Can One Truly Know If the Bible is True? How Can I Truly Know That the Bible is God's Word? Is the Bible Relevant Today?

1. MBBC
2012

2. Introduction

3. 1. The Bible claims
it is God’s Word.

4. 2Timothy 3:16, 17
“All scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness:
That the man of God may be
perfect, throughly furnished unto all
good works.”

5.  Inspiration– from the Greek compound
word “theopneustos” which means “God-
breathed”
 God breathed out His words over a period of
about 1,500 years to approximately 40
especially chosen and prepared men of God
who wrote them down to give us the Word
of God.
 God is the Author of the Bible

6. “Knowing this first, that no
prophecy of the scripture is of any
private interpretation.
For the prophecy came not in old
time by the will of man: but holy
men of God spake as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost.”

7.  Plenary means ‘full’.
 The full bible is inspired or that every word
is breathed out by God
 “All [plenary] scripture [verbal] is given by
inspiration of God [God-breathed]”
– 2 Tim 3:16
 The most important truth of all is that we
got our Bible through ‘plenary verbal
inspiration’.

8.  God set apart a special group of men to
write the 66 books of the Bible. “holy
men of God” – 2 Peter 1:21
 Holy means ‘sanctified’ or ‘set apart’
 Before the foundation of the
world, God set apart these men and
prepared them to write the Bible, long
before they were born.

9.  God used and transcend the personalities of
these 40 different men, including their
backgrounds.
 Some of these men were
leaders, musicians, teachers, fishermen, law
yers, preachers, etc.
 Men of different
languages, occupations, educational
attainments, vocabulary and writing styles.

10.  The original writings or manuscripts are the
inspired Word of God. Those original
manuscripts no longer exist.
 God promises to preserve His Word.
 Psalm 119:89 “For ever, O Lord, thy word is
settled in heaven.”
 We have the preserved text via the ‘textus
receptus’ or the ‘received text’

11.  The KJV is the English translation that
comes from the ‘textus receptus’
 It accurately and adequately reflect the
‘textus receptus’ which is the
historically used text of the early
Churches, over 1800 years of church
history

12.  Critical texts
 Vaticanus
 Alexandrianus
 Sinaiticus
 Contains erasures, many changes, and errors
 English Standard Version (ESV) – the best
translation of the wrong ‘critical’ text.

13.  Matthew 17:21; 18:1; 23:14
 Mark 7:16; 9:44; 9:46; 11:26; 15:28
 Luke 17:36; 23:17
 John 5:4
 Act 8:37 “And Philip said, If thou believest with all
thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and
said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
 Acts 20:29
 Romans 16:24
 And more…

14.  Accurately represents word for word
the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts
 Honest translation; added italized
words to make good English sense of
the Hebrew and Greek texts
 If no italized words, not a faithful
translation

15. 2. The Bible is attested to
be true by historians.

16.  The Eyewitness testimonies:
 Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
 All of these people either knew Jesus personally
(Matthew, John) or knew someone who do (Mark-
Peter, Luke-Paul) – First-hand information
 Are they reliable eyewitnesses ?
.

17.  Mark: around 70 A.D.
 Matthew: around 80 A.D.
 Luke: around 80 A.D.
 John: around 90 A.D.?
.

18.  The Supporting testimonies:
 Jewish and Roman historians confirm
many details about events in the Bible
.

19.  Jewish Historian Josephus (100 AD) on Jesus:
 Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man…He drew
over to him both many of the Jews and many of the
Gentiles…. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal
men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross…
 In Antiquities, Book 18 , Chapter 3
 A neutral party confirms:
 Jesus lived (as historical as George Washington !)
 Pilate lived
 Jesus was crucified
 Clearly, Jesephus does not accept that Jesus is the Christ (who was
called Christ)
 Josephus does confirm that:
 Jesus existed

20. Cornelius Tacitus, (born
around 52-55 A.D.) became
a senator in the Roman
government under Emperor
Vespasian. In 112-3
A.D., Tacitus was the
proconsul (governor) of
Asia.

21.  Annals, Book XV
 Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded
guilty; then, upon their information, an immense
multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of
firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of
every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the
skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or
were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames
and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when
daylight had expired.

22.  Tacitus was a Roman Historian – he is neutral (not Jew,
not Christian). His testimony is as unbiased as you can
get
 Tacitus testified that a multitude of Christians would
die a cruel death for their faith – these Christians
included Peter, Paul and other disciples of Jesus
 Tacitus hinted at the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection:
 He called it a most mischievous superstition…

24. 3. The Material evidence.
 Archaeological evidence .

25.  Unlike many other religious books, the Bible is a narrative
in a historical setting
 It talks about historical places and historical persons
 Many of the historical places and people mentioned in the
Bible have been checked out by archeology
 The places and the people in the Bible are just as real as
Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and other well known
historical things
 In fact, we have more accurate historical information on
Jesus’ life and deeds than on Julius Caesar !
 .

26. Luke 3:1 And in the
fifteenth year of the
government of
Tiberius
.
Caesar, Pontius
Pilate being
governor of
Judea, and Herod
being tetrarch…

27. Act 13:6-7 And when
they had gone through
the island to
Paphos, they found a
certain conjurer, a false
prophet, a Jew whose
name was Bar-jesus; who
was with the proconsul
of the country, Sergius
Paulus, a prudent man.

28. John 5:1-15 mentions that
Jesus heals a man at the
Pool of Bethesda.
John gave the precise
location and a description
.
of the pool as having 5
porticoes (pillars):
In the 19th
century, archaeologists
discovered the remains of a
pool exactly matching the
description in John's Gospel

29. John 9:7 mentions
another long disputed
site: the Pool of
Siloam near the
Temple in Jerusalem
This pool was also
discovered in 1897
.

30. That crucifixion was used by
Romans in Jesus’ time to
execute criminals
Skeptics once had doubted that
crucifixion was ever used – they
deemed it too cruel.
They found these remains in a
ossuary (Jewish burial box)
dated around 100 A.D.:

31. Evidence of careful copying of the Bible
Before the discovery of the
Dead Sea scrolls, the earliest
copy of the Book of Isaiah was
from around 980 A.D.
In 1947, a Dead Sea scroll was
discovered that contained the
entire book of Isaiah dated
around 250 B.C. (over 1000
years earlier)
The content of the scrolls are
virtually identical – except for a
few copy errors

32. At 7,000 feet, in the midst
of crevasses and landslide
debris, the explorers found
a clear, grassy area
shaped like a ship and
rimmed with
steep, packed-earth sides.
Its dimensions are close to
those given in Genesis:
'The length of the ark shall
be 300 cubits, the breadth
of it 50 cubits, and the
.
height of it 30 cubits,' that
is, 450x75x45 feet. A quick
two-day survey was made.
A scientist in the group
says "a ship-like object
that has almost unbroken
symmetry." ~Life
Magazine 1960

33. 4. The Bible is attested by
great men of all ages.

34. “It is impossible to rightly
govern the world without
God and the Bible.”

35. “But for this Book we could
not know right from
wrong. I believe the Bible
is the best gift God has
ever given to man.”

36. “In the highest sense the
Bible is to us the unique
repository of eternal
spiritual truths.”

37. “We rest with assurance
upon the impregnable
rock of Holy Scriptures.”

38. “We account the Scriptures of
God to be the most sublime
philosophy. I find more sure
marks of authenticity in the
Bible than in any profane
history whatsoever.”

39. “Why will people go astray
when they have this
blessed Book to guide
them?”

40. “I believe the Scriptures of
the Old and New
Testament to be the will
and the Word of God.”

41. “Young men, my advice to
you is that you cultivate
an acquaintance with, and
a firm belief in, the Holy
Scriptures.”

42. “The Bible is the cornerstone of
liberty… I have always said, I
always will say, that the studious
perusal of the Sacred volume
will make better citizens, better
fathers, and better husbands.”

43. “Everyone who has a thorough
knowledge of the Bible may
truly be called educated… I
believe knowledge of the Bible
without a college course is more
valuable than a college course
without the Bible.”

44. “No other book in the world
has had such a strange
vitality, such an outgoing
power of influence and
inspiration… No man is poor
or desolate who has this
treasure for his own.”

45. 5. The Bible changes lives.

46. “Therefore if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature:
old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become
new. .”

47.  People have been rescued from the
darkest, most hopeless situations when they
have put their trust in Jesus. Some people
try to downplay the power Jesus has to
change lives by saying;
 "It seems that only people in desperate
situations turn to God.“

48. -drugs, depression - atheist believes
-a life of violence -etc.
-a homosexual or lesbian lifestyle
-suicidal thoughts
-the effects of abuse
-searching for meaning, etc.

49. “Search the Scriptures; for
in them ye think ye have
eternal life: and they are
they which testify of me.”

50. “So then faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word
of God.”

51. But we are all as an unclean
thing, and all our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags; and we all do fade
as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the
wind, have taken us away.

52. As it is written, There is none
righteous, no, not one:
There is none that
understandeth, there is none that
seeketh after God.

53. Therefore by the deeds of the law
there shall no, flesh be justified in
his sight:, for by the law is the
knowledge of sin.
For all have sinned, and come short
of the glory of God;

54. But God commendeth his love
toward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.

55. Come now, and let us reason
together, saith the LORD: though
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be
as white as snow; though they be red
like crimson, they shall be as wool.

56. Lord Jesus, be merciful to me, a sinner. I know
I am lost and bound for hell. I repent of all
my sins, and humbly come to you, asking that
you forgive me of my sins and requesting you
to come into my heart and life.
I accept you as my personal Savior and
Lord, from this day onward. Thank you for the
gift of eternal life. Amen.

57. John 1:12 But as many as received
him, to them gave he power to
become the sons of God, even to
them that believe on his name:

58. John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto
you, He that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent
me, hath everlasting life, and shall
not come into condemnation; but
is passed from death unto life.

59. John 6:37 All that the Father giveth
me shall come to me; and him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast
out.

60. 1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.

61. 1John 5:11 And this is the
record, that God hath given to us
eternal life, and this life is in his
Son.
1John 5:12 He that hath the Son hath
life: and he that hath not the Son of
God hath not life.

62. 1John 5:13 These things have I
written unto you that believe on
the name of the Son of God; that ye
may know that ye have eternal
life, and that ye may believe on the
name of the Son of God.