Accuracy of the Bible

[Kevykev]

Sorry guys, this isn't meant to stir up anything, this is only for those who seek info on the bible and it's validity. It's a long but GOOD read, i recommend it!

This thread might possibly get long due to strong opinions BUT as long as you read the passage in it's entirety you've gotten the main idea! Just think of when you'll get some nice quite time, sit back and relax - read


"Amazing Evidence for the Trustworthiness of the Bible"
By Charlie H. Campbell


1. FULFILLED PROPHECY

Fulfilled prophecy is something that sets the Bible apart from every other religious book. There are 26 other religious books that people of faith believe are divinely inspired (the Vedas, the Bhagavad-Gita, the Mahabharata, the Upanishads, the Qur'an, the Book of Mormon, the Tripitaka, etc.). Of these twenty-six books, none of them, not a single one, contains any specific, fulfilled prophecies!

The Bible, however, is filled with hundreds of specific, detailed prophecies that were written hundreds of years before their fulfillment! In fact, an amazing 27% of the Bible (more than 1 out of every 4 verses) contains what was predictive prophecy at the time that it was written. And the authors of the Bible did not just predict some vague things like Nostradamus or Jeanne Dixon (who by the way, have proven to be wrong over and over again), they were very specific. Consider some of the more than 100 different and very specific prophecies made concerning the Messiah, who the Old Testament prophesied would come.

The Old Testament foretold, hundreds of years in advance, very specific details about: the Messiah's ancestry, that He'd be born of the seed of Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3, 22:18), of the tribe of Judah (Gen 49:10), of the house of David (2 Samuel 7:12f), etc. The city in which He would be born (Micah 5:2), that He'd come while the temple was still standing (Malachi 3:1), that He would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), that He would perform miracles (Isaiah 35:5-6), that He'd be rejected by His own people (Psalm 118:22; 1 Peter 2:7), the precise time in history when He would die (Daniel 9:24-26; 483 years after the declaration to reconstruct the city of Jerusalem in 444 B.C. This was fulfilled to the very year.), how He would die (Psalm 22:16-18, Isaiah 53; Zech 12:10), that He would rise from the dead (Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:27-32), and there are many more. All of these prophecies and hudreds others have been literally fulfilled.

The skeptic says: "Maybe Christians inserted those prophecies back into the Old Testament after Jesus lived."

Not a chance. How do we know? There exists today hundreds of manuscript copies of the Old Testament that predate the time of Christ's birth. These ancient copies of the Old Testament, dating back to the third century B.C., verify that these prophecies concerning the Messiah were already in place. In 1947 a shepherd boy tending his father's sheep in Qumran, north and to the west of the Dead Sea in Israel, made an amazing discovery while looking for a lost sheep. There in Qumran, in a hillside cave that had laid untouched for nearly two thousand years, he discovered an ancient collection of hand written copies of the Old Testament. These scrolls had been hidden in caves by the Essenes, a Jewish sect living in Qumran, 2,000 years ago. These scrolls and writings (now known as the Dead Sea Scrolls) represented every book of the Old Testament except the Book of Esther, and are considered one of the greatest discoveries in modern times. It's manuscript evidence like this Isaiah scroll that dates back to about 100 B.C. that proves, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the Old Testament, and its many prophecies concerning the Messiah, was finished long before Jesus was even born.

The skeptic says: "How do you know that the Dead Sea Scrolls date back to before Christ?"

Teams of scholars determined the scrolls age by examining 1. The pottery that housed the manuscripts 2. The weave and pattern of the manuscript cloths 3. The form of the characters 4. The spelling of the words 5. The coins found alongside the manuscripts.

The skeptic says: "Perhaps Jesus was not the Messiah, but just accidentally or even deliberately set out to fulfill these prophecies."

First, it's hard to think of any person deliberately setting out to fulfill prophecies that would result in a short life and an excruciating drawn out death on a cross. Secondly, how does a man deliberately choose the lineage he is born into, the time period in which he is born, -the city in which he is born? Was the fulfillment of these prophecies an accident? Peter Stoner, a mathematician, and Professor Emeritus of Science at Westmont College, in his book Science Speaks (Moody 1963) calculated the odds of a single man fulfilling just eight of the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled as the mathematical improbability of 1 in 10 to the 17th. That is a HUGE number. One in ten to the seventeenth power. That's a one with seventeen zeros after it (100,000,000,000,000,000). If we had 100 quadrillion 1" x 1.5" tiles we could cover every square inch of dry land on planet Earth. The fact that these prophecies and hundreds of others have been fulfilled, even though they were spoken hundreds and even thousands of years before their fulfillment, is strong evidence that a God, who is all-knowing and all-powerful, orchestrated the Bible's completion.

2. ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES

For the past 150 years archaeologists have been verifying the exact truthfulness of the Bible's detailed records of various events, customs, persons, cities, nations, and geographical locations. Dr. Nelson Glueck probably the greatest modern authority on Israeli archeology, has said, "No archeological discovery has ever controverted [overturned] a Biblical reference. Scores of archeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible. And, by the same token, proper evaluation of Biblical descriptions has often led to amazing discoveries."

In every instance where the Bible can be, or has been checked out archaeologically, it has been found to be 100% accurate. The Bible has proven so accurate that archaeologists often refer to it as a reliable guide when they go to dig in new areas. In fact, even though less than 1% of the material available to excavate in the tells in Israel has been excavated, there have been more than 25,000 discoveries within the region known as the "Bible Lands" that have confirmed the truthfulness of the Bible. Entire books have been written on this topic. Allow me to give you three examples.

A. Pontius Pilate

The Bible says that he was the Roman governor of Judea and the man who issued the official order for Jesus to be sentenced to death by crucifixion (Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 18-19). In June of 1961 a team of Italian archaeologists, led by Dr. Antonio Frova, were excavating the Mediterranean port city of Caesarea that had at one time served as the Roman capital of Palestine. It was there in the jumbled ruins of an ancient Roman theater that they uncovered a large 2' x 3', 5" or so thick, limestone rock. The inscription on the rock amazed the archaeologists. It read in: "Pontius Pilate, Prefect of Judea, has presented the Tiberium to the Caesareans." (Scholars believe that the Tiberium refers to a temple or some other kind of public structure named after the Roman emperor Tiberius, who reigned from 14–37 A.D.) This stone is on display today in the Israel Museum as a testimony to the reliability of the Bible.

B. Caiaphas

Caiaphas, the Bible tells us, was the Jewish high priest at the time of Jesus crucifixion. Was he a make believe character? Some thought so, that is until 1990, when the Caiaphas family tomb was accidentally discovered by workers constructing a water park just south of Jerusalem. Archaeologists were hastily called to the scene. When they examined the tomb they found 12 ossuaries (limestone bone boxes) containing the remains of 63 individuals. On the outside of the most beautifully decorated of the ossuaries was inscribed the words: "Joseph son of Caiaphas." What's incredible is that Josephus (that Jewish historian of the first century A.D.) in his writings (Antiquities 18: 2, 2; 4, 3) documents that that was actually the full name of the high priest who arrested Jesus, "Joseph son of Caiaphas." (Saying "son of" was a way of referring to the family name). Inside the ossuary archaeologists found the remains of a someone approximately 60-years-old at the time of his death...the actual bones of Caiaphas, the high priest mentioned in the Bible. Today Caiaphas' ossuary is also on display in the Israel Museum as a testimony of the Bible's trustworthiness!

C. David

David of course was the most loved of all of Israel's kings. Some liberal scholars though had denied that King David was a historical figure because there was no mention of him outside of the Bible. Their skepticism changed in 1993. It was then, at an excavation at Tel-Dan in N. Israel they found a now famous stone with an inscription (in Aramaic) referring to the House of David. In 1994 two more fragments of the same stone inscription were discovered, again mentioning the House of David. In 1995 Time Magazine did a story on this discovery and stated, This writing—dated to the 9th century B.C., only a century after David's reign—described a victory by a neighboring king over the Israelites…The skeptics' claim that King David never existed is now hard to defend" (Time, December 18, 1995). It's because of discoveries like this that men like Millar Burrows, (former Professor at Yale University) stated, "…archaeological work has unquestionably strengthened confidence in the reliability of the Scriptural record. More than one archaeologist has found his respect for the Bible increased by the experience of excavation in Palestine" (Burrows, Millar. What Mean These Stones? New Haven: American Schools of Oriental Research. 1941, p. 1.). Like I said, there are literally thousands of these archaeological discoveries that point to the Bible being an accurate and trustworthy historical document.

Archaeology has not proven so helpful for other religious writings. Consider the Book of Mormon. "Not one piece of evidence has ever been found to support the Book of Mormon -- not a trace of the large cities it names, no ruins, no coins, no letters or documents or monuments, nothing in writing. Not even one of the rivers or mountains or any of the topography it mentions has ever been identified." (Dave Hunt, p.156, In Defense of the Faith; also see p. 107 in The Case for Christ, by Lee Strobel). Nothing which demonstrates that the Book of Mormon is anything other than an early nineteeth century piece of American fiction, invented by Joseph Smith has ever been found.

The National Geographic Society stated on August 12, 1998, "Archaeologists and other scholars have long probed the hemisphere's past, and the Society does not know of anything found so far that has substantiated the Book of Mormon." The Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. has also verified this utter lack of evidence saying in 1996 when they said, "The Smithsonian Institution has never used the Book of Mormon in any way as a scientific guide. Smithsonian Archaeologists see no connection between the archaeology of the New World and the subject matter of the Book."

[Kevykev]

. THE BIBLE'S INTERNAL CONSISTENCY

What do I mean, when I speak of the Bible's internal consistency? I am talking about the Bible's internal harmony. From the first book of the Bible, Genesis, to the last book, Revelation, the Bible is absolutely consistent.

The skeptic says: "Why is that an evidence of divine origin? There are plenty of books that are internally consistent."

I agree, but let me share with you seven factors that make the consistency of the Bible an amazing evidence of its divine origin.

A. The Bible addresses life's most controversial questions. How did the universe come into existence? Does God exist? And if so, what is He like? Why does man exist? What is our purpose for being here? Why is there evil and suffering in the world? What happens to me after I die?

B. The Bible is a collection of 66 different documents. It might be easy to have harmony of thought in a single book like the Qur'an, that contains the teachings of a single man. But the Bible is not a single book. It a compilation of books: 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament.

C. The Bible was written by approximately 40 different authors.

D. Many of the Bible's authors came from different educational and cultural backgrounds. Peter was a fisherman. Paul was a scholar. Daniel was a prime minister. Asaph was a musician. Matthew was a tax collector. David was a shepherd then a king. Luke was a historian and medical doctor. The Bible's consistency gets even more amazing when you consider fourthly that…

E. The Bible was written over a period of approximately 1500+ years, covering some 60+ generations. Not only were the authors separated from each other by hundreds of years in time, but...

F. Many of the authors were separated by hundreds of miles geographically. Many people don't realize this, but the Bible was written in a variety of places on three different continents. a. Africa (Egypt) b. Asia c. Europe (Rome for instance). Paul wrote four letters imprisoned in Rome, located in Italy. The apostle John, wrote while a prisoner banished to the Isle of Patmos in the Mediterranean Sea. The prophet Ezekiel wrote his work while held captive in Babylon. Jeremiah was in a dungeon. Luke wrote while traveling. Daniel wrote from a hillside and in a palace.

G. The Bible was written in three different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek).

Now, in spite of all of these different factors we find the Bible to be a consistent, harmonious, perfectly unified account of how God is seeking to reconcile sinners back to Himself through the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. This is an amazing evidence of its divine origin. If you're not convinced, go through your neighborhood and ask just 10 of your neighbors, what their beliefs are on the nature of the universe, the meaning of life, the origin of evil, the way of salvation, etc. and you'll immediately see how likely it is to have a variety of contradicting opinions!

4. EXTERNAL VERIFICATION

Many people don't know this but there are dozens of writings outside of the Bible that verify the historical accuracy of many of the names of people, places, and events mentioned in the Bible. In fact, external sources verify that at least 80 persons were actual historical figures, 50 people from the Old Testament and 30 people from the New Testament (see list of names and sources on p. 270 in I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek). Because of engravings and statues, etc., we even know what 18 (12 from the OT and 6 from the NT) of them looked like!

External verification of what the Bible says has led to a radical change of view among liberal scholars regarding the person of Jesus. Some had at one time put forth the false idea that Jesus never even existed; that He was merely a mythological character! But, today the existence of Jesus is hardly even debated within informed scholarly circles. The reason why? There are over 39 sources outside of the Bible that attest to more than 100 facts regarding Jesus' life, teachings, crucifixion, and resurrection. One of those external sources, was the 1st century Roman historian Flavius Josephus. In his writings Josephus verifies that Herod the Great, Herod Antipas, Caiaphas, Pontius Pilate, John the Baptist, James "the brother of Jesus," Felix, Festus, and even Jesus, were all historical figures. Listen to one of Josephus' statements about Jesus of Nazareth. I have purposely taken this from the Arabic text, of Josephus' writings called Antiquities, chapter 18:63-64, a text that is unchallenged by most critics of the Bible.

Josephus wrote: "At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. And his conduct was good, and (He) was known to be virtuous. And many people from among the Jews and the other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned Him to be crucified to die. And those who had become his disciples did not abandon his discipleship. They reported that He had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion and that He was alive." These are not the words of the Bible or a Christian, but a Roman historian writing outside of the pages of Scripture. Josephus wasn't the lone voice. There were others as well:

A. Cornelius Tacitus (ca. A.D. 55 –120) a Roman Historian by who wrote around A.D. 115. Although he was not a Christian but he did verify that Jesus lived, that He was from Judea, that He lived during the reign of Tiberius (A.D. 14-37), and was executed by Pontius Pilate, who governed the province of Judea from A.D. 26-36.).

B. Gaius Suetonius (the chief secretary of Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 117 –138)

5. THE BIBLE'S AMAZING SCIENTIFIC ACCURACY AND FORESIGHT

Even though the Bible was completed 2,000 years ago, long before the invention of the microscope, the telescope, satellites, etc. it does not contain any scientific errors. This might be considered a miracle in itself. Without exception, every ancient religious writing has certain unscientific views of astronomy, medicine, hygiene, etc. The Qur'an says in Surah 18:86 that the sun sets in a muddy spring. Qur'an 18:86 "…when he reached the setting-place of the sun, he found it setting in a muddy spring" The only exception to these kinds of errors, among ancient religious writings, is the Bible.

Not only is the Bible free from scientific errors, it miraculously makes known numerous, accurate scientific facts about the universe thousands of years before modern scientists caught up. There are lots of them. For time's sake I will give you a few quick examples.

A. The Sun

In contrast to the Qur'an, the Bible teaches that the sun is actually on a circuit through space. Writing of the sun in Psalm 19:6, David said, "Its rising is from one end of heaven, and its circuit to the other end." For many years critics scoffed at this verse, claiming that it taught that the sun revolves around the earth. Scientists at that time thought the sun was stationary. However, it has been discovered in recent years that the sun is in fact on a circuit through space, just like the Bible says.

B. The Shape of the Earth

When the rest of the world believed the earth was flat, Isaiah declared that the world was round… Isaiah 40:22 "It is He who sits above the circle of the earth." The Hebrew word there for circle ["chuwg"] literally means "sphere." When did Isaiah write these words? Between 740 and 680 B.C. That was at least 300 years before Aristotle suggested, in his book On the Heavens, that the earth might be a sphere. Other verses are Proverbs 8:27 and Job 26:10. More than 2,000 years later some people still believed that Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) was going to sail off the edge of a flat planet in 1492!

C. The Suspension of the Earth

Before Isaac Newton discovered gravity Hindus believed that the earth rested on the back of an elephant who stood on the back of a turtle that was swimming in a great endless sea. The Greeks believed that the mythical god Atlas carried the earth on his shoulders. What did the Bible say? In one of the oldest books in the Bible, Job said in Job 26:7, "He [God] hangs the earth on nothing." Scientists did not discover that the earth hangs on nothing until 1650.

D. The Stars

Before the telescope was invented, man was able to number the stars. The Greek astronomer and mathematician Hipparchus (190-120 B.C.) said there were exactly 1,026 stars. The astronomer, and mathematician Ptolemy said there were 1,056 stars. The German astronomer, Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), counted 1,006. The whole thought of the stars being uncountable was contrary to modern science until the invention of the telescope. When Galileo first pointed his telescope to the heavens in 1608, we discovered there were a lot more stars than anybody had ever imagined, just as Jeremiah had said:

Jeremiah 33:22 "The host of heaven [a reference to the stars] cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured." Today, with the help of powerful telescopes and modern satellite photographs, scientists estimate the universe contains approximately 100 billion galaxies containing approximately 200 billion stars each. Carl Sagan (1934-1996), the world famous astronomer, said, "The total number of stars in the universe is greater than all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the planet Earth." (Cosmos, p. 196). That is enough stars for every person alive on planet earth to personally own approximately 2 trillion stars each. Dr. Mark Eastman says, "Counting at a rate of ten stars per second it would take over 100 trillion years. Surely the host of heaven cannot be numbered!"

If you want more of these kinds of amazing scientific insights, check out: answersingenesis.org and icr.org

How did the authors of the Bible know that the stars were uncountable, that the earth was round and hangs on nothing? Were they taking lucky guesses? I don't think so. Their flawless accuracy rules that out. The Bible says in 2 Peter 1:21 that "Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." God, who knows all there is to know about the universe He created, superintended the writing of the Bible to make sure that what He wanted written, was written.

6. THE MANUSCRIPT EVIDENCE

Manuscript? What is a manuscript? A manuscript is a hand-written copy of an ancient document that predates the invention of the printing press in 1455. There have been those (including the Mormons and Muslims) who have falsely asserted that the Bible has undergone corruption down through the centuries as it was copied and translated. But the evidence actually proves otherwise.

Today there survives more than 24,000 partial and complete, ancient handwritten manuscript copies of the New Testament alone, not to mention hundreds of Old Testament manuscripts that survive today dating back to as early as the third century B.C. These hand written manuscripts have allowed scholars and textual critics to go back and verify that the Bible we have in our possession today is the same Bible that the early church possessed 2,000 years ago. You can view these manuscripts yourself at places like the British Museum, the Cambridge University Library, the Smithsonian Institute, Oxford University, the National Library at Paris, Israel Museum

Even if we did not have any manuscripts, we have the writings of the church fathers. By church fathers we are referring to those leaders in the church, of the first three centuries A.D. that followed the original disciples. Men like Justin Martyr, Eusebius, Tertullian, Polycarp. These men in their writings and correspondence with other believers and other churches quote the Scriptures over and over again. In fact, the early church fathers refer to the New Testament alone more than 86,000 times. There are enough quotations from the early church fathers that even if we did not have a single manuscript copy of the Bible, scholars could still reconstruct 99. 86% of the New Testament that we have today.

So then, what kind of proof is the Muslim or Mormon able to offer to prove that the Bible has been changed or corrupted down through the centuries? None. To demonstrate or prove that the Bible has been corrupted, the Muslim or Mormon would need to be able to hold up ancient copies of the Bible and say, "Look, here's what the Bible used to say, and here is what the Bible says now. It has been changed." But that is exactly what the Mormon and the Muslim can not do. WHY? When you go back to the ancient copies of the Bible that are still in existence today in museum's and library's around the world, you quickly come to the conclusion, as numerous secular scholars have, that the text of the modern Bible has not undergone corruption. Isaiah 40:8 "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever." Jesus said in Matthew 24:35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away."

[Kevykev]

7. THE BIBLE'S FORTHRIGHTNESS ABOUT ITS AUTHOR'S AND HERO'S FAILURES

The Bible's openness about its very own author's sins and failures is a seventh reason that I believe the Bible is an honest work. Its forthrightness in this regard makes it absolutely unique among all other religious books. Unlike the authors of other religious writings the authors of the Bible did not seek to cast themselves in good light or to elevate themselves at all. In fact, they freely confessed that they were just sinful, ordinary men. Consider some of the failures and shortcomings the writers of the Bible told us about. We read of Noah's getting drunk shortly after getting off of the ark (Gen. 9:21); Abraham, lying (on more than one occasion) about Sarah being his wife (Gen. 12:13; 20:2); Moses' outburst of anger, how he misrepresented God, and wasn't even allowed to enter into the promise land (Num. 20:10-11); Israel's rejection of God on numerous occasions (for example, see the book of Judges); David's adultery and subsequent murder of Uriah (2 Samuel 11); the disciple's argument over which one of them was the greatest (Luke 22:24); Peter's denial of the Lord (Matt.26:72) and his fear of being seen eating with Gentiles (Gal.2:11-12); the disciples falling asleep when Jesus asked them to pray (Mark 14:32-41); Paul, confession that he was "a wretched man" (Rom 7:24) the "chief" of sinners (1 Tim.1:15); Paul and Barnabas argument over whether or not Mark should be allowed to travel with them (Acts 15:38-39). Do these sound like the kind of things that men making up the Bible would write about themselves? Not at all. The author's openness about these kinds of details helps me to believe that these men were being honest about the things they wrote about. Add to this seventh evidence the fact that these men imparted to the world the highest standards of conduct the world has ever seen, and we only strengthen our case.

8. THE WILLINGNESS OF JESUS' DISCIPLES TO SUFFER

The disciples went to their graves, one by one, suffering and dying martyr's deaths for their on-going belief and preaching that Jesus' resurrection was an absolute fact of history! Historians like Flavius Josephus, Eusebius and others tell us that Matthew was slain with a sword in a city of Ethiopia. Mark died in Alexandria, in Northern Egypt after having been cruelly dragged through the streets of that city. Luke was hung upon an olive tree in the land of Greece. James was beheaded in Jerusalem. James the Less (as he's called in Mark 15:40) was thrown from a lofty pinnacle of the temple. Philip was hung up against a pillar at Heiropolis in the province of Phrygia. Bartholomew was flayed alive. Andrew was bound to a cross, and left to die. Jude was shot to death with arrows. Matthias (the apostle chosen to replace Judas) was first stoned, and then beheaded. Barnabas was stoned to death by the Jews at Salonica. Paul, that former enemy of Christ (Acts 9), after a variety of tortures and persecutions, was finally beheaded in Rome. Peter was crucified (just as Jesus told him he would be in John 21) in Rome. Thomas, the former skeptic of the resurrection (John 20:28), was run through the body with a lance at Coromandel in the East Indies for preaching the gospel. Guys the disciples sealed their testimony that Christ was alive with their own blood. They went to their graves still affirming that the events which they had witnessed had actually occurred. I find it hard to believe that these men were lying. People may be willing to die for something that they think is true, but nobody willingly dies for something they know is a lie. If anybody knew whether or not Jesus was alive after His resurrection, it would have been the disciples. They were in a unique position historically that allowed them to know whether what they were saying was true or not. They actually lived in Israel, at the time Jesus lived and was raised from the dead, or was not. They were there.

9. THE BIBLE'S TRANSFORMING POWER FOR GOOD

The Bible claims to be living and powerful (Hebrews 4:12 , Psalm 19:7-10) and that has indeed proven to be the case. No other book in the world has had the transforming effect upon lives and societies for good, than that of the Bible. Wherever the gospel has gone, the Bible has had a transforming effect on every culture and country for good. Down through the centuries, its words have converted millions of unbelievers to faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. Millions of people, who would testify that they were immoral, vile sinners, drowning in drug addictions, alcoholism, pornography, gambling and the like, have been transformed into godly men and women as they have studied and followed the teachings of the Bible. What words of wisdom the Bible contains!! People on every continent, in more than 2,000 languages, look to the Bible to guide them through life's perplexing and confusing circumstances.The Bible has inspired people to build hospitals, start universities (most of the world's greatest universities—e..g. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, were started by Christians for Christian purposes), launch humanitarian efforts to the poor, abolish slavery (William Wilberforce, an evangelical Christian and member of the British Parliament in the early 19th century, was the one largely responsible for the abolition of the slave trade), work for the equality of people among different races and women, investigate the universe scientifically, and further the development of great art and music.

Philip Schaff, speaking of Jesus' influence, aptly wrote, "Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon; without science and learning, He shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence of schools, He spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet; without writing a single line, He set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times."

10. THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS, THE SON OF GOD

Another reason that you can be sure that the Bible is trustworthy is because Jesus said it was! Jesus did not just claim to be the Son of God, He proved that He was the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead (Rom. 1:4), fulfilling hundreds of Old Testament prophecies, living a sinless life, and performing a multitude of miracles. If Jesus is the Son of God, we can trust what He had to say about the word of God.

Jesus affirmed at least six things that were true about the Bible.

A. Without Error. In John 17:17, Jesus said in His prayer to His Father… "Thy word is [What? Full of contradictions, and errors? No.] truth." Jesus taught secondly, that the Bible was...

B. Historically Reliable. Jesus affirmed as historically true some of the most disputed passages of the Old Testament, including... --the story of Jonah in the whale (in Matt. 12:40) --the destruction of the world by a flood in the days of Noah (in Matt.24:37-39) --and others (see p. 5-60, Dan Story, Defending Your Faith, and Geisler, p. 559, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1).

C. Divinely Authoritative. Over and over, jesus said to Satan, "It is written...it is written...it is written..." (Matt. 4:4-10).

D. Scientifically Accurate. For example, when He taught on marriage He referred to the literal creation of Adam and Eve (in Matt. 19:4-5)

E. Infallible (Dependable, or Unbreakable). In John 10:35 Jesus said, "The Scripture cannot be broken."

F. Indestructible. In Matthew 5:18 Jesus said, "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished." If Jesus was a prophet of God, as even the Qur'an teaches, or even if He was a good teacher (as so many are willing to believe today), it would be wise for us to take His Word on the matter, and He taught that the Bible is a historically reliable, divinely authoritative, scientifically accurate, dependable, error free, indestructible Book.

The skeptic says: "Come on, Charlie, You're referring to the words of Jesus IN the Bible to prove the Bible. You're guilty of circular reasoning. You're quoting the Bible to prove the Bible!" Ahhh, but as I pointed out earlier, the Bible is not one book. It is a collection of 66 books written by different authors. So when I quote Jesus' words to substantiate what Moses or other authors wrote I am not involved in circular reasoning at all. Instead, I am quoting altogether independent sources that happen to be bound together between two covers of the same book. Q. Do you see how that works?

The skeptic says: "Okay Charlie! But, Jesus was only talking about the Old Testament when He said those things. The New Testament had not been written." You're right! It was not written yet. But listen to what Jesus said to His disciples in John 14:26. He promised the aid of the Holy Spirit to His disciples in writing the new. Jesus said, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you" (John 14:26). In John 16:13, Jesus told His disciples, "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come." Jesus promised His disciples the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit in writing the New Testament. So, Jesus validated the trustworthiness of the Old Testament and He promised the trustworthiness of the New. Based on Jesus' testimony, you can trust both.

[quickdodge®]

I know that when I originally wrote this tale back in 1492 BC, I never knew it would stir up so much controversy. Later, QD.

[zimabog]

that looks so fun to read

[99hatch]

WOW that is a great read. Thanks for that man. This will disprove a lot of questions people have.

[TheGrillMan]

WOW that is a great read. Thanks for that man. This will disprove a lot of questions people have.

how do you disprove a question?

[99hatch]

Hahah my bad. Im not Jesus, I make mistakes.

How about it will help answer a bunch of peoples questions.

[Vteckidd]

ehhh still bullshit.


All this does is seek to prove that certain people were around and written about back in those times. Then uses that to say that everything in the bible is true.

That would be like me writing a book, saying 4 truthfull things, then that must mean the other 1000 things i wwrote about must be true as well.

No one disputed that Pontius Pilot didnt exist, or that Jesus never existed, etc etc etc. Those can be proven through archealogical digs and DNA , etc. But does that mean the BURNING BUSH is true? or that moses PARTED the RED SEA?

i think not, still up to FAITH

[99hatch]

ehhh still bullshit.


All this does is seek to prove that certain people were around and written about back in those times. Then uses that to say that everything in the bible is true.

That would be like me writing a book, saying 4 truthfull things, then that must mean the other 1000 things i wwrote about must be true as well.

No one disputed that Pontius Pilot didnt exist, or that Jesus never existed, etc etc etc. Those can be proven through archealogical digs and DNA , etc. But does that mean the BURNING BUSH is true? or that moses PARTED the RED SEA?

i think not, still up to FAITH

Well Prove it didnt happen? Or name another book that proves facts or truth or proficies centuries in advance.. You cant. Also the Bible is not one book. It is 66 books written over 1500 years and they all back up each other. From authors that never knew the other authors. Even on different continents. So you writing one book with 4 facts in it is not the same thing at all. More like You writing a book and 60 other people writing other books up until the year 3509, and each and every book matches up and verifys the other information 100%.

[Kevykev]

only 5% of folks will ready that, most will comment without reading or just skim through. Either way it's fine, we have a own free will and no one is forcing anything on anyone.

I know it's good info and a good read and just though i'd share.

FAITH does play a Large role VTK.

I will never place my Faith in man or this world we live in.

[TheGrillMan]

only 5% of folks will ready that, most will comment without reading or just skim through. Either way it's fine, we have a own free will and no one is forcing anything on anyone.

I know it's good info and a good read and just though i'd share.

FAITH does play a Large role VTK.

I will never place my Faith in man or this world we live in.

i dont really condone christianity but i thought it was an ok read took up some time haha

and yes faith is the name of the game in this respect

Well Prove it didnt happen? Or name another book that proves facts or truth or proficies centuries in advance.. You cant. Also the Bible is not one book. It is 66 books written over 1500 years and they all back up each other. From authors that never knew the other authors. Even on different continents. So you writing one book with 4 facts in it is not the same thing at all. More like You writing a book and 60 other people writing other books up until the year 3509, and each and every book matches up and verifys the other information 100%.

repost

[99hatch]

only 5% of folks will ready that, most will comment without reading or just skim through. Either way it's fine, we have a own free will and no one is forcing anything on anyone.

I know it's good info and a good read and just though i'd share.

FAITH does play a Large role VTK.

I will never place my Faith in man or this world we live in.

Yeah I agree kevykev, and there is Faith to it. But that can go for any belief, there is not a belief that does not take faith. Evolution is not even close to being a fact, so therefore you must have faith in it.

Just look at the definition of Faith:

faith

  var interfaceflash = new LEXICOFlashObject ( "http://cache.lexico.com/d/g/speaker.swf", "speaker", "60", "18", "[img][/img]", "6"); interfaceflash.addParam("loop", "false"); interfaceflash.addParam("quality", "high"); interfaceflash.addParam("menu", "false"); interfaceflash.addParam("salign", "t"); interfaceflash.addParam("FlashVars", "soundUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fcache.lexico.com%2Fdictiona ry%2Faudio%2Fluna%2FF00%2FF0019200.mp3"); interfaceflash.write();  /feɪθ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [feyth] Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun 1. confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another's ability. 2. belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact. 3. belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion: the firm faith of the Pilgrims. 4. belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc.: to be of the same faith with someone concerning honesty. 5. a system of religious belief: the Christian faith; the Jewish faith. 6. the obligation of loyalty or fidelity to a person, promise, engagement, etc.: Failure to appear would be breaking faith. 7. the observance of this obligation; fidelity to one's promise, oath, allegiance, etc.: He was the only one who proved his faith during our recent troubles. 8. Christian Theology. the trust in God and in His promises as made through Christ and the Scriptures by which humans are justified or saved.

It is just simply what keeps you going in your beliefs.

[Vteckidd]

Well Prove it didnt happen? Or name another book that proves facts or truth or proficies centuries in advance.. You cant. Also the Bible is not one book. It is 66 books written over 1500 years and they all back up each other. From authors that never knew the other authors. Even on different continents. So you writing one book with 4 facts in it is not the same thing at all. More like You writing a book and 60 other people writing other books up until the year 3509, and each and every book matches up and verifys the other information 100%.

oh come on you know what i mean.

I dont think this proves anything...... i mean not to the scientific mind. Sure to people of FAITH they BELIEVE thats the whole point.

How do you KNOW that no other author knew someone else? how did the bible come together?

answer me that

[Kevykev]

i dont really condone christianity but i thought it was an ok read took up some time haha

No doubt, it does some take time to read, props for ding that. That's what i posted it for, I don't have any shady objectives Just posting something worth sharing nah mean?

[AirMax95]

Can't prove either side, give it a rest.

[Vteckidd]

A. The Sun

In contrast to the Qur'an, the Bible teaches that the sun is actually on a circuit through space. Writing of the sun in Psalm 19:6, David said, "Its rising is from one end of heaven, and its circuit to the other end." For many years critics scoffed at this verse, claiming that it taught that the sun revolves around the earth. Scientists at that time thought the sun was stationary. However, it has been discovered in recent years that the sun is in fact on a circuit through space, just like the Bible says.

B. The Shape of the Earth

When the rest of the world believed the earth was flat, Isaiah declared that the world was round… Isaiah 40:22 "It is He who sits above the circle of the earth." The Hebrew word there for circle ["chuwg"] literally means "sphere." When did Isaiah write these words? Between 740 and 680 B.C. That was at least 300 years before Aristotle suggested, in his book On the Heavens, that the earth might be a sphere. Other verses are Proverbs 8:27 and Job 26:10. More than 2,000 years later some people still believed that Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) was going to sail off the edge of a flat planet in 1492!

C. The Suspension of the Earth

Before Isaac Newton discovered gravity Hindus believed that the earth rested on the back of an elephant who stood on the back of a turtle that was swimming in a great endless sea. The Greeks believed that the mythical god Atlas carried the earth on his shoulders. What did the Bible say? In one of the oldest books in the Bible, Job said in Job 26:7, "He [God] hangs the earth on nothing." Scientists did not discover that the earth hangs on nothing until 1650.

D. The Stars

Before the telescope was invented, man was able to number the stars. The Greek astronomer and mathematician Hipparchus (190-120 B.C.) said there were exactly 1,026 stars. The astronomer, and mathematician Ptolemy said there were 1,056 stars. The German astronomer, Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), counted 1,006. The whole thought of the stars being uncountable was contrary to modern science until the invention of the telescope. When Galileo first pointed his telescope to the heavens in 1608, we discovered there were a lot more stars than anybody had ever imagined, just as Jeremiah had said:

Jeremiah 33:22 "The host of heaven [a reference to the stars] cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured." Today, with the help of powerful telescopes and modern satellite photographs, scientists estimate the universe contains approximately 100 billion galaxies containing approximately 200 billion stars each. Carl Sagan (1934-1996), the world famous astronomer, said, "The total number of stars in the universe is greater than all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the planet Earth." (Cosmos, p. 196). That is enough stars for every person alive on planet earth to personally own approximately 2 trillion stars each. Dr. Mark Eastman says, "Counting at a rate of ten stars per second it would take over 100 trillion years. Surely the host of heaven cannot be numbered!"

If you want more of these kinds of amazing scientific insights, check out: answersingenesis.org and icr.org

All that is pretty much made up, and grasping at straws, and interpereting it the way they want it to fit their argument

[Kevykev]

How do you KNOW that no other author knew someone else? how did the bible come together?

answer me that

We all practice faith in one area or another, the validity of a claim can always will be questioned, it all depends on what sector your faith lies in.

[Total_Blender]

Yeah, I'm going to agree with Vteckidd on this one, the Old Testament has a lot of its facts straight as far as people/places, but there is very little proof that the crazier things like the plagues and the parting of the red sea, and the turning of water into wine actually happened.

Theres also no archaeological proof of the existence of Jesus Christ. Nothing excavated from his own lifetime shows any proof of his existence. There are no documents that mention a "Jesus of Nazareth". Your article states the testimony of Josephus Flavius, which has been widely disputed as the original text from Josephus is lost and the only surviving text survives in translation from the 11th century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephu...nium_Flavianum

And the article does not cite the works in which Jesus is mentioned, it only names the authors. Using that logic, I could say Jesus said that you should give me $10 or you'll go to hell, but unless I provide you with a specific scripture you will have to:

A. read the entire New Testament to prove me wrong
B. take my word for it

[SLOWLYbtngU]

I will never place my Faith in man or this world we live in.

For man will falter and surely you will perish with the world....

edit: reps BTW...Jeremiah 17:5... I used to be a youth pastor...

[Vteckidd]

yeah im not saying Christians are wrong, im saying this article still doesnt prove ANYTHING.

and thats my point arguing about religion is stupid , because it is based on ones BELIEFS, you cant question a belief or faith in something.

THATS THE WHOLE POINT

[quickdodge®]

Well Prove it didnt happen?

Proof that it DID happen would be much more vital. There are plenty of indirect proofs that it did NOT occur. There are no pictures, video or anything aside from written word to show that it really DID happen. Later, QD.

[quickdodge®]

you cant question a belief or faith in something.

EXACTLY!!!

Just like a preferential song or movie. Vtecckidd loves him some 50 Cent. I can't stand him so why would I argue to him what my thoughts are? Later, QD.

[Vteckidd]

EXACTLY!!!

Just like a preferential song or movie. Vtecckidd loves him some 50 Cent. I can't stand him so why would I argue to him what my thoughts are? Later, QD.

LOL only you could make the link between God, Jesus, and 50 Cent

[Maniacc]

I have an idea! Let's discuss what compels fucktards like KevyKev to post spam from 5 years ago.

[Kevykev]

I have an idea! Let's discuss what compels fucktards like KevyKev to post spam from 5 years ago.

Or better yet, i can make a Poll asking a question that reads "Should I get offended by a person of your stature calling me a name?"

is the only response you could get from me man.

[§treet_§peed]

Actually Mike, I hate to prove you wrong here, but the burning bush was real. Not exactly a bush, but a natural gas leak. They still exist today. Back then they had no idea what it was, so just like with everything else they called it something. It got the name bush because it resembled a bush. Just saying.

[99hatch]

Proof that it DID happen would be much more vital. There are plenty of indirect proofs that it did NOT occur. There are no pictures, video or anything aside from written word to show that it really DID happen. Later, QD.

haha Pictures and Video. Yeah I dont know why one of the disciples didnt just pick up a video camera and record all of this. Honestly, it does prove alot. Now this article does not prove every single item in the Bible. It just gives you some examples of history in the Bible, specifically the old testament. That all of these prophicies came true. No other religious book can do this. What other way would there be to prove it happened other than written word from 2000 years ago. They did not have a camera.

[Maniacc]

Or better yet, i can make a Poll asking a question that reads "Should I get offended by a person of your stature calling me a name?"

is the only response you could get from me man.

Okay. I'll let you make the poll if I get to choose what forum you post it in.

And also, here's a question: How do you see God?