How Do I Know the Bible is True?
Updated: Aug 15, 2023
A Fair Question
For the outsider looking in, this is probably the most critical question you can ask and probably have asked if you’ve ever considered Christianity. And before I mention anything, I want to say that you are 100% fair in asking this question. Anyone who blindly follows an ideology or way of life without evidence or logic isn’t looking to pursue the truth, but rather the next popular fad. Therefore, answering this question is of utmost importance for us to explain to the non-believer why we follow the book we follow. To answer this question, I am going to attempt to break down the best explanation I’ve ever heard on why the Bible is true and reliable and this answer comes from one of my favorite pastors, Dr. Voddie Baucham. Dr. Baucham states his reasoning for believing the Bible as follows, “I choose to believe the Bible because it is a reliable collection of historical documents, written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses, reporting supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies and claimed their writings are Divine and not of human origin.”
Historical Reliability
Let’s break that down by looking at the first part: I choose to believe the Bible because it is a reliable collection of historical documents”. When we look at the history of the Bible, there is no question that if this book was not a religious document, it would be acknowledged as true by almost any common historian or author. The Institute for Creation Research says it most convincingly when they recorded “Two of the greatest 20th-century archaeologists, William F. Albright and Nelson Glueck, both lauded the Bible (even though they were non-Christian and secular in their training and personal beliefs) as being the single most accurate source document from history. Over and over again, the Bible has been found to be accurate in its places, dates, and records of events. No other “religious” document comes even close.” Not only does the Bible become more supported over time with the evidence we gain from landmarks, dates, records, and events, but if we aren’t even willing to acknowledge the truth of this book based on these stats, then we also need to question every history book we’ve ever read in school and count it as false because those books have less evidence for historical accuracy than even the bible does. I think it is safe to say, even if you’re not a Christian, that the Bible is at least a reliable collection of historical documents.
Next, we see Dr. Baucham state, “written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses, reporting supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophecies.” If you ask any historian or any judge today how they measure whether or not someone is telling the truth, they will ask this particular person, ‘Was anyone else around that can claim what you’re saying is true?’ The Bible not only has an answer to this question by having eyewitnesses that recorded these events but they were written and passed along to others during the lifetime of even more eyewitnesses! This doesn’t just defend the incredible accuracy of the text, but it reveals a lesser time gap between when the original documents were copied for what we have today. 1C15 did a study and noted that the time between manuscripts for the Bible is only ‘25 years.’ This is a fascinating discovery! Not only does the Bible have multiple eyewitnesses, but it also has an implausibly short time gap between the writings of the original manuscripts and the copies we have today.
What Are the Chances?
The only thing that may be more fascinating than that is the fulfillment of these ‘specific prophecies.’ Again history has proven that the Old Testament manuscripts were clearly written before the New Testament, and yet we have a record of supernatural events that not only take place but were ‘predicted’ to happen a multitude of years before they actually occurred. What’s even more outlandish is that these prophecies are fulfilled against all scientific odds that we have today. The F.I.R.M. has a study that shows the New Testament fulfilled just over 324 specific prophecies written in the Old Testament. To put this into perspective, the chances that someone would fulfill just 48 prophecies would be 1 in 10^157. Just a reminder for those bad at math like myself, that’s a 10 with 157 0’s following it… and that’s just 48 prophecies. The New Testament fulfills over 324. Anyone with common sense would immediately admit that this is not just a random book written by religious heretics, but rather an incredibly accurate document passed down by believable eyewitnesses. The final part we see in Dr. Baucham’s reasoning is that these eyewitnesses ‘claimed their writings are Divine and not of human origin.’ This is where we take a look at all of the evidence we have gathered thus far and put it into play.
If we have an insurmountable amount of evidence that this book is historically accurate, and even more so than any other book ever written in history, then we should have no problem believing these eyewitnesses when they tell us that these events that took place were Divine and not man-made. Yet, no matter how much evidence you have, the skeptic will slavishly mark all ‘religious’ writings as false and will not even consider the truth of these undeniably reliable documents the moment God is brought up. To the skeptic, Christian, and middle-man alike, I would urge you to not just follow the Bible because people tell you to or because it’s becoming a popular fad in your household, follow it because it is undeniably true. Study it in your time, find the reliability of this book from your own research, and see for yourself whether or not this book is historically accurate. I know I presented some evidence here today, but this is just a taste of the evidence that is out there for us to examine.
The Bible Agrees
As a matter of fact, the best evidence there is (if you believe the Bible is true) comes from the Word of God itself. Peter himself backs up this entire argument as he closes his first chapter in his second letter to his fellow believers. He states, “16 For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such a declaration as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory: “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased”— 18 and we ourselves heard this declaration made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.19 And so we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. 20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture becomes a matter of someone’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” As you go on your journey to discover the truth of God’s Word, I hope and pray that you would not just follow the ideals of the skeptic or go along with whatever culture tells you to believe. Fight for truth and look to where the evidence points. As you do, I believe the truth will be made known to you as it was to me and many others, and you will be able to walk forward, knowing confidently, that the Bible is indeed true.
Sources
[1] “Access Your Bible from Anywhere.” BibleGateway.Com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 150 Versions and 50 Languages., www.biblegateway.com/. Accessed 2023.
[2] Christian Roundtable Groups, www.christianroundtablegroups.com/WebSiteUsers/Curriculum/MaterialsFiles/TAW_BelieveTheBibleVoddieBaucham.pdf. Accessed 12 July 2023.
[3] “Historical Accuracy.” The Institute for Creation Research, www.icr.org/biblical-record. Accessed 12 July 2023.
[4] Published by 1c15 on 23rd December 201923rd December 2019, and 1c15. “How Many Copies Exist and How Large Is the Time Gap?” 1c15, 15 Mar. 2021, 1c15.co.uk/how-many-copies-exist-and-how-large-is-the-time-gap/.
[5] Bernis, Jonathan. “How Many Prophecies Did Jesus Fulfill?” FIRM Israel, 24 May 2022, firmisrael.org/learn/how-many-prophecies-did-jesus-fulfill/.
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