Introduction
How many time have you heard questions like these: How can a book over 2000 years old have anything to do with life in the 21st century? How can you believe stories about a sea parting and the sun standing still, and a man being eaten by a fish and surviving for three day? How can you believe a story about a man coming back to life after being dead for three days? How can you believe all that stuff? Doesn’t that Bible have lots of errors and mistakes? Why are there so many different versions of Bibles? If the Bible says one thing why are there so many different Christian beliefs?
Haven’t we all heard these questions time and time again?
How do we answer our critics who will oppose the truth of the Word Of God?
The nature of the Bible.
First off we have to understand what kind of a book the Bible is. The nature of the Bible. What is its intended purpose? You would not expect to go to an English book to learn about science. What do we expect to learn from the Bible? The Bible is not a science book, but everything in the Bible is scientifically accurate. It is not a geography book, but everything in it is geographically accurate. It is not a history book, but everything in it is historically accurate. It is not a sociology book, but everything in it is sociologically accurate. It is not a Greek and Hebrew text book, but it is expertly written in its original language. It is not financial guide book, but there are proven solid financial principals in it. It is an life instruction manual. It covers two different aspects of life.
First there is the issue of life eternal. What must I do to be saved? How am I going to spend an eternity with my God and Father who art is heaven?
The second aspect of life that it covers is the temporal life. How do I live my life now? What can I do to find happiness and joy? What can I do with my life that will bring me meaningful benefit? The Bible’s primary purpose to answer the questions of life.
Now there are some that accept one but not the other. Have you ever seen miserable down in the mouth, griping, complaining Christians. They are never happy, but they are saved!
They are few but there are some others who accept the other side of the coin. They believe that the Bible contains some good principles to live by but they don’t believe in the necessity of salvation.
ILL. In London’s Hyde Park there is section of it called Speakers Corner. It was set aside in the medieval days to give people freedom of speech. On Sunday afternoon you could go there and say anything you wanted about the government without fear of being beheaded. On Monday that was a different story. Sunday afternoon in Speakers Corner you were all right. That has carried over to today and you can go there and listen to all the wackos promote their ideas. There are the Homosexual groups, the animal rights people, the Muslims and the Christians both preaching. And quite often when we would go there, there would be a man with a sign around his neck that said Christian Atheist. He would talk and promote his ideas to all who would listen. His basic position was that there is no God, but that the Bible contains good and wise teachings for living life in the here and now.
Although the Bible is completely accurate in many areas, its purpose is to be a life book for life both here and after.
If the Bible is accurate, what about all the supposed errors we find in the Bible.
One of the common accusations against the Bible has been that it has errors in it. In 1800 the French Institute in Paris released a list of 82 errors found in the Bible. Today, everyone of those supposed errors has been proven accurate. In 1850 a group a Bible critics claimed there are a host of errors in the Bible. By 1950 this same organization recanted their accusation of biblical inaccuracies.
Part of the problem is errors are not the same as difficulties and there are many who will see the difficulties and instantly label them as errors, mistakes, or it is wrong. The Bible is anywhere from 3500 to 2000 years old depending on the part you are reading. Any reasonable person would expect to find difficulties in understanding a culture and language that is that far removed from 21st century America.
At the root of this discussion is the question of our presuppositions. Do we believe that the Bible has errors and contradictions or are they just difficulties that need further examination.
ILL. I have a very good friend in England who is the head of the Religious education department of a large Roman Catholic High School. He is a very intelligent man. His family came to visit us a few years back and went to church with us. It was the first time he heard me preach. After the service we chatted and he gave me his friendly critique of my message. He pointed out how I was preaching from Luke and then jumped to Matthew to show and point and then back to Luke. I had never thought that much about it before but to him this was a major no no. You see to us, this is a unified and harmonious book with the different sections supporting and agreeing with one another therefore making leaps from Genesis to Revelation both acceptable and appropriate. To him this is a collection of 66 different books. In his presuppositions these book are different, they disagree with one another and it is a violation of their rules of interpretation to jump from one book to another.
Let us take a look at one clear contradiction in the Bible, excuse me difficulty.
In Mark 10:46 it says, Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. Now its parallel passage in Luke 18:35 says, As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging.
Here we have a clear contradiction. Mark says he was leaving the city, Luke says he was entering the city. Now which was it. Was he going in or going out? You can’t be going in when your going out because you are going in and not out. And you can’t be going out when your going in because you are going in and not out. So if you can’t go in when your going out and you can’t go out when your going was Jesus going in or out? One say in the other says out so we have a clear error don’t we? Thank goodness for a little archeology and cultural understanding and we have the in and out problem solved. The Old Testament city of Jericho for the most part abandoned and deserted in Jesus’ day. There was just a small fragment of people who lived there. A new Jericho was build by Herod the Great about a mile south of the old Jericho which was much more highly populated. Since Jesus was heading to Jerusalem, he would have passed through the old Jericho and then through the new Jericho. Matthew and Mark being addressed to more of a Jewish audience would naturally have been more familiar with the old Jericho while Luke was addressing a Gentile audience who would have been more familiar with the new Jericho. Hence, to Matthew and Mark Jesus was Leaving Jericho, but to Luke he was entering Jericho. So we find that yes indeed Jesus was going both in and out of Jericho depending on which Jericho you wish to pick.
Another difficulty of the Bible has been the resurrection record.
How many angles were there?
Mt.- 1
Mk.- 1
Lk. None at first the 2 suddenly appeared.
Jn.- none on first visit, second visit to the tomb, 2
Where were the angles?
Mt.- Sitting on the stone that was rolled away.
Mk.- Sitting on the inside of the tomb on the right hand side.
Lk.- Standing beside them.
Jn. (second visit) Seated where Jesus Body had been one at the head the other at the feet.
Who went to the tomb?
Mt.- Mary & the other Mary
Mk.- Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, & Salome.
Lk.- The women.
Jn.- Mary Magdalene
When did they go:
Mt.- At dawn.
Mk.- just after sunrise.
Lk.- Very early.
Jn.- While it was still dark
Keep in mind what we are looking at here. There are 4 different eye witness accounts. What happens in a court of law when four witness get up and say the exact same thing word for word? It becomes obvious that they wee coached and told what to say. They are not true witnesses telling what they saw. Each person has a unique perspective and vantage point from which they tell what they saw.
ILL. Husbands and wives, have you ever been in a conversation with someone else and your spouse is telling about an event that you both experienced together and as he or she tells the story you wonder where you were because that is nothing like you remember it?
Another thing we need to remember is just because only one person is mentioned, does not mean that the other were not there. Often just the primary person is mentioned although other were present, i.e. Lynn and I went to NC. a couple of weeks ago. Well what about the kids? I didn’t mention they therefore they were not with us. Yes they were. Also keep in mind that John tells us that there were two visit to the tomb that day.
Let me tell you what happened in a manner that incorporates all these accounts and honorably respects all of them as accurate accounts. Here is the story. While it was still dark Mary Magdalene left her house. She picked up the other ladies as it was getting light. They discussed how they would remove the stone on the way. When they got there, there was an angel sitting on the stone. The angel told them he is not here he is risen. They told the disciples. They came back with Peter & John. Pete & John left and they were there alone. Suddenly two angels appeared where Jesus was laid on the right side inside the tomb. The angels stood up and talked with them telling them some of the prophesies Jesus made about this event. They left, leaving Mary Magdalene behind which is when she met the man she thought was a gardener which was really Jesus. End of story.
My friend from England would have to leave because he would be laughing so hard but it all goes back to your basic presuppositions. Do the Scriptures contradict, or do they enhance and support one another. They support!
Lets take a brief look at some of the evidence for the Bibles accuracy.
Evidence for the accuracy of the Bible.
Internal evidence.
Internal evidence ask the question what does the Bible say about itself?
2 Timothy 3:16-17, All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Peter 3:16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
Jesus used sections of most all of the books of the Old Testament as the authoritative word of God.
The phrase Saith the Lord is found 815 Xs in the KJV.
Besides what the Bible claims about itself we all see numerous prophecies fulfilled. Many of those prophesies are fulfilled in the person of Jesus. They are not generic prophecies like a woman will give birth to a boy. Like who couldn’t get that one right 50% of the time. They are very specific prophecies.
When would he be born? Dan. 9:24-25
Where would he be born? Micah 5:1-3
His name. Isa. 7:14 & 9:6
That he would be born of a Virgin. Isa. 7:14
The type of death he would endure. Isa 1:6, Ps 22:18, 69:21, 109:25
His resurrection, Ps. 16:8-10
External evidence.
External evidence ask the question what do others say about the Bible?
Archeology has also done a great deal to benefit the Bible over the past several years.
Over the years the Bible has been severely criticized because it has numerous contradictions with archeology. Fortunately for us we live in a day and age where there in an intense interest in archeology and the discoveries over the past 100 years have been very beneficial to the Bible.
It was argued that the Bible was in error because it mentions a race of people called the Hittites. They have never been heard of in the historical world therefore they never existed and the Bible is in error. Then with new discoveries an abundance of Hittite evidence was found and the Bible was proven correct.
Sir William Ramsey is regarded and one of the greatest archeologist that ever lived. He claims that he approached the scriptural account as very inaccurate. It may be some truth, but is was mostly creative myth and fable, especially Luke. Now to be honest, he may have had some support for his views as much of Luke was unsupported and considered to be much more a figment of the Luke’s imagination rather than based in fact. One of the main objections to Luke was that his record of census was entirely off base. The Romans had no census, Quirinius was not Governor at that time and no one had to return home for any count. Pure fiction because it was never recorded in any history. Discoveries this century have shown that the Romans did gave a census every 14 years beginning with the Reign of Augustus with the first one beginning in 23-22 BC or 9-8 BC which would have been the time of Jesus Birth. Also An inscription assigning Quirinius as the Governor of Syria at an earlier date has been founding justifying Luke’s claim. And finally a Pypryus was discovered that gave instruction on the census. It read, Because of the approaching census it is necessary that all those residing for any cause away from their homes should at once prepare to return to their own governments in order that they may complete the family registration of the enrollment and that the tilled lands may retain those belonging to them. [Evidence, McDowell, p. 71]. Instead of Luke creating fiction, archeology has proven him correct.
Another problem with Luke was the location of Iconium. Luke said it was not in Lycaonia (Acts 14:6) where as the writing of other Romans said it was. In 1910 Sir William Ramsey discovered a monument that stated that Iconium was a Phygian city. Other discovers have also proved this. Luke was right again. Again in Acts 17:6 Luke refers to the officials in Thessalonica as Politarchs. This term was never found in any other literature of his day, therefore he is again assumed to be wrong. However, 19 inscription have now been found with this title on them referring to officials, 5 of those refer to the officials in Thessalonica.
Remember I said that Sir William Ramsey said that he held Luke to be more fiction than fact. After careful research, he said, I have found myself brought into contact with the book of Acts as an authority for the topography, antiquities and society of Asia Minor. It has gradually borne upon me that in various details the narrative showed marvelous truth. In fact, beginning with a fixed idea that the word was essentially a second century composition, and never relying on its evidence as trustworthy for first century conditions, I gradually came to find it a useful ally in some obscure and difficult investigations. He later stated after 30 years of research, Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy. . . this author should be placed among the very greatest of historians. Time after time again, Archeology is proving the Bible to be accurate and in proving its accuracy it is also proving its divine authorship.
Perhaps one of the greatest defenses of the Bible is its existence today. Thought history men have tried to destroy Christianity and the Bible.
In 303 AD The emperor issued an edict that ordered Christians to stop worshipping their God and also ordered that all copies of the scriptures be burned. Government soldiers went out destroying church buildings and burning all copies of the scriptures they could find. 25 years later the new Emperor Constantine was a friend of the church.
The famous French philosopher Voltaire declared that in 100 heard from his time Christianity would be swept from the face of the earth and fade into history. Ironically, Voltaire died in 1778 and has faded into history. To add to that irony, only 50 years after his death the Geneva Bible Society used his house and his press to print stacks of Bibles.
Undoubtedly the greatest evidence for the Bible is the power it brings into peoples lives.
In the 1930s in Stavropol, Russia, Stalin ordered that all Bibles be confiscated and Christian believers be sent to prison camps. Ironically, most of the Bibles were not destroyed, yet many Christians died as "enemies of the state."
With the recent fall of the U.S.S.R., a CoMission team arrived in Stavropol in 1994 for ministry. Their request to have Bibles shipped to Moscow was being held up. But someone told them about a warehouse outside of town where confiscated Bibles were still stored. Remarkably, the team was granted permission to distribute them. Hiring several local Russian workers, they began to load their trucks.
One young man, a hostile agnostic, came only for the day’s wages. But not long after they had started, he disappeared. He was found in the corner of the warehouse, weeping, a Bible in his hands. Intending to steal it for himself, he had picked his own grandmother’s off the shelf! Her signature was on the front page. Today, that young Russian is in the process of being transformed by the very Bible that his grandmother was persecuted for, but still held dear. [Ken Taylor, Christian Reader, Vol. 33, no. 5]
For years the Bible was a dead book to me ... like grits without salt. But after I gave my life to Jesus Christ, it became alive. I saw that the Bible was God’s way of talking to me. -- Steve Bartkowski, quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons.
The Bible is the power of God to change lives
ILL. [00880] Julius Hickerson was a promising young doctor who enjoyed a comfortable life in the United States. He felt the call of God on his life to minister to both the body and soul in Columbia. His family and friends thought he was crazy. He was beginning to think he was also after he had been there for two years with little to no results. One day while he was taking supplies to a remote village, his plane crashed and he died. Some time later the Southern Baptist went in to the same area to evangelize. When they arrived, they found the entire region evangelized with active churches. Surprised they asked how they had heard of Jesus. They showed them a Bible with the name Julius Hickerson on the inside cover that they had pulled our from a wrecked plane.
Most people are bothered by those Scripture passages which they cannot understand. But for me, the passages in Scripture which trouble me most are those which I do understand. -- Mark Twain
D.L. Moody said, The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge, but to change our lives.
A Bible that’s falling apart probably belongs to someone who isn’t. -- Christian Johnson
These word have a power like no other. They are words that inspire. Words that comfort. Words that Convict. Words that encourage. Words that motivate. Words that rebuke. Words that cut to the heart.
Hebrews 4:12, For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
Romans 1:16, I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God.
One day as Chuck Swindoll was preaching he stopped. There was silence in the room and he gazed over the great audience. Most had their Bibles open and were taking notes and marking their Bibles. He finally broke the silence and said, I am delighted to see that many of you have you Bible open and are marking them. But I would much rather that your Bibles mark you.
My friends, This is the powerful life changing word of God and it is my prayer that you would allow it to leave its permanent indelible and clear mark upon your life.
