written word.

On the other hand, some scientists have been guilty of teaching their theories as if they were scientific fact. The theory of crganic evolution is a case in point. As demonstrated in the first lesson this theory contradicts biblical teaching and it proved there would be a conflict between the Bible and science. But we must remember that, in spite of the protestations of some evolutionists, their theory ir still unproved. It is just as wrong for them to try to compel people to accept organic evolution as scientific fact as it is for Bible believers to insist that the earth is just 6000 years old While there are conflicts between some scientific theories and the Bible and between some biblical interpretations and science, there is no conflict between the Bible properly understood and true scientific fact.

Does the Bible demonstrate any scientific foreknowledge that would cause us to believe in its divine inspiration? Negatively, the Bible is free of the inaccurate scientific ideas of many of the ancients which would mark it as of human origin. Thus we do not read that the earth is flat or that it rests upon the back of a great turtle or elephant. This absence of superstitious notions in scientific matters sets it apart from other ancient writings.

On the positive side there are incidental indications of divine scientific foreknowledge. To illustrate, Noah's ark was three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. These are the same basic ship proportions as those of modern ocean liners. Was it pure coincidence that God instructed Noah to use the same ratio in constructing the ark that modern ship designers have discovered to be the best? We think not. In one field, especially, there is evidence that God revealed scientific knowledge to men of God, even though it is unlikely that at the time they understood all of the reasons. This is the area of

MEDICAL FOREKNOWLEDGE. The Law of Moses provided extensive hygienic regulations for coping with disease. Many of these were far in advance of ancient medicine. One of the most dreaded diseases of that time was leprosy. The Mosaic Law prescribed that the victim should be quarantined as a means of preventing its infectious spread (Lev. 13:45, 46). The quarantine principle was rediscovered in the Middle Ages as the best means of combatting leprosy, and when it became apparent that it worked, it was also applied to those with bubonic plague, resulting in the saving of millions of lives.

The law also decreed that those who had touched a corpse should wash repeatedly in running water (Num. 19). The practical function of this was to prevent the spread of infectious disease, although this is not stated in the scriptures. It was only in the nineteenth century that physicians discovered that surgery performed by a doctor who had handled a dead person without first washing his hands was a major cause of surgical deaths. Even then they did not use running water as prescribed by the Law of Moses and as surgeons now realize is necessary.

Mosaic Law also required that human execrement should he buried outside the camp as the Israelites wandered through the wilderness (Deut. 23:12, 13). Today we know that proper sewage disposal is essential in disease prevention. In the time of Moses such sanitation rules were unheard of. Only the revelation of an all-wise God can adequately account for such directions to his people. Many other health instructions are given in the Bible, which, if followed, will result in generally good health. In the ancient world of ignorance where did such knowledge como from if not from God?

In the following lessons other Christian evidences will be examined. We will consider the historical accuracy of the Bible next Later, we will study fulfilled prophecy, dividing our examination into two parts--those relating to the Messiah or Christ, and those pertaining to other matters. Fulfilled prophecy is one of the strongest proofs of biblical inspiration.

SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES
True or false:

T F 1. It is important to know why we believe the Bible.
T F 2. The study of reasons for believing the Bible is called "Christian evidences."
T F 3. The Bible is full of contradictions.
T F 4. Jesus did extensive writing during his personal ministry.
T F 5. The Bible mentions the mistakes of good men.
T F 6. Thomas Paine wrote Age of Reason.
T F 7. The Bible always uses scientific terminology.
T F 8. The Bible always agrees with scientific theories.
T F 9. The first chapter of Genesis states the exact age of the earth.
T F 10. The Bible teaches many superstitious notions believed by ancient peoples.
T F 11. In the Law of Moses the use of running water was prescribed for cleansing after one had touched a dead person.
T F 12. The principle of quarantine was applied in the Middle Ages to stop the bubonic plague.

List eight reasons for believing that the Bible is God's word:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Choose the correct letter:

1. Luke 6:31 records:
(A) the goldenrule;
(B) a proverb of Solomon;
(C) the wisdom of Job.
2. 1 Peter 2:21-23 establishes:
(A) medical foreknowledge;
(B) the unity of the Bible;
(C) the pure character of Jesus.
3. Hebrews 4:15 teaches:
(A) the impartiality of the Bible;
(B) the sinlessness of Jesus;
(C) the highest moral standard ever given to man.
4. Leviticus 13:52 instructed that contaminated garments worn by lepers should be:
(A) washed;
(B) burned;
(C) saved.
5. Isaiah 40:8 declares that that which shall stand forever is:
(A) the earth;
(B) the heavens;
(C) the word of God.

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