Tagged: truth

Common objections to the Bible – Part 2

In a previous post, we shared four common objections to the Bible. Here, we respond to four additional objections.

Objection 5: The Bible is full of contradictions.

Response: Not so. Consider these guidelines for dealing with Bible difficulties: 1) logic and reason – examine the Bible like other documents; 2) translation – consider the nuances between various English versions; 3) time – some seemingly contradictory statements are separated by years and must be seen in their proper time frames; 4) context – study the chapters and books in which apparent contradictions occur; 5) sense – words and phrases may be used literally or figuratively; 6) quotations – many Old Testament passages are paraphrased or summarized in the New Testament; 7) perspective – when two or more writers provide separate accounts of the same events, differences in names, numbers, and conversations may be accounted for by each writer’s perspective.

Continue reading →

Common objections to the Bible – Part 1

 

Many who disbelieve the Bible’s claims to be the word of God raise objections. Often, these objections are raised sincerely by people seeking the truth. Whether sincere or not, the objections merit a response. Following are the first of eight common objections. The rest are featured in a future post.

Objection 1: No one really knows what the Bible says because the original manuscripts are lost.

Response: True, the “autographs” no longer exist, but a remarkable number of copies do. No other book from the ancient world has more, earlier, or better-copied manuscripts than the Bible. Nearly 5,800 Greek, 10,000 Latin, and 10,000-15,000 other early versions of the New Testament are in existence, some dating to within a generation of the originals. Compare this with fewer than 1,800 copies of Homer’s Iliad, with the earliest copies dating 400 years after the original.
Continue reading →

Introduction: How do I know the Bible is true?

bible1

Christians generally believe in the reliability and authority of Scripture. But some have doubts, and others raise serious objections to the Bible’s claim to be the Word of God. This study will raise and answer eight of the more common objections, including: No one really knows what the Bible says because the original manuscripts are lost, and the Bible is full of contradictions.

As a preview, here are the eight objections we will address:

  1. No one really knows what the Bible says because the original manuscripts are lost.
  2. The Bible has been copied so many times, with so many variations, there’s no way to know what was originally scripted.
  3. The books of the Bible were chosen arbitrarily by councils of men in highly political processes. As a result, they left out some very good books – perhaps some equally inspired writings.
  4. It’s silly to assume that one book – the Bible – contains all of God’s truth and that other great writings, from the Vedas to the Book of Mormon, do not come from God.
  5. The Bible is full of contradictions.
  6. The Bible can’t be true because it depicts a different God in the Old and New Testaments.
  7. There are so many translations of the Bible today, it’s impossible to know which translation is the right one.
  8. There are so many Christian denominations today, it’s clear that Christians can’t agree on what the Bible teaches.

Watch for a new post each week.

 Copyright 2009 by Rob Phillips

Sound reasons to trust the Scriptures (part 9)

  

This is the final installment of a nine-part series of articles offering sound reasons to believe the Bible is the Word of God.

In Systematic Theology (Vol. I), Dr. Norman Geisler presents many lines of evidence supporting claims for the Bible as the Word of God. In unique fashion, he labels each line of evidence with a word beginning with the letter “S,” making his arguments relatively easy to follow and remember. This article borrows his headings and then incorporates some of Geisler’s research with numerous other sources, which are cited.

Reason 9: The testimony of the saved

  • The Bible’s life-changing power is widely known through the testimony of those who have come to know Christ. The apostle Paul, once known as a Christ-hating persecutor, declared, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek” (Rom. 1:16).
  • The writer of Hebrews declares: “For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide soul, spirit, joints, and marrow; it is a judge of the ideas and thoughts of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).
  • Peter added, “… you have been born again – not of perishable seed but of imperishable – through the living and enduring word of God” (1 Peter 1:23).
  • The celebrated British archaeologist Sir William Ramsay, who began his studies as a skeptic, became a Christian after exploring the sites of Paul’s journeys firsthand and comparing them with the testimony of Acts (“The Historical Reliability of the New Testament,” Craig L. Blomberg, Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics,  p. 220).
  • Testimonies throughout the centuries and in this day speak emphatically and gloriously of the power of God’s Word to bring about a conviction of sin and forgiveness of that sin by faith in Jesus Christ.

Summary

Geisler concludes, “The Bible is the only known book in the world that both claims to be and proves to be the Word of God…. The testimony of science that demonstrates it, of the scrolls that transmit it, the scribes who wrote it, the supernatural that confirms it, the structure that manifests it, the stones that support it, the Savior who verified it, the Spirit that witnesses to it, and the saved who have been transformed by it. These combined testimonies confirm that the Bible is what it claims to be – the divinely inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word of God” (Systematic Theology, Vol. I, p. 561).

Sound reasons to trust the Scriptures (part 8)

This is the eighth in a nine-part series of articles offering sound reasons to believe the Bible is the Word of God.

In Systematic Theology (Vol. I), Dr. Norman Geisler presents many lines of evidence supporting claims for the Bible as the Word of God. In unique fashion, he labels each line of evidence with a word beginning with the letter “S,” making his arguments relatively easy to follow and remember. This article borrows his headings and then incorporates some of Geisler’s research with numerous other sources, which are cited.

Reason 8: The testimony of the Spirit

  • The same Holy Spirit who authored all Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16-17) lives in the hearts of all believers and “testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Rom. 8:16). This means the indwelling Holy Spirit confirms the truth of God’s Word to us.
  • Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit would convince unbelievers of their sin of unbelief, of the righteousness of Christ, and of the judgment they will share with Satan if they persist in their unbelief – all clear teachings of Scripture (John 16:7-11).

Next — Reason 9: The tesimony of the saved.