“I will never forget your precepts,
For by them you have given me life.” (Psalm 119:93 NKJV)
Unshakable faith begins with the Bible.
The Christian faith is only as certain as the Bible is trustworthy. If the Bible isn’t true, then people who call themselves Christians would have no truth to stand on—their faith would be worthless.
Is your faith based on truth? How can you know for sure?
For hundreds of years people who reject Christianity have attacked the Bible. Their thinking goes like this: If they can prove that the Bible is not an accurate account of God’s work in history, they can then say it’s not true. If they can say the Bible isn’t true, they can then reject the claims that Jesus is God, that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, and that Jesus arose from the dead. If they can prove the Bible isn’t true, they can say Christians are just misguided people. If they can prove the Bible isn’t true, they can say Jesus’ resurrection—the most important event that Christianity is based on—never happened.
If they can prove it—but they can’t.
For hundreds of years the Bible’s critics—all of them—have failed. Still, they try.
The Da Vinci Code is one of the most recent efforts to cast doubt on the Bible’s truth. The best-selling novel by Dan Brown mixes historical fact with fiction to confuse people about the authenticity of the Bible, in particular the first four books of the New Testament that chronicle the life of Christ. These are called the Gospels, and the books are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The author of The Da Vinci Code attacks the New Testament through a fictional main character, Leigh Teabing. Teabing is a royal historian who claims, “Almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false.”1
Teabing goes on to explain that it’s because at an important church meeting, the Council of Nicea in the year 325, Roman Emperor Constantine “commissioned and financed a new Bible” that “embellished” the Gospels to make Christ more godlike.
Is The Da Vinci Code right? Did church leaders in A.D. 325 make up parts of the Gospels?
No, and no!
The Council of Nicea is an actual event in history, but there’s no evidence that church leaders agreed to change Scripture to fit a desired doctrine or teaching. On the contrary, at Nicea church leaders affirmed the clear teaching of the Gospels written more than two centuries earlier: Jesus Christ is God.
Since The Da Vinci Code was published, however, I’ve talked to many teens and adults who aren’t sure they can trust their Bible. They’re asking questions like “Is it true that man wrote the Bible hundreds of years after Jesus lived? Did people really fight over what the Bible was going to say? I mean, what if the things that ended up in the Bible weren’t what God really meant the Bible to say?”
Christians Believe That the Bible Was Written by God Through Men
To answer those questions and others like them, let’s start our discovery of Christianity’s core truths with what the Bible says about itself. In verse after verse, more than 3,000 in all, the Bible claims to be the actual words of God.
Here are two key references in the New Testament:
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20-21)
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16)
The Bible makes an impressive claim about itself—it says it is written by God through men. That’s what Bible scholars mean by inspiration. The Bible didn’t just plop down from heaven in a deluxe leather cover. Humans were very much involved, “carried along by the Holy Spirit,” said Peter, one of Jesus’ followers and a key leader of the church. Men wrote as God guided them, not making up their own message. The words they wrote were “God-breathed,” which is the meaning of “inspired.” All of Scripture is inspired, breathed out from the mouth of God, so to speak.
I used to think this meant that God dictated exactly what He wanted the Bible to say to the humans who diligently wrote it down word for word. But after a number of years of reading and studying all of Scripture, I know that’s not how most of the Bible was written.
Sometimes God did dictate exactly what to write, as when God gave Moses the exact wording of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) and even engraved the words on stone tablets (Exodus 32:16). Usually, however, the Bible displays a human and divine partnership—the Holy Spirit working through the writer’s personality and creativity to express the words of God.
Even when the biblical writers state clearly that God was directing them, the words they write reflect their unique personality and place in history. For example, God gave an unpleasant task to the prophet Jeremiah. He got to announce to the Israelites (God’s people who would become known as the Jews) that they would be dragged off to the land of Babylonia for several hundred years. Jeremiah wrote:
“Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.
The word of the LORD came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
“I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied.
The LORD said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.”
The word of the LORD came to me again: “What do you see?”
“I see a boiling pot, tilting away from the north,” I answered.
The LORD said to me, “From the north disaster will be poured out on all who live in the land. I am about to summon all the peoples of the northern kingdoms,” declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 1:9-15)
This pattern is repeated throughout the book of Jeremiah with the prophet writing over and over: “This is what the Lord says. …” “Hear what the Lord says. …” “Then the word of the Lord came to me. …”
Another Old Testament prophet, Isaiah, wrote a much different book, one filled with some of the Bible’s most beautiful poetry:
“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
A voice of one calling:
“In the desert prepare
the way for the Lord;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has
spoken.”
A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
“All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:3-8, emphasis added)
Like Jeremiah and Isaiah, the other Old Testament writers believed they were putting down God’s words, described as “perfect” and “trustworthy” in Psalm 19:7. Perhaps most important, God’s word has no expiration date:
“The word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)
“Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.” (Psalm 119:89)
How about the New Testament writers? The apostle Paul contributed letters that make up the majority of the New Testament. He had a miraculous encounter with Jesus and became a dynamic preacher and pastor. Paul wrote, “This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:13).
Jesus and the Old and New Testaments
We’ve looked at what the Bible says about itself. But another important perspective should also be considered: What did Jesus say about the Scriptures?
When Jesus spoke about “the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” (Luke 24:44), listeners in His day knew what He meant—all of the Hebrew Scriptures. Today those books are known as the Old Testament. Jesus would have known about them because the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, was written about 400 years before He was born.
What Jesus had to say about the Bible is very important because He is the all-knowing God of truth. (See the box “What Jesus Said About the Scriptures.”) The Bible teaches that Jesus is the Son of God, the Lord Almighty who came to earth in human form. When Jesus quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures, He validated their truth and verified their accuracy. He also looked ahead to the truthful recording of the New Testament.
Near the end of His ministry on earth, just hours before He would die on the cross, Jesus made an important twofold promise to His disciples:
“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:25-26)
Jesus was speaking to 11 of the men who had been with Him throughout His three-year ministry, men who had witnessed everything He had done. Now He was entrusting His ministry to them. “And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning” (John 15:27).
But they would not be left on their own. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit “will teach you all things” and “will remind you of everything I have said to you.” When it came time to recording God’s message, the New Testament authors recognized that they were writing Scripture—that they were, in fact, conveying God’s truth as the Spirit of God gave it to them.
What Jesus Said About the Scriptures
—“I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:18)
—“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” (Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31)
—“It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.” (Luke 16:17)
—“Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” (Luke 24:44)
—“The Scripture cannot be broken.” (John 10:35)
Evidence that the Bible is not only inspiring, but inspired
Some people today have one basic belief about the Bible—that it should not be believed! But it didn’t used to be that way. Prior to the late twentieth century, virtually all people who claimed to be Christians had understood Scripture to be inspired and preserved—in other words, sacred. They believed God had given us His Word and that these Scriptures were to be followed. The Bible is supposed to judge us, but some people would like to judge the Bible instead.
But the Bible is trustworthy, and that trustworthiness begins with the core truth of inspiration: The Bible was written by God through men.
Many skeptics have pointed out, however, that the Bible is not proven to be God’s Word just because some of its verses say so. We come back to the questions raised by The Da Vinci Code: “Is it true that man wrote the Bible hundreds of years after Jesus lived? Did people really fight over what the Bible was going to say? I mean, what if the things that ended up in the Bible weren’t what God really meant the Bible to say?”
Christians have answers, though, because the Bible’s divine origin is indicated by some very compelling evidence.
Evidence 1: It Has Been Preserved and Is Indestructible
It’s been banned, burned, and banished for centuries, but the Bible has outlived all of its enemies. The Roman Emperor Diocletian, for example, ordered all Bibles destroyed in A.D. 303. Though his attempt to purge the world of Bibles was fervent, only 20 years later Emperor Constantine offered a reward for any remaining Bibles. Within 24 hours, more than 50 complete copies were brought before him.2
Not too long ago the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin sought to establish a completely secular, godless state. In late 1920s, he ordered that all Bibles be purged from the Soviet Union.3 But as communism fell and the Soviet Union dissolved, a 1980s poll showed that a greater percentage of Soviet citizens than ever believed that the Bible is the Word of God.
The fact that millions of people today can hold a Bible in their hands and hide its words in their hearts, after centuries of attack and opposition, is evidence of the Bible’s divine origin. God has preserved His Word; it cannot be destroyed.
To better understand how the Bible has been preserved, we need to look at the oldest manuscripts—what is called the manuscript evidence. The core truth of inspiration means God gave us His Word exactly as He wanted, without error. But only the original documents were inspired, and we don’t have those original copies. So how do we know that the Bible we read today is an accurate and trustworthy copy of the original writings?
We have confidence in our copies of the Bible because research indicates that the Bible’s content has been accurately passed down through the centuries.
Over hundreds of years, thousands of copies of the individual books that make up the Bible have been discovered. Some ancient manuscripts of the Old Testament date back to before the birth of Jesus. Scholars and historians who have studied these ancient manuscripts—written by hand before the days of the printing press and photocopy machine—have continually been impressed at the careful way the text of the Bible was transmitted without change.
Consider how the Jewish people of old handled the Hebrew Scriptures, our Old Testament. The books of “the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” were carefully copied on leather sheets (and later on papyrus, a type of paper made from reeds). Scribes were a special group of people whose job in life was to copy and copy and copy the Holy Word of the Lord. The word scribe literally means “counter.”4 As a scribe copied Scripture, the letters on each page would actually be counted—forward and backward—on the master copy and on the new rendition to ensure nothing was added and nothing omitted. Can you say migraine? Because of the scribes’ hard work and devotion, we have accurate copies of the Bible today.
Additionally, scholars say that even if none of the 5,500 ancient New Testament manuscripts existed, the whole text of the 27 books could be recovered. How is that? The entire New Testament—Matthew through Revelation—could be known from quotations of verses found in the writings and letters of early Christians.5 One scholar, Hans von Campenhausen, said:
“The New Testament meets all the demands of historical reliability that could possibly be made of such a text. If the New Testament were any other book, its authenticity would be regarded beyond all doubt.”6
F. F. Bruce, a renowned scholar from Manchester, England, stated:
“The evidence for our New Testament writings is ever so much greater than the evidence for many writings of other classical authors—the authenticity of which no one dreams of questioning. . . . If the New Testament had been a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt.”7
Bruce was pointing out that a different standard of judgment has been applied to the New Testament than has been applied to any other ancient writings. The New Testament exists in thousand of copies, dating from a period very close to the actual events it covers.
Historians note that the New Testament appears to have been carefully copied and widely circulated. If there were discrepancies, contradictions, or alterations, the early Christians easily could have recognized and pointed them out. It is not for lack of evidence that skeptics discount the accuracy of the Bible.
There’s another aspect of the Bible’s preservation we need to consider: Who decided on the books to include in the “canon of Scripture,” and when? In part because of The Da Vinci Code, this topic of canonicity is a fairly hot topic of conversation. Some false beliefs have almost reached urban legend status, namely that some books in the Bible—the Gospels—were changed by people with evil motives and that other documents were hidden away.
Hear this: Such doubt and speculation has no support from history. In fact, the manner in which the Bible books were carefully preserved is an inspiring story in itself. Men did not randomly choose which books would be called Scripture. The copy and circulation of the Bible did take place with amazing speed for the period of time we are talking about—nearly 2,000 years ago. But in an age before printing presses, electricity, and mass communication, it took some time before all people who desired God’s Word had access to it.
Evidence 2: There Is Unity to the Bible
The entire Bible was written by about 40 individuals over 1,500 years. These writers included a farmer (Amos), a doctor (Luke), ministers (such as Ezra and James), political leaders (David, Solomon), political prisoners (Daniel, John), a musician (Asaph), a fisherman (Peter), and a tax collector (Matthew).
Moses, who wrote the first five books of the Old Testament, grew up wealthy in Egypt, became a fugitive, worked herding livestock, and eventually led a nation. Paul, who wrote 13 books of the New Testament, was professionally trained in religion, theology, and philosophy, and before he became a Christian led a movement to hunt down the followers of Jesus Christ. The Bible writers were rich and educated, poor and not-so-educated; they came from a wide variety of social backgrounds.
Yet the Bible contains a unified, consistent message. It could be summarized as “God’s Savior, and how you may know Him” or “The kingdom of heaven, and how to get in.”
The agreement among all 66 books strongly argues in favor of the Bible’s heavenly origin. Though humans did the writing, the Bible is really the product of one author—God.
Churches and Christians did not choose the books they wanted to put in the Bible. They eventually recognized the books that God had chosen. Bible expert J. I. Packer wrote:
“The church no more “gave us” the canon than Sir Isaac Newton “gave us” the force of gravity. God gave us gravity by the work of His creation, and similarly, He gave us the New Testament canon by inspiring the original books that make it up.”8
What is meant by the word canon? (No, not something on a pirate ship that shoots bowling balls—that’s a cannon.) Scholars use the term canon when referring to the 66 books of the Bible. In ancient times, the Latin word canon meant “measuring stick.” The “Canon of Scripture” is the group of manuscripts that make up the Bible. These writings were carefully copied, preserved, and collected together. Dedicated Christians spent much time and prayer in carefully assembling the books that God had given as His Word.
Tests for “canonicity” included considerations such as: Authorship (Who wrote the book?); acceptance by churches (Was the book’s content generally embraced or rejected?); acceptance by recognized leaders (Did the men who had been with Jesus or did the Christians who had spent time with Jesus’ disciples accept the book?); spiritual value (Is the content of the book in question useful, profitable, beneficial for believers, individually and collectively?). During the early church era, there were also writings in circulation that Christians recognized were not from God, and they were rejected for canonization.
Evidence 3: The Bible Is Supported by Archaeology
Though the Bible is not purely a history book, the events and people recorded in its pages are historical. Over the past couple of centuries, the science of archaeology has advanced our knowledge of the people, places, and culture of Bible times. In the process, archaeology has proved, over and over again, that the Bible is accurate in its historical facts.
For example, proof of King Jehu (see 2 Kings 9-10) was discovered on an obelisk (a column of stone) found in 1846. The obelisk contains words and pictures recording Israel’s conquest by an Assyrian king. The obelisk’s information perfectly confirms what was recorded in the Old Testament. Other than what is in the Bible, little information has been found about the ancient kings of Israel, but obelisk discoveries mesh perfectly with the Bible’s account. We can trust what the Bible has recorded about the ancient activities of the Jewish people.
Evidence 4: The Bible Has Fulfilled Prophecy
Fulfilled prophecy distinguishes the Bible from any other religious book. The Bible could accurately predict events hundreds of years in advance because God was the author.
Sometime between A.D. 30-32, Jesus predicted that the Jewish temple would be reduced to rubble (Matthew 24:1-2, Luke 21:5-6), an unthinkable occurrence for the Jews of that day. Religious leaders would have ridiculed the idea that their massive temple could be razed. Yet in A.D. 70, the temple was indeed destroyed.
Additionally Isaiah 11:11-12, which was written more than 700 years before Christ, predicted that the Jews would one day return to Israel, after having been dispersed to points all around the world. At one time, skeptics pointed to this prediction (and a similar one in Ezekiel 37:21) as a prophecy that had never come to pass. Yet since the rebirth of the Jewish nation in 1948, Jewish individuals have, indeed, returned to Israel “from the four quarters of the earth” (Isaiah 11:12).
Mistakes in the Bible?
Okay, I just have to say it. Not everything in the Bible is true.
For instance, Genesis 3:4 records that the Serpent told Adam and Eve there would be no penalty if they disobeyed God. That statement was not true.
You could say that another “mistake” is contained in Genesis 3:6, which records that Adam and Eve rebelled against God.
But what you really want to know is if there are inconsistencies, false data, contradictions, or historical inaccuracies in the Bible. The answer is really no and yes. There are what scholars call “problem texts.” For example in Matthew 1:16 Joseph’s father is listed as Jacob, and in Luke 3:23 Joseph is called the son of Heli. To clear up that question, you need to understand the way genealogies were used in ancient times. Often entire generations were skipped, or a person had two different names. The term “son” could mean son, grandson, or even great-great-great grandson.
Another type of problem text is exemplified in Deuteronomy 14:18 where a bat is named in a list of birds . Before we had scientific classification of animals based on whether or not they were warm- or cold-blooded, a bat was considered a bird because it could fly. The word mammal didn’t even exist thousands of years ago. To understand the Bible the reader must take into consideration the time and culture of the original audience.
So are there difficult texts, problem passages which require some digging and extra study? Definitely. But are there contradictions and verified errors in God’s Word? Definitely not. A good study Bible or commentary can help you clear up the questions surrounding many of the problem texts critics use to discredit the Bible. I’ve studied most all of them and can assure you that there are no “problems” with your Bible or with the six historic core truths examined in this book. The Bible is the only reliable, accurate record of the account of God and His plan of salvation for the world.
Why Inspiration Matters
If the Bible is God’s Word and what it says was true when it was written, it is still true today and will be true tomorrow and forever. In the most crucial issues of life—I’m talking about subjects like God, human nature, right and wrong, sin, forgiveness, death, and eternity—you can’t afford to guess what is true. Your life, now and in eternity, depends on whether or not what you believe is, in fact, true.
Here’s an analysis of the Bible I think sums things up well:
“The Bible contains the mind of God, the condition of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions unchangeable. Read the Bible to be wise and to be safe. Practice it to be holy. The Bible contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s charter. Christ is its subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. The Bible should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully. It is given to you in life, it will be open in the judgment, and be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, rewards the greatest labor, and condemns all who trifle with its holy precepts.”9
The origin, accuracy, and relevancy of the Bible are important to each of us. Fortunately, the evidence strongly indicates that the Bible is indeed God’s Word, preserved for us to read, understand, and follow. Nearly 500 years ago, the great reformer Martin Luther gave us his take on God’s Word:
“In the Bible God speaks. The Scriptures are His word. To hear or read the Scriptures is nothing else than to hear God Himself.” 10
You could spend your entire life, as some scholars have, researching the evidence in support of the Bible’s accuracy. However, as Luther said, if you want to hear the voice of God, open your Bible. Read the Bible with an open mind and draw your own conclusions. A good, easy-to-understand starting point is the Gospel of John in the New Testament.
The words of Psalm 119:18 are a valid request that you may want to pray as you begin to study the Bible seriously:
Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.
What the Believer Should Do for the Bible
—Desire it (1 Peter 2:2)
—Read it (Deuteronomy 31:11, Luke 4:16, Colossians 3:16)
—Obey it (Psalm 119:9, 1 Timothy 4:16, Matthew 4:4)
—Present it to others (Matthew 28:19-20, 2 Timothy 4:2)
—Correctly understand it (2 Timothy 2:15)
—Suffer and, if necessary, die for it (Revelation 1:9, 6:9, 20:4)
What the Bible Will Do for the Believer
—Convert the soul (John 20:31, James 1:18)
—Give guidance (Psalm 119:133)
—Produce joy (Psalm 119:62)
—Provide strength (1 John 2:14, Psalm 119:28)
—Instill hope (Psalm 119:74, 81)
—Produce growth (Acts 20:32, John 15)
—Convict of sin (Hebrews 4:12)
—Cleanse the conscience (John 15:3)
—Give comfort (Psalm 119:50) … and more!
This message is, in part, excerpted from the book, “STAND: Core Truths You Must Know For An Unshakable Faith,” by Alex McFarland (Tyndale House, ISBN: 1589973534). With very special thanks to Marianne K. Hering for editorial assistance.
