FORTY WRITERS HARMONIZE AS ONE

Approximately 40 different people, working independently, were used by God to write the Bible (see Topic 29 for names). They came from different geographic areas, different political systems and different social situations. They came from different walks of life – including a king, farmer, shepherd, doctor, fisherman, priest, philosopher and tax collector. They ranged from educated to uneducated, from rich to poor. They lived on three different continents, spanning a period of more than 1,500 years.

Amazingly, when all of these independent writings are put together, they read as a single coordinated volume.

To get some idea of the remarkable unity of the Bible, think about what kind of a book we would get by combining the religious writings of 40 different people who, in different centuries and different countries, expressed their convictions on controversial topics. The composite of these writings would be a potpourri, and no one would regard it as a single message.

The Bible is like an orchestra playing a symphony in concert: many people playing different instruments but together producing beautiful harmony from the mind of the composer. Without the composer, who makes unity from diversity, the players would only make discordant noise.

The harmony within and among the 66 writings that comprise the Bible is evidence that the Bible is God’s book.

THE BIBLE REJECTED ‘SCIENTIFIC’ VIEWS OF THE DAY

Here are examples of ‘scientific’ views commonly held at the time the Bible was written:

• EARTH PILLARS – The Egyptians, the scientists of their day, believed that the earth was supported by five giant pillars. But the Bible said God ‘suspends the earth over nothing’ (Job 26:7).
• FLAT EARTH – Nearly everyone believed the earth was flat. But the Bible said the earth is a ‘circle’ (word then had same meaning as our ‘sphere,’ Isaiah 40:22).
• PHYSICAL MATTER – Scientists used to believe that everything physical could be seen with the naked eye. But the Bible, recognizing molecular composition, said the ‘universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible’ (Hebrews 11:3).
• VISUAL IMAGES – It was universally assumed that if anyone was to ‘see’ something, he had to observe it directly with his own eyes at the moment it happened. But the Bible said that when Jesus Christ returns to earth, ‘every eye will see him’ (Revelation 1:7). Until this century, critics scoffed at that statement, saying it would be impossible for people throughout the world to see a single event simultaneously, but now we know it’s possible with television.
• GENETICS – Many, perhaps most, modern day scientists believe that man evolved as an animal over millions of years through a process of natural selection and survival of the fittest.

But the Bible said God created man and woman as a special human (not animal) creation (Genesis 1:27). Recent discoveries by scientists with newer and better instruments, through mitochondrion DNA analysis, show that all races have a common ancestor, a woman who lived thousands of years ago, leaving resilient genes carried by all of mankind. In the scientific community – as in the Bible – they call her ‘Eve.’

Science is constantly changing, and each change usually brings it closer to the Bible.

THE BIBLE GIVES SUPERIOR KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD

If the Bible were merely a human book, it would no doubt express the conventional understanding of the day in which it was written. It would likely say or imply, for example, that the earth is supported by giant pillars or that the earth is flat. If it were merely a human book, it would not make statements that would be regarded as ridiculous at the time it was written (like gravity, round earth, molecular composition, television).

The fact that the Bible makes statements that were out of step with the thinking of the day – even though later proved correct – reveals that the writers were given superior knowledge of the world.

The Bible would be discredited today if it said, for example, that the world was hatched from a huge flying egg. That was the latest theory of origins held by the Egyptians in Moses’ day. Since Moses was trained in the Pharaoh’s palace, we might expect him to reflect that view, but instead, as a Bible writer, he wrote that God created the world.

In 1861, the French Academy of Science listed 51 ‘incontrovertible facts’ which supposedly proved the Bible to be wrong. But today, in light of new knowledge, no scientist would believe more than a few, if any, of those 51 statements. There are now tens of thousands of obsolete books on science which reputable scientists will no longer use. The science books have changed, but the Bible is more credible than ever.

THE BIBLE TELLS ABOUT EVENTS BEFORE THEY HAPPEN

A measure of one’s knowledge is the ability to accurately predict in detail what will happen in the future. If the Bible is God’s book, we would expect that in it God would make statements about the future which prove to be correct. Furthermore, we would expect that he would not make any statements about the future which prove to be incorrect. While we expect only a percentage fulfillment in man’s predictions, we expect perfect fulfillment in God’s predictions. Therefore, our confidence in the Bible depends upon the accuracy of Bible prophecy.

The word ‘prophecy’ – used throughout the Bible – means prediction of the future with divine knowledge. In Old Testament times, before Jesus, God revealed certain knowledge of the future to prophets who spoke for him in foretelling coming events, usually warnings. For example:

More than two centuries before it happened, the prophet Isaiah said that Babylon would be overthrown by the Medes (Isaiah 13:17) and that the conqueror’s name would be Cyrus (Isaiah 44:28). That’s like someone announcing in 1717 that the U.S. will fight Germany in the 1940’s, that the U.S. will win, and that the President’s name will be Roosevelt.

The Prophet Ezekiel said that the large Babylonian city of Tyre would be scraped away so that only bare rock would remain (Ezra 26:4). About 60 years later, Alexander the Great, in a famous seven-month siege of the city, tore down its walls and buildings and with the rubble built a causeway to a nearby island. The city was literally scraped away. Today fishermen dry their nets on the bare rock site of the old city, never rebuilt, exactly as foretold in the Bible (Ezra 26:14).

ISRAEL IS EXAMPLE OF PROPHECY UNFOLDING TODAY

Every day the world’s newspapers report on the conflict between Jews and Arabs, as the Bible outlined the problem thousands of years ago. The Bible said – as diagrammed in Topic 12 – that the descendants of Israel (ancestral father of Jews) and Ishmael (ancestral father of Arabs) will live in hostility to each other (Genesis 16:11-12).

The Bible said further that the Jews would be scattered throughout the earth without a homeland of their own (Hosea 9:17). Over a thousand years after this prophecy, the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D., and the Jews lost their land and dispersed throughout the world.

But the Bible also said that the nation of Israel would be restored (Jeremiah 31). People scoffed at this prophecy, saying it would be impossible for the weak and scattered Jews to get their land back after nearly nineteen centuries. However, in one of the most amazing political phenomena of our time, Britain and the United Nations in 1948 forced the Palestinians to surrender land to a new nation – Israel! And the furor over this highly improbable turn of events – predicted thousands of year ago in the Bible – is still in the headlines today.

ONLY GOD CAN HAVE 100% ACCURACY

There are hundreds of prophesies in the Bible – written long before the actual events – which have come true exactly as predicted. What’s even more amazing is the fact that none of the prophesies has been wrong!

If a person could make an almost infinite number of predictions, he could produce an impressive list of fulfillments. The real measure of accuracy, however, is not the number of fulfillments but rather the ratio of right predictions to wrong predictions. In foretelling future events, the Bible has been 100% right – 0% wrong – a record impossible by even the best of concerted human ability. Only God can have 100% accuracy, and therefore the Bible must be his book.

Not all Bible prophecy has been fulfilled yet. There are a considerable number of future events of enormous consequence recorded in the Bible which have not yet occurred. These future events are not cited here because they cannot yet be offered as proof for the Bible’s accuracy. Only time will prove them.

Since the Bible has been completely accurate in its predictions in the past, it’s reasonable to assume that it’ll be completely accurate in its predictions for the future. Therefore, the Bible should be regarded as both a history of the past and the master plan of the future.

THE BIBLE WAS WRITTEN ON PAPYRUS SCROLLS

The Old Testament (see Topics 29 and 33-34) was originally written in Hebrew on stone or clay tablets, and later copied to papyrus scrolls.

The New Testament (see Topics 29 and 36) was originally written in Greek on papyrus scrolls.

During the fourth century, scribes began copying the Bible on specially treated animal skins, bound in book form, and this continued until paper came into common use in the fourteenth century.

At the time of Jesus, Palestine (the Holy Land, now Israel) was under Roman political domination. Jews spoke Aramaic, and some Hebrew. Romans spoke Latin. But Greek was the common language of the civilized world and the language of commerce and industry. Greek is a language of great richness and flexibility; an excellent language for preserving God’s written message to us.

THE BIBLE IS COMPILATION OF GOD-INSPIRED WRITINGS

With normal page and type size, the Bible is typically about 1,000 pages in length, of which 770 pages are the Old Testament writings and 230 pages are the New Testament writings.

The Old Testament is important background, but all the essential things God wants us to know now are contained in the 27 writings (usually called books or letters) which comprise the New Testament.

The New Testament was started with personal letters from the Apostle Paul. As God directed, he wrote them to help the people in his new and struggling churches better understand the new life experience to which he had introduced them.

‘Apostle’ – as in Apostle Paul – is a Greek word meaning ‘one who is sent out.’ The word referred to a personal messenger or envoy, commissioned to transmit the message and/or carry out the instructions of the commissioning agent. In New Testament usage, the word refers to the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples, chosen and commissioned by him to accompany him during his ministry, to receive his teachings and observe his actions, and to carry on his work by starting churches and training church leaders.

It’s unlikely that the Apostle Paul knew he was producing literature, still less holy scripture. He probably regarded his writings merely as personal or group letters to produce an immediate practical result.

After Paul was executed by the Romans in about A.D. 62, the churches began collecting, copying and distributing his letters as a means of Christian instruction. This collection of letters began to reveal the new life more clearly than ever.

Later, the notes, recollections and research of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were compiled by them into the four Gospels (life of Christ), and into Acts (history of the early church), and into Revelation (or Apocalypse, future events).

ALL AGREE ON ACTUAL WORDS IN THE BIBLE

There’s only one Bible. There are not different Bibles, although there are different translations of the Bible and there are some differences of opinion whether or not to include an additional 15 non-conflicting Old Testament books called the apocrypha (see Topics 29 and 30).

People disagree on how to interpret and apply some words of the Bible, but there’s no significant disagreement as to what those actual words are.

The fact that there’s universal agreement on the original text of the Bible is in itself absolutely amazing, and it’s evidence of the Bible’s divine inspiration and preservation.

THE BIBLE IS VALIDATED BY ACADEMIC BIBLIOGRAPHY

Because papyrus and paper decay, there are no longer any original copies (autographs) of the Bible writings, or of any perishable writings from the ancient world. Therefore, without the originals, we must rely on copies of copies (manuscripts).

It’s at this point where critics voice their view that the Bible is not reliable because what we read has been copied and recopied so many times over the centuries. Because of human error and bias, they say, our Bible today has inevitably strayed from the original autographs.

They raise a powerful argument, but upon investigation the argument only helps prove the divine character of the Bible. Their presumption happens with human books, but the amazing fact is that it doesn’t happen with the Bible.

There’s a field of academic study – called bibliography – which applies scientific techniques and procedures to determine the authenticity and reliability of manuscripts. Thousands of manuscripts from the ancient world have been studied and analyzed by bibliographers and paleographers and now constitute our knowledge of the past, carefully guarded in the libraries and museums of the world. These manuscripts are accepted with varying degrees of confidence, depending upon how many manuscripts have been found, how they correspond with each other, how they correspond with history and archaeology, what effect they had on the people of their day, etc.

Among all the world’s time-honored manuscripts, the Bible has the most substantiating evidence and universal recognition of any writings known to man. There’s so much proof for the authenticity and reliability of the Bible text that, except for some minor passages, the text is virtually undisputed in the academic community; Christian and non-Christian alike.

THOUSANDS OF BIBLE MANUSCRIPTS STILL EXIST

The quality and quantity of the Bible manuscripts surpasses all other ancient manuscripts. Just for the New Testament alone, there are now in existence over 5,000 Greek manuscripts, over 8,000 Latin manuscripts, and over 1,000 manuscripts in other languages.

To put those numbers in perspective, the next most authenticated writing from the ancient world is by Homer (Illiad and Odyssey, written in the 9th or 8th century B.C., the two greatest epic poems of ancient Greece), of which there are less than 700 manuscripts. The next highest numbers are for Plato, Aristotle, Caesar and Tacitus, of which there are less than 20 manuscripts each.

Not only is there an astonishing number of Bible manuscripts still in existence – and even some recent finds, like the Dead Sea Scrolls – but there are over 36,000 manuscripts of ancient literature which quote the Bible, and these extra-biblical quotations are so thorough and extensive that the entire Bible could be reconstructed from them alone.

It’s astonishing that so many Bible manuscripts have been preserved, but it’s even more astonishing that there’s practically no text corruption in them. In other words, after all these centuries of copying, there are hardly any reproduction errors. They all say the exact same thing! A major reason, of course, is that the scribes (and monks) regarded these manuscripts as the precise words of God and copied them with fastidious care.

Scholars conclude that the Bible (in its Greek form) is 99.5% accurate, Homer is 95% accurate, and the other writings have varying degrees of lower accuracy. The passages in the Bible with the .5% reproduction error are known to biblographers, but only a small number of the variances have any significant bearing on the meaning of the text and none affect doctrine.

THE BIBLE IS DIFFERENT FROM EVERY OTHER BOOK

There are three things about the Bible that make it different from any other book. In theological terms, these unique differences are called revelation, inspiration and illumination. As shown in the diagram below, God revealed himself and his plan to specially chosen writers; they recorded his message for all mankind.

To be more precise, the spirit of God (Holy Spirit, see Topics 39 and 44) communicated with the spirit of the writers (human spirit, see Topics 7 and 8) and guided their minds and hands to compose God’s message into human words. For convenience, these words have been collected into a single volume called the Bible. The Bible is a spiritual book – a primary resource God uses to get his thoughts and purposes into us – and it needs to be read not only with the mind but also with the spirit. If a person’s spirit is closed, most of the meaning of the Bible will not get through.

REVELATION – This term means that the Bible reveals truth about God, by God. It’s a revelation of himself (what kind of God he is) and a revelation of his plan and purpose for us (the reason for our existence). The Bible provides a reliable record of important events that have already taken place and important events that lie ahead, and it gives an authoritative interpretation of those events. (For example, if we’d been present at the crucifixion of Jesus, we’d have thought it was just another public execution of a failed revolutionary. We probably wouldn’t have recognized, as stated in II Corinthians 5:19, ‘that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.’)

INSPIRATION – Unlike all other books, the Bible didn’t originate in the mind of man but rather in the mind of God. But God had to simplify his thoughts for us and reduce them to words we can understand. So he selected some writers – over 30 of them, from three different continents, writing in three different languages, over a period of more than 1,500 years – and he directed them to write exactly what he wants us to know. (See Topic 29 for names of the Bible writers.)

ILLUMINATION – A person must be in an intimate relationship with God before he can expect to understand much of what he reads in the Bible. The same Holy Spirit who revealed God to the writers and supernaturally inspired their writings in the Bible also illuminates (makes understandable, ‘turns on the light’) the Bible to us today when our spirit is opened to God’s spirit.

GOD’S MESSAGE COMES TO US IN HUMAN WORDS

Through the centuries, Christians have held that the Bible is the one and only book authored by God himself. The theological expression ‘inspired word of God’ is used to denote how God worked in a supernatural way to make the written words of the Bible writers become God’s own verbal expression.

The Bible word for this communication – ‘theopneustos’ (Greek) – literally means ‘God-breathed.’ The Bible says of itself (II Timothy 3:16-17):

‘All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’

The Bible is, at the same time, words of man and words of God. Each part of the Bible was written by a special person chosen by God, using his human mind, personality and pen. But the message came from God, and the transmission was superintended by God, so that what we read are the words of God in the language of men. The Bible is both human and divine, like Jesus was both human and divine.

Some people question how God could use fallible people to write an infallible book. It’s true that human beings make mistakes, but they don’t have to make mistakes. It’s not impossible for a person to perform a mistake-free act, such as a writer who quotes a speaker precisely and spells every word correctly. It wouldn’t be difficult for God to dictate to certain people of his choice exactly what he wanted to be said at that time and then arrange for their writings to be collected for use by later generations. Even from our human perspective, this seems like the best way to document truth.

THE ENTIRE BIBLE IS THE TRUE WORD OF GOD

Some people say it’s too simplistic to believe that the Bible is the word of God. Instead, they say, the Bible contains the word of God. With that view, however, we’d be left in uncertainty to pick and choose the portions that please us. If we believe only what we like, and reject what we don’t like, it wouldn’t be the Bible we trust, but ourselves. In effect, we’d be setting ourselves up as God. A partially reliable Bible is inconsistent with the character of God portrayed in the Bible. An inspired Bible, by definition, is a completely reliable Bible.

Some people say there may be error in the Bible. But it’s nonsense to say that the Bible – in original manuscript – is inspired by God but has substantive error. That would be just another way of saying that he gave us God-inspired error, to deliberately mislead us.

However, there’s the possibility of either real error or apparent error arising from poor translation between languages; from cultural misunderstanding and from wrong interpretation. For example, many problems arise through failing to distinguish between the many literary styles in the Bible – such as poetry, proverbs and warnings which make appeal directly to the imagination, heart and conscience – because the content and impact of those kinds of writings is quite different from matter-of-fact reporting. Also, many problems arise through failing to understand cultural differences and failing to see principles rather than just words or events.

God’s truth is conveyed by what the Bible writers set down, in the meaning they originally intended, and in the way their readers understood it. Our understanding of that meaning may be faulty, especially without help from Bible scholars and historians. Therefore, error sometimes attributed to the Bible really lies with us.

WE SEARCH FOR TRUTH BY INVESTIGATING CLAIMS

Because we’re rational beings, we have an instinctive desire to know truth, and we use a common process in searching for truth. That process involves investigating claims (things being said) about the subject of our inquiry.

For example, if we were to search for the best tax attorney in town, we wouldn’t start by going out in the street and asking people at random if they practice tax law. A more practical approach would be to do an Internet search and get the names of all the people in the area who claim to be tax attorneys. Thus, we quickly narrow the field by considering only claimants.

Just because someone says he’s a tax attorney doesn’t necessarily mean he is one, or that he is the best one. Therefore, to determine the truth about his ability, we’d have to investigate his licensing, certifications and other credentials, plus we’d have to do some extensive reference checking and have personal experience with him. Only then can we really know the truth about him.

In various ways like this, we investigate claims every day. We can use this same kind of claim-checking process to develop our spiritual faith.

We start by asking two big questions. What books CLAIM to be written by God? What persons CLAIM to be God? If a book doesn’t claim to be written by God, it probably isn’t. If a person doesn’t claim to be God, he probably isn’t. Thus, we quickly narrow the field to the Bible and to Jesus Christ.

As shown in Topics 12-14, founders of the other major religions – Muhammad, Buddha – did NOT claim to be God. Such a claim is so vulnerable that it cannot survive scrutiny unless it’s really true.

THE BIBLE AND JESUS MAKE UNIQUE CLAIMS

If God is personally knowable, it’s logical to assume that he would reveal himself to mankind in some way.

Therefore, early in our search for God, we should do the most reasonable and obvious thing. We should look around to see if God has made himself known in the manner people normally communicate:

by Written Word

and

by Spoken Word

When we investigate, we find that there’s a book (the Bible) which claims to be the word of God and a man (Jesus Christ) who claims to be God.

No honest investigator can deny that the clarity of these claims, the credibility backing these claims and the testimony of those who have relied upon these claims, are extraordinary by every measure. In each category – written word of God and spoken word of God – there’s not even a close second to confuse us.

These twin claims are unique and clearly evident. The only question is whether or not these claims are true. Topics 20-26 give reasons why Christians believe they are true.

RELIGIONS ARE NOT JUST DIFFERENT PATHS TO GOD

All five major blocks of religious thought – Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and atheist – claim to have the correct perspective on God and man (see Topics 11-15).

But since these beliefs contradict each other (except perhaps Hinduism), and since each religion claims exclusivity in the correctness of belief, only one can be right. To say that more than one is right would violate a fundamental law of logic (the law of non-contradiction) which says that if two statements about a subject contradict each other, then only one can be true, or both must be false.

Logically, then, it’s not an informed and intelligent position to say that all religions are merely different paths to God. Therefore, we must decide whether to believe that Christianity (defined by the Bible) is true or to believe that it is false.

THE BIBLE IS THE MOST AMAZING OF ALL BOOKS

‘Bible’ is a Greek word meaning ‘book.’ The earliest parts of the Bible are written in Hebrew and the latest parts are written in Greek. What we read today are translations of the original Hebrew and Greek into English.

Universally, it’s called ‘The Bible,’ not just ‘bible.’ It’s The Book, not just a book.

The Bible is the most read book in the world. Over six billion copies have been printed in over 1,700 languages. It’s amazing how this single book has been able to explain life and meet the needs of people in all countries... in all cultures... in all periods of time. No other book has come close to having such universal and timeless appeal.

It has withstood all attempts through the centuries to have it destroyed, banned and discredited. Those who read and understand it say it’s still fresh and relevant. Unlike any other book, readership of the Bible keeps increasing with time as more and more people become familiar with it.

The Bible claims to be a user’s manual, given by God to his human creation to explain the meaning and purpose of life and to show how we can have a personal relationship with him.

Because of its unique claims and outstanding credentials, anyone sincerely desiring to know God and to experience his love and power will certainly want to carefully examine the Bible.

THE BIBLE HAS ASTOUNDING CREDENTIALS

Here are some of the Bible's credentials:

• The Bible claims to be God's message to us. It’s a credible claim because the Bible is in fact the most read and most respected book in the world.
• The Bible has been authenticated by bibliographers. People disagree on how to interpret some words of the Bible, but there's no significant disagreement as to what those actual words are.
• The Bible has been confirmed by archaeological findings.
• The Bible has been miraculously preserved, despite all attempts to destroy and discredit it.
• The Bible has been completely accurate in foretelling future events.
• The Bible has amazing internal unity, revealing super-human knowledge.
• The Bible has dramatically changed lives and shaped the course of history.

These points are expanded and documented in order in the next seven Topics.