Before we get into some of the facts and reasons you should believe the Bible, I want to express what convinced me. I had read and been exposed to the Bible for most of my life, but it wasn’t until later in my life that I finally really believed it was the inspired Word of God. I mean, who is going to believe that the world was created? All the teachers I ever had in science had taught evolution as a fact and there was no way to take the Genesis account of creation and fit it into an evolutionary mold (see Creation vs. Evolution).
I am actually a scientist and my field is not the biological sciences, but the hard sciences (chemistry). I am trained in the scientific method so I had no problem studying evolution from this point of view and I discovered that evolution is the only explanation that could make any sense at all if you excluded God from the equation. Even with this observation, evolution has huge holes in it and new evidence has a tendency to punch more holes in it. It is full of rationalizations and justifications that sound more like whistling in the dark than real scientific fact. This made me realize that evolution is a belief, not scientific fact. This supported my observation that the world is so complex and interconnected, that for things to happen by chance, was impossible, no matter how many years you apply to the problem. Once I realized this, the whole Bible came together and made perfect sense. So creation vs. evolution was holding me back from accepting what was right in front of my face, God is speaking to me through a book that took over a thousand years to write and it is the method He chose to speak to mankind.
The following was derived from a lecture presented by Charles Swindoll on belief in the Bible.
What is your foundation in life? I mean, when you’re out of ideas, life is throwing curve balls and you're forced to face reality, what do you turn to? Think about it for a minute, think past your first reaction, what really do you really rely on? When it comes to knowing what is right or wrong, good or bad, helpful or harmful? What do you use as your GPS to get through life?
I have found that there is no more reliable or practical source on earth than God's Word, the Bible. This timeless, trustworthy source of truth gives us a way to understand all the ‘whys’ of life. God’s Word has provided millions over thousands of years the reference point to live life by.
So much for my experiences, the question still stands, Why should we believe the Bible?
God's Word Is Truth
"Your word is truth," Jesus said as He prayed to God the Father (John 17:17). Truth, real truth, truth you can rely on, truth that will never shrivel up or turn sour, truth that will never backfire or mislead, that's the truth in the Bible. That is what the Bible is about.
God's Book Is God's Voice
Scripture is "God's message." It is, in fact, "God's Word." The apostle Paul testified clearly to that truth in his first letter to the Thessalonians:
For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. (1 Thessalonians 2:13)
Think of it this way: The Bible is God’s way of speaking to us. If you are waiting for the sky to part and a big head tell you what to do, you are going to be waiting a long time. God has put down his message to us, His opinion, His counsel, His commands, His desires, His warnings, His heart and His mind in the Bible. He has used just about every literary form and example in the Bible to reach us.
God's Word Will Endure
Do you realize there are only two things on earth that will last forever? People (yes, you are made of eternal stuff) and God's Word. Everything else will ultimately be destroyed - everything else. Kind of sets your priorities straight, doesn't it? The stuff we place on the shelf or in the bank or live in, the things we love to show off, the things we're so proud of – it will all be gone someday (even the pyramids of Egypt are decaying). But not God's Word! Peter reminds us that the truth "stands forever" (1 Peter 1:25). Grass will grow and then it will wither; flowers will bloom and then they will die. But God's written message, the truth, will abide forever. All His promises will be fulfilled. His redemptive truth cannot be annulled or changed. His powerful Word will accomplish what He desires and achieve the purpose for which it was sent (Isaiah 55:10-11).
God's Word Is Inspired.
So how can anyone get so excited about something that was written by a bunch of people over hundreds of years? We have no problem with God knowing and giving truth. He gave it . . . but was the truth corrupted when He relayed it to earth through the hands and minds of imperfect men?
O.K. now we scare away most of you who have read this far, we are going to define some “spiritual” words. The three terms we need to define are: revelation, inspiration, and illumination. Revelation occurred when God gave His truth. Inspiration occurred when the writers of the books of the Bible received and recorded His truth. Today, when we read, understand and apply His truth, that is illumination.
The critical issue - your confidence in the Bible - is directly related to your confidence in its inspiration. How then can we be sure that the Bible is free from error, absolutely true, and deserving of our complete trust? Paul provides great help in answering this question:
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
(2 Timothy 3:16-17)
So if you have read some of the criticisms of the Bible, you will have seen what people like to say are errors and inconsistencies within the Bible. This didn’t seem to bother Paul, even though the scriptures he was speaking of had many of these “errors” and he was a student of the scriptures (he was trained in the scriptures even before Jesus called him). There are many arguments that can be made, but for me, I haven’t found anything that 1) that was of any import that would impact God’s message, and 2) that couldn’t be explained by some unique circumstances. I trust God to reveal to me what he wants me to understand and I don’t sweat it if I don’t understand everything. In fact, just doing what I know I should do is plenty to keep me busy!
How did God speak to the writers of the Bible, did they just hear a voice and wrote down what he said?
If you know much about the Bible, you realize that it was written by many different people with many different personalities. Peter doesn't sound like John; Luke doesn't sound like David. Somehow each writer's personality was preserved without corrupting the message with human weakness and error. So I guess it wasn’t dictation.
So how did God cause this to happen? Second Peter 1:21 says: "For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God."
The English phrase moved by is translated from an ancient Greek nautical term (phero) describing ships at sea. A sail boat moves by the force of the wind, not under its own power. That's the word used here. The writers raised their sails, and the Holy Spirit filled them and they were "moved by" Him to write His Word.
God's Word Will Hold You Up
So our conclusion is this - the Bible contains a completely dependable, authoritative, inspired text that came from God. The question each of us must ask ourselves is this: Can I rely on it, especially when I am in trouble? My answer, and I pray it is your answer, is absolutely and unreservedly! The wonderful thing about relying on God's Word is that it gives you something to build your life on, it is stable. It tells of the good news (Gospel) of Jesus Christ that gives us purpose, hope, truth and a relationship with God. No other counsel will get you through the long haul. No other truth will help you stand firm in the storms of doubt and uncertainty. No other reality will give you strength for each day and deep hope for tomorrow. No other instruction has the power to give new meaning to your life.
