What Does The Bible Say?
Question- Can we know that the Bible is inspired?
Answer- Yes. Internal and external proofs for biblical inspiration verify that what we have is what was delivered by God (2 Timothy 3:16,17- “all scripture is inspired of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect and completely furnished unto every good work.”
Question from last week continued. In addition to what we said last week about internal evidence, we now expand on this question and conclude it this week. Let’s further examine why we believe God inspires the Bible.
Manuscript Evidence - The sheer number of surviving manuscripts pertaining to the text we have today leads us to conclude that God inspired the Bible, as 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states. We spoke last week about the Bibliographical tests- there are over 133 texts of the New Testament. This number is more than enough to establish that the New Testament record is inspired by God.
Now, let us examine additional internal tests and evidence for the Bible’s inspiration from God. The Bible claims inspiration in Luke 1:1-4.
Despite being written by multiple authors (about 40) from diverse backgrounds, including kings, fishermen, doctors, tax collectors, etc., in a time period of over 1500 years, the Bible maintains a consistent message and overarching narrative, suggesting a unifying, Common Source (God).
Prophecies fulfilled. The Bible contains numerous prophecies that have been fulfilled. There are over 400 prophecies fulfilled in Jesus. These cover his life, his beginnings, his ministry, his teachings, his death and his resurrection. In addition to this, there are over 100 prophesies about His kingdom (the church) that have been fulfilled. Mathematicians calculate that the probability of just eight prophecies being fulfilled in one person is 1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000. This gives a visual representation by comparing this number to marking a single silver dollar in a pile covering Texas two feet deep and having a blindfolded person pick out the marked silver dollar on the first try. In other words, the experts say, the probability of these prophecies not being true is impossible when faced with the evidence.
Scientific Foreknowledge. Some passages in the Bible appear to anticipate scientific discoveries. Isaiah 40:220 “It is He that sits above the circle of the earth…” Isaiah wrote many years before man finally came to this conclusion scientifically (15th century). Before that time, people were killed for believing this fact. God taught the water cycle in Ecc. 1:7; 11:3 and Amos 9:6. Man did not discover this until the 16th century.
The thermodynamic law of Entropy (the universe wearing out) and the vastness of space (God only knows) and number of stars (God only knows) the singing of the stars, the paths of the seas, along with several principles of hygiene and sanitation were known by God and revealed in His word long before Man discovered these scientifi c facts.
Manuscript Evidence - The sheer number of surviving manuscripts pertaining to the text we have today leads us to conclude that the Bible is inspired by God, as stated in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. We spoke last week about the Bibliographical test. There are over 24,000 manuscript copies of the New Testament, including 5,800 Greek manuscripts and over 19,000 in other languages, such as Latin, Syriac, Coptic and Aramaic. These manuscripts, ranging from small fragments to complete copies, date from the first and second centuries. Some fragments of the New Testament found in the Dead Sea Scrolls are dated to as early as 150 AD.
The Bible has been proven to be geographically and historically accurate in its most exacting details through external evidence. There is more manuscript evidence than any other ancient text we depend on today. With all of this being said, it demands that we have faith in God’s word to move us to accept the evidence and let it guide our lives (Rom. 1:16; Jude 3; Rev. 22:18-20). Faith comes from hearing the word of God- Read it and see.
Please address all questions and comments to What does the Bible Say> C/O Maple St. Church of Christ, PO Box 3086, Liberty, TX 77575 and visit our website, maplestreetliberty.org