Wednesday, September 13, 2006

How do you know the Bible is true?

If you are a Christian and habitually share your faith with others, odds are you have been questioned as to how you know Jesus is real, or how you know that the Bible is true. As a Christian, you represent God's kingdom, and as an ambassador for Christ, you must know how to answer questions like this! So, how do we know the bible is true? How do we know that it isn't abunch of made-up nonsense? How do we know that Jesus is who He says He is?

First of all, the Bible is historically accurate. The events described in the bible are backed by ancient historians as well as archeological evidence. The historians of note include Cornelius Tacitus , Flavius Josephus, and Pliny the Younger.

Compared to other ancient writings, the New Testament is uniquely well-documented. Here are just two examples: the histories of Tacitus survive in only two manuscripts. There are 10 copies of the Caesarian wars. Both are considered valid, whereas there are over 5,000 manuscripts of the New Testament. Then there is the question of the preservation of the manuscripts over the years and how accurate they are in comparison to the originals. One example is Homer's 'Iliad'. Only 95% of 'Iliad' is considered to be preserved accurately. Over 99% of the New Testament is considered to have been preserved accurately!

Other than the Old Testament, the New Testament is the best-documented ancient book in history. A well-known archeologist, William Fullbright, has stated that every book of the New Testament was written by A.D. 75. For any who don't know, and to put that into proper perspective, Jesus was recorded to have died on the cross in A.D. 33.

Now that we've discussed the historical evidence of the reliability of the Bible, there is also Biblical prophecy. The Prophets of the Old testament prophesied of the coming Messiah hundreds of years before Jesus was born. I will list a few of these prophecies from the Old Testament, along with the fulfillment of the same prophecies in the New Testament.

From the tribe of Judah - Genesis 49:10
Fulfilled - Luke 3:33

Heir to the throne of David - Isaiah 9:7
Fulfilled - Luke 1:32-33

Born in Bethlehem - Micah 5:2
Fulfilled - Luke 2:4,5,7

Born of a virgin - Isaiah 7:14
Fulfilled - Luke 1:26-31

Preceded by a forerunner - Malichi 3:1
Fulfilled - Luke 7:24,27

A prophet - Deuteronomy 18:15
Fulfilled - Acts 3:20,22

Rejected by His own people - Isaiah 53:3
Fulfilled - John 1:11, Luke 23:18

These are only a few of over one hundred prophecies fulfilled of Jesus of Nazareth.

How else do we know the Bible is true? There is the fact that all of Jesus' disciples except for one were brutally martyred. The ways in which they died included crucifiction, upside-down crucifiction, beheading, fed to lions, stoning, stabbed to death, head smashed in with a club, death by hanging, and the list continues. Would these men have given their lives for something they knew wasn't true? These were the people who knew Jesus, lived with Him, ate with Him. If anyone were to know if the Bible was true, it would be them! But they didn't back down. They gave all for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Until next time! The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

5 Comments:

Blogger You're a Princess said...

Keep it up, buddy! It appears you're sowing seed in more than just a few!

4:35 PM  
Blogger Tim Heider said...

Yeah, keep it up, Kris! By the way, your blog footer reminds me, have you read the book "In His Steps" by Charles M. Sheldon? You'd probably like it.

11:56 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Very nice

8:02 PM  
Blogger You're a Princess said...

Cool new logo!

4:02 PM  
Blogger Tim Heider said...

Way cool!

8:24 PM  

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