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Can you trust your Bible? Is the Bible a book of God or a book of man? If we doubt the Bible’s trustworthiness, we lose it as:<\/p>\nCan you trust your Bible? Is the Bible a book of God or a book of man? If we doubt the Bible’s trustworthiness, we lose it as:<\/p>\n
For itself, the Bible claims to be “given by inspiration of God, profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be….thoroughly equipped for every good work<\/em>”\u00a0 (II Timothy 3:16-17).<\/p>\n Still, to know for ourselves the Bible\u00a0is<\/strong>\u00a0God’s holy word, we — above all things — must be honest. While evidence in favor of it is abundant and available, we will only be moved by it if we are\u00a0willing<\/strong> to choose it (John 3:16-17) and not refuse it (John 5:40).\u00a0 It would be impossible in this small space to supply the facts needed (and given) for confidence in its true nature.\u00a0 One who is sincerely interested can find many scholarly and conservative books written to provide those facts. He must be ready to encounter much hostility and falsehood because so much depends upon seeing the Bible as it truly is — Satan understands that faith in the divine origin of Scripture will defeat him, and so he has done much to try to influence men\u00a0against<\/strong>\u00a0its teachings.\u00a0 God has given adequate reasons for believing, but it is up to us to be fair and thorough in our evaluation of it.<\/p>\n The only way we can know the will of God (the “mind” of God) is for Him to reveal it to us (I Corinthians 2:10-13).\u00a0 Reason tells us that if God is<\/strong>\u00a0there, and He\u00a0does<\/strong> care, then He would reveal Himself to us.\u00a0 In fact, He has done so abundantly.\u00a0 Evidence for the true nature of the Bible as inspired by God is vastly superior to evidence to support any other alleged “revelation,” whether the Koran or anything else.\u00a0 As one Old Testament scholar says, “These books (of the Old Testament) exhibit a remarkable singleness of purpose and program, most reasonably explained as the operation of a single mind, the mind of the divine Author Himself” [Old Testament Survey<\/em>].<\/p>\n Archaeology (the science of uncovering the past) supports the divine origin of the Scriptures.\u00a0 Joseph P. Free says, “in addition to illuminating the Bible, Archaeology has confirmed countless passages which have been rejected by critics as unhistorical or contrary to known facts.” (Archaeology and Bible History).<\/p>\n In the area of life and nature, the Bible is both accurate and predictive.\u00a0 Long before men understood it, Moses said “the life of the flesh is in the blood<\/em>” (Leviticus 17:11).\u00a0 Earlier doctors actually practiced “bloodletting” as a remedy for various human ills, but we know today<\/strong>\u00a0that when we give blood to the Red Cross we truly “give the gift of life.”<\/p>\n Job tells us that God “stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing<\/em>” (Job 26:7). The religions of his time (and much later, for that matter) supposed the earth was supported by something — the giant, Atlas, a tremendous turtle, etc.\u00a0 Men now<\/strong> know that Job was right.\u00a0 Actually, many things referred to in the last four chapters of the book of Job indicate a familiarity with the nature of the earth and man, totally unknown at the time the book was written.\u00a0 These and many other such facts lead us to realize that only God could have given them.<\/p>\n Prophecy and its fulfillment is an excellent example of the divine origin of the Bible.\u00a0 Jesus appealed to prophecy as supportive of His claims (Luke 24:25-27).\u00a0 Over 300 Old Testament prophecies find their fulfillment in the life of Christ, and the time of the New Testament.\u00a0 Passages like Isaiah 52:13-53:12, and Micah 5:2 are too specific to be a coincidence and are only two among many.\u00a0 The facts of Jesus’ life are confirmed from non-Christian sources, like the Jewish historian Josephus, and many of them were foreseen in prophecy.\u00a0 Some say Christ tried to fit himself into the prophecies, but who can plan his own birth (many details of which occur in prophecy)?\u00a0 Even the most liberal of Bible critics must admit that these prophecies were given hundreds of years before Christ came (the Septuagint version of the Bible is acknowledged to have been completed almost two hundred years before Christ).<\/p>\n Some claim that the disciples of Jesus wrote lies about the resurrection, the miracles, and other events of Jesus’ life.\u00a0 As a matter of interest, most of the writings which detailed the life and death of Christ were in circulation while contemporaries of Jesus were still alive.\u00a0 The fact that none of them denied it, even the enemies of the Lord (and they were in a position to do so).\u00a0 The gospel of Luke has been given intense scrutiny, and has proven to be accurate on every checkable detail, event, and artifact — this being true, what reason is there to doubt any other part of his testimony?\u00a0 As the human instrument God used to record the book of Acts, Luke tells us that Peter said, “..nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men, by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).\u00a0 Dare we doubt it?<\/p>\n The testimony of the Bible is Jesus arose from the dead. Thank God! When He did, He gave us the opportunity for hope. Not perishable hope, but everlasting hope (I Peter 1:3-5).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Abraham Smith Can you trust your Bible? Is the Bible a book of God or a book of man? If we doubt the Bible’s trustworthiness, we lose it as: an infallible standard of truth; an authoritative basis for obedience or hope; “living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12); and as a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[219,225],"class_list":["post-32607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-bible","tag-inspiration"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":978,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-we-know-the-bible-is-inspired\/","url_meta":{"origin":32607,"position":0},"title":"How do we know the Bible is inspired?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 26, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How do we know absolutely that the Bible is the infallible and inspired Word of God? How did the Bible as we know it today come into existence? Answer: Entire books have been written on the subject of the inspiration of the Bible. It is unlikely that I will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56476,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-breathed\/","url_meta":{"origin":32607,"position":1},"title":"God Breathed","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Stan Cox In II Timothy 3, the apostle Paul penned a wonderful sentence that establishes both the precious nature of the words contained in our Bibles and their efficacy in ordering our lives as His servants. \"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":61910,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/biblical-infallibility-can-we-trust-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":32607,"position":2},"title":"Biblical Infallibility: Can We Trust the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 15, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Trust in the scriptures is important to every Christian. The Bible is the center of our faith. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We are Christians because we believe that God exists and that the Bible is God's word - II Tim. 3:16 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Believing in the Bible's message will save our souls\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9161,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-did-adam-eve-and-the-bible-come-into-existence\/","url_meta":{"origin":32607,"position":3},"title":"When did Adam, Eve, and the Bible come into existence?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My girlfriend and I were discussing things in the Bible, and we were wondering when did Adam and Eve come into existence, and when did the Bible come into existence? We were just wondering. I have heard this question asked before in other people's conversations and didn't get a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":81327,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-inspiration-of-the-bible-be-proven\/","url_meta":{"origin":32607,"position":4},"title":"Can inspiration of the Bible be proven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I know II Timothy 3:16: \"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.\" I had a discussion with a person who is not a member of the Church of Christ and, therefore, not a Christian. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":46389,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-bible-fallible-because-it-was-written-in-human-languages\/","url_meta":{"origin":32607,"position":5},"title":"Is the Bible fallible because it was written in human languages?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Jeffrey, I am sorry that I have to turn to you for help, but this is why I am currently studying to be a preacher because people like you and many others inspire me to be able to teach. Unfortunately, I have wasted away much of my life\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32607\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}