Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. (John 17:17 NKJV)
– Jesus praying to God the Father
I’d like to just jump into sharing what the Bible says about God’s plan of salvation. But I was thinking this afternoon that to do so is to assume that everyone reading agrees that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. I believe that is true. But the question that I believe many would ask is simply, “Why?”
I’m not a scholar and can’t adequately cover every possible reason the Bible is truly the Word of God, nor can I refute every possible argument against its truth. But I can give you a few nuggets to consider and investigate.
1. The Bible has been reliably preserved.
One of the fairest questions to ask is simply this, “Has the bible been reliably preserved throughout history?” There is plenty of evidence to support an answer of “yes.” According to Lee Strobel in his book The Case for Christ, biblical scholars Norman Geisler and William Nix indicated that “the New Testament, then, has not only survived in more manuscripts than any other book from antiquity, but it has survived in a purer form than any other great book.”
I don’t have the space to offer all the evidence here, but if you are really stalled on this issue I highly recommend Mr. Strobel’s book. He was a self-described atheist on a journey to evaluate the evidence. The first third of his book examines the Christian Bible: how it came to be, how accurate it is, how trustworthy the accounts are, etc. His focus is primarily on the New Testament because he was searching for the truth about Jesus. Read the scholarly evidence he presents with an open mind and make your own decision.
2. Jesus respected the scriptures as the inspired Word of God.
If you can accept that the New Testament has been reliably preserved, you should be able to accept the accuracy of the Old Testament scriptures based on the attitude of Jesus in the Gospels (i.e., the Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). Jesus Himself referred to Old Testament scriptures time and again with respect. One of the best articles I’ve read on this can be found here:
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2004/04/06/jesus-christ-infallibility-of-scripture
3. The Bible makes an amazing claim about itself.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. (2 Timothy 3:16 NKJV)
While many will argue that the Bible was written by men, and therefore is prone to error, I’ve always chosen to believe that those men were inspired of God, as 2 Timothy 3:16 indicates.
Others will argue that the writings included in the book we now call the Holy Bible were arbitrarily chosen by men. I believe that a God who created the heavens and the earth, and who created people, would have no trouble ensuring that the historical documentaries, prophecies, literature, and letters the Church has assembled as the Holy Bible were the ones He wanted to include.
In fact, it seems arrogant to assume that mere men were in charge in the first place.
