Matthew 5:18 For truly I say to you, Till heaven
and earth pass, one stroke or one pronunciation
When one begins reading the Bible, there are
certain questions he is entitled to ask:
- Is the Bible true?
- Can we rely on the Bible?
It is important, since the Bible tells us that it
contains the Word of God; so this will have a
major impact in our daily lives if we accept what
it teaches.
We will try to examine the Bible from the outside
to see if it has exclusive characteristics or if it is
just like any other book.
But before we look at the way it was written, let's
look at what the Bible is saying about itself:
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness: That the man of God may be
perfect, thoroughly furnished to all good works.
2 Peter 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time
by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Isaiah 40:8 The grass wither, the flower fades: but
the word of our God shall stand for ever.
3) External confirmations for the
mark shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be
fulfilled.
1) The redaction of the Bible:
The Bible is a real prodigy in itself by its
characteristics:
- The Bible has not been written by one single
"illuminated" man like all other religions: ex: the
Koran (by Muhammad), Buddhism (by Buddha
"Siddhartha Gautama")
- The Bible began to be written about 3500 years
ago and it was written over a period of 1600 years.
- The Bible is a repertory of 66 books written by
40 different authors (some of them shepherds,
kings, important men, scribes, priests, wise men,
poets, historians, lawmen, a tax collector, a doctor,
and fishermen without instructions)
- The Bible was written on 3 different continents:
Asia, Africa, and Europe.
- Yet the Bible is of stunning unity, its continuity
is incomparable and it does not contain any error
or contradiction. This phenomenon is inexplicable
unless one sees the work of God.
2) The publication of the Bible
- There are 5500 complete scripts of the New
Testament (48-95 after J-C).
- There are 1000 complete scripts of the Old
Testament (1500-200 before J-C).
- It is a lot of manuscripts if we compare it to other
writings like Plato's Tetralogies - 7 manuscripts,
Homer's Iliad (Trojan War) - 643 manuscripts, the
Gallic Wars by Julius Caesar - 10 manuscripts.
- The copyists or scribes, those who copied from
the original biblical texts, were very thorough and
counted all the letters in each page, and if one was
missing, they would redo the entire page.
Bible's accuracy
- The writings of the Bible are confirmed by:
- The testimony of secular historians (i.e. outside
the Bible), the testimony of archaeology, the
testimony of prophecies and the testimony of
statistics.
- The critical study of biblical manuscripts is
confirming the reliability of the Bible. How does
the Bible, a 3500 years old book, can still be
today's global Best Seller?
- The Bible still applies today because it is
addressing man's heart, which in itself, has not
changed.
- The Bible is the most attacked book in the world.
Several have tried to destroy it: Emperors and
kings, governments, nations, authors (Voltaire was
one of those who attempted to discredit the Bible;
ironically, after his death, his house and his press
were used to the print Bibles).
- God takes special care in preserving the scrip-
tures and in spreading them around the world.
4) The Bible's prophetic accuracy
- Throughout its redaction, the Bible has an-
nounced the future from Genesis up to Revelation.
- It is a great risk to write a prophetic book
because if a prophecy does not come true, one
could easily discredit whole thing.
- But have no fear; the Bible's prophecies are
without any flaws since it is God who made them,
and He knows the beginning and the end of all
things.
- God puts even to the challenge anyone to predict
the future with 100% accuracy as He does it.
Isaiah 41:22 Let them bring them forth, and show
us what shall happen: let them show the former
things, what they be, that we may consider them,
and know the latter end of them; or declare us
things for to come.
Isaiah 45:21 Tell you, and bring them near; yes,
let them take counsel together: who has declared
this from ancient time? who has told it from that
time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God
else beside me; a just God and a Savior; there is
none beside me.
Isaiah 45:11 Thus said the LORD, the Holy One
of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come
concerning my sons, and concerning the work of
my hands command you me.
We can acknowledge that of all the prophecies we
can presently verify; everyone of them happened
100% exactly as prophesied up to the slightest
details.
A) We can find many examples on the nations:
- The destruction of Jerusalem and the Jews'
deportation in Babylon: carried out in 586 before
Jesus-Christ by Nebuchadnezzar.
- We even have specific names of individuals 400
years before their birth. As is in the case of king
Cyrus of the Medes and Persians who conquered
several nations and who ordered the reconstruction
of the Temple in Jerusalem.
- The predictions concerning the succession of
kingdoms and nations revealed in Daniel 7 and 8
are so precise that historians have difficulties to
believe that this text was written in the time of
Daniel; but it really was.
- The 2nd destruction of Jerusalem and the
deportation of the Jews in the world: carried out in
the year 70 under the Roman legion directed by
general Titus.
B) There are over 300 prophecies that Jesus-Christ
fulfilled when He physically came on this earth.
- According to the probabilities, there is 1 chance
in 83 billion that so many predictions would
happen on a single person
Examples on His 1st coming:
- His miraculous birth from a virgin (Isa 7:14; Mt
1:22-23) (predicted 800 years before)
- In Bethlehem (Mic 5:1; Mt 2:5-6) (predicted 740
years before)
- The healing of diseases (Isa 53:4; Mt 8:16-17)
(predicted 800 years before)
- His entry in Jerusalem mounted on a donkey
(Zec 9:9; Mt 21:4-5) (predicted 600 years before)
- The casting of lots for His garments (Ps 22:19;
Mt 27:35; Jn 19:24) (predicted 1000 years before)
- The temple that became a cave of thieves (Isa
56:7; Jer 7:11; Mt 21:13) (predicted 800 years
before)
- The 30 pieces of silver offered to Judas by the
chief priests (Zec 11:12; Mt 26:15; Mt 27:3-10)
(predicted 600 years before)
- The 30 pieces of silver were used to purchase the
potter's field. (Zec 11:13; Mt 27:7) (predicted 600
years before)
Note that these are the very specific things and
that each happened to the last detail.
The prophecies concerning the second coming of
Jesus-Christ will certainly materialize too!
We can read in the book of Revelation to see what
is going to happen: Jesus will come back as the
King of kings. He will judge and fight with
justice. He will rule over the nations with a rod of
iron. (Rev 19:11-21)
5) The power of the Bible
The Bible is a book which transforms lives.
Ask Christians for the testimony of their conver-
sion and you will hear about the transformation
that occurred when the Holy Spirit entered in their
lives. The Bible tells us in 2 Cor 3:3 that every
Christian is like a written letter.
Now if you believe that the Bible is really the
Word of God then you have a choice to make.
The Bible asks that we believe in Jesus Christ and
that we let Him take control of our lives by
obeying to His Word. Read the Bible and put what
you read in practice. You will discover who God
is along with the wonderful message He has for
man.
6) Conclusion
I hope this leaflet has convinced you that the Bible
is not like "any other book" written by men. You
may not yet believe what is in the Bible but, at
least, you have to acknowledge that the Bible has
special characteristics that set it apart from other
books.
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