How can we trust the bible to be true? Flashcards
How can we trust the bible to be true? (Response: Historical accuracy - archaeological evidence)
Scholars have repeatedly uncovered archaeological evidence of people, places and cultures described in the bible.
For example,
1) The capital for a group of people referred to as the Hittites in the bible was discovered in modern-day Turkey in 1906.
2) Abraham’s home city of Ur was discovered, one of the columns had the inscription ‘Abram’
3) The Gospel of John tells the story of Jesus healing a cripple at the Pool of Bethesda. Archaeologists found the pool forty feet below ground, complete with the five walkways leading to the pool as described in John.
4) The city of Jericho was found and excavated. It was found that the walls tumbled in the exact same manner described in the bible narrative.
How can we trust the bible to be true? (Response: Its unity)
The bible is actually a collection of 66 books written over 1600 years by over 40 authors from different walks of life in three languages (greek, hebrew, aramaic). Yet, it is united in its message. Each part agrees with and supports the other because the books are about the same God. In sum, it is about God’s creation of man and salvation plan for man’s rebellion.
Despite the diversity of the books, the bible gives a comprehensive account of the meaning of life and the beginning and end of the world.
How can we trust the bible to be true? (Response: Historical accuracy - manuscripts)
New Testament:
The gospels were written at most 40-60 years ago after christ’s death, while paul’s letters were written 15-25 years ago after christ’s death.
These accounts on what Jesus said and did could be confirmed by what thousands of eyewitnesses had seen for themselves. Essentially, the early church accepted the four gospels as they agreed on what was already common knowledge of Jesus’ life.
For example, Mark wrote that the person who carried Jesus’s cross was the father of alexander and rufus (mark 15:21), while Paul wrote in 1 Cor 15:6 that more than 500 disciples witnessed jesus ascend into heaven. Both authors would not have written like this if they could be easily refuted.
Old Testament:
If we believe Jesus to be the son of God, we can trust his endorsement of the Old Testament. Jesus quoted the Old Testament many times in the gospel accounts.
Over 20,000 tablets containing law similar to the Deuteronomy law code have been found. The ‘Dead Sea Scrolls’ found in 1947 contained Old Testament scripture more than 1000 years older than any manuscripts at hand. There was less than .5% difference between the two, with the differences being minor spelling variances and sentence structure that doesn’t change the meaning of the text. This means that the manuscripts which make up our biblical text are very much similar to what was written by the original authors.
What about the gnostic gospels (e.g. gospel of Judas, Thomas, Barnabas, etc)
The gnostic gospels appeared only much later (in 175 AD) compared to the canonical gospel (40-60 AD). The fact that the gnostic gospels appeared late meant that they could not be verifiable by eyewitnesses. In fact, because they contradicted the canonical gospels which were already recognised to be authentic eyewitness accounts, they were not accepted as credible.
How can we trust the bible to be true? (Response: Fulfillment of prophecies)
There were many prophecies which were fulfilled in the bible.
Jesus
- 700 BC, prophet Micah designated Bethlehem of Judea as the birthplace of the Messiah (Micah 5:2)
- King David and prophet Zechariah described the Messiah’s death in words that depict the mode of crucifixion. Further, they said that his body would be pierced and none of the bones broken. Jesus’ quick death eliminated the need for the breaking of bones. A spear was thrust to his side to verify that he was indeed dead.
- betrayed for the price of a slave (thirty pieces of silver according to Jewish law) (Zechariah 11:12-13)
Old Testament:
Isaiah said that the Jews would remain scattered throughout the entire world for many generations and one day return to the land of Palestine to re-establish for a second time their nation. This prophecy is fulfilled in our lifetime.
Isaiah predicted that a king named Cyrus would allow God’s people to rebuild the temple and destroy Babylon. This prophecy was made 150 years before Cyrus was born and happened just as predicted.
