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The Bible is by far the best selling book of all time, and generations have trusted the Bible. It has guided, encouraged, and comforted millions of people who readily testify to its life-changing impact. It is the cornerstone of Western Civilization and the document upon which our nations Founding Fathers based our Constitution. Its ethical standards have launched freedom movements, and its laws and regulations have guided lawmakers, judges, and jurists by the score. It has inspired great works of music and art, including sculpture, paintings, plays, and movies. Its graphic portrayals of heroes and heroines have captured the imagination of young and old alike.
It is also perhaps the most criticized document in history. Literally thousands of books have been written giving “evidence” that it is not true. Typical of false witnesses, the detractors often contradict each other, and their logic is faulty. Opponents claim that it is “just a book written by men.” Some critics say its main character, Jesus, never lived. Others acknowledge that he lived, but claim he never said what the Bible says he did. Others acknowledge that he lived and that much of what is recorded in the Bible was what he said, but assert that he was not literally raised from the dead. And so it goes. Like the false witnesses at Christ’s trial, “their testimony does not agree” (Mark 14:59).
The best way for you to decide whether you can believe the Bible is to weigh the evidence for yourself. We will begin by answering many of the questions of those people who doubt the Bible, and it will show that there are many valid reasons why the Bible can be believed. I trust when all the evidence and logic have been placed on the scales, you will find the Bible is reliable, trustworthy and 100% believable.
Is the Bible just a collection of stories handed down from generations to generations?
A common misconception people have about the Bible is that it was passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation before it was written, so therefore it must be the words of men and unreliable. Another common misconception is that the Bible is only the “inspired” writing of men—valuable lessons and stirring stories, but still the work of men. If the Bible is man’s writing, then it deserves no more credit or attention than any other great book. In the final analysis, what we believe about the Bible, if it is from God or from man, will determine our attitude about it and to a large part set the spiritual tone for our lives. The truth is that the Bible did not come by the will of man, but holy men of God wrote the very words of God.
Although many people say the Bible was passed down verbally from generation to generation before it was written, there is no proof that actually occurred. All the men who wrote the Bible are long dead, and there are no testimonies from them, or people they spoke with, saying that all they did was to write down the family histories and campfire stories that had come down to them. Can it be proven that the men who wrote the Bible just put oral traditions down on paper? It cannot. So when people say the Bible was passed down from generation to generation, that is just a theory. There is no actual proof that exists to substantiate it.
Are there reasons we should reject the theory that the biblical records were passed by word of mouth for generations before being written? Certainly. Anyone who studies the history of oral traditions knows that details get lost, names and places are forgotten or replaced, and there is a tendency to exaggerate, either for better or worse, such that the good guys become very good and the bad guys become evil incarnate. The Bible is written in a way that indicates it is not just a book of oral traditions. The characters are depicted in ways that are inspiring, heartwarming, true to life, convincing and convicting. They have their good points and their human weaknesses. In reading about them we read about ourselves, because their humanity is so well portrayed in Scripture. Furthermore, the details, place names, and geographical descriptions in the Bible are written with the accuracy of an involved and knowledgeable eyewitness. That eyewitness is God. The richness, depth and historical accuracy of Scripture is in sharp contrast to the exaggerations, inaccuracies, and the shallow and one-dimensional portrayals of characters in legends, folk history, and mythology.
The Bible specifically states that God gave it to men. It says that Scripture is God- breathed:
2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.
If the Scripture is God-breathed, then it did not come out of the mind of man, and that is exactly what the Bible says about itself. Scripture says its prophecy did not come by man’s decision, but that the writers were moved by the Holy Spirit when they wrote.
2 Peter 1:20-21 (20) Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. (21) 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.
To have confidence in the Bible, we must understand that prophecy did not have its origin in the will of man, and thus, it did not have its origin in any traditions that were passed down from generation to generation. Neither was it the accumulated wisdom of a few “inspired” men. The entire Bible is prophecy, either foretelling or speaking forth by revelation. Biblically, “prophecy” is not just telling the future. Prophecy is speaking forth the words that God gives you to speak, and they can be about the past, present, or future. Scripture is clear that no prophecy was the prophet’s own interpretation.
There have always been critics and doubters who said the men who wrote the Bible did not write the Words of God. People say, “all men are fallible, so errors and mistakes must have been a part of the original text.” While it is true that all men are fallible, it is also true that men can do some things right. God carefully chose the men who put His words on paper. He chose “holy men,” men who had dedicated their lives to obeying God. Those men could hear the voice of God and write down what they heard. As to the critic’s assertion that because men wrote the Scripture there must be errors…well, it is usually just a smear to discredit the Bible. There is not one book written by a Bible critic that lists the doctrines or verses that are supposedly corrupted by man’s influence. If there really was a concern that the purity of God’s revelation had been compromised by the mind of man, then there would be book after book written about what was God’s Word and what was man’s influence. The reason those books do not exist is that the charge is not based on fact, it is just an attempt to discredit the Bible.
In Galatia, there were people who stood against the message of the Apostle Paul. The Lord moved Paul to write that it was the Lord who was the author of Paul’s writings. Paul did not get his message from man; he got it by revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Galatians 1:11-12 (11) I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. (12) I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
Paul was not the only writer who got his message by revelation. All the writers of the Bible did. In the case of Moses, the Bible says many times, “the Lord spoke to Moses.” Why question that? If there is a God, cannot He speak with those He created? In fact, if there is a God, it seems certain He would speak to people. Many men who put pen to paper as writers of the Bible made the specific claim that God spoke to them, and there are many accounts of the Lord speaking to them. A partial list of people who the Bible says God spoke to includes: Moses (Ex. 19:3), Joshua (Josh. 1:1), Samuel (1 Sam. 3:11), Solomon (1 Kings 3:11), Job (Job 38:1), Isaiah (Isa. 6:8-13), Jeremiah (Jer. 1:1-19), Ezekiel (Ezek. 1:1-3; 2:1ff), Hosea (Hos. 1:1), Joel (Joel 1:1), Amos (Amos 7:1-9), Jonah (Jonah 4:1-11) and Paul (Gal. 1:11). The testimony of these men and others who wrote the Bible is that they were writing expressly what God said to write.
Not only is there no proof the Bible was passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation before it was written, there is evidence to the contrary. It is obvious that people who lived at the time the Bible was written thought Moses, David, Daniel, etc., were writing the words of God. No one carefully preserves and passes down the word of a lunatic or liar, which is exactly what the authors of the Bible would be if they claimed God was speaking to them if He was not. The fact that the books of the Bible were carefully preserved and passed down from one generation to the next shows that the people who lived when they were written recognized those documents as being true and valuable. There is no indication that the people alive at the time of Moses doubted that God spoke to him. That is why the books of Moses were very carefully preserved as the Word of God.
It is also very clear that people in later generations recognized the fact that God had spoken to their forefathers. Josiah is a good example. He was a king of Judah who reigned some 800 years after Moses. His father, Amon, was an evil king who did not obey the Law of Moses, so Josiah grew up without knowing the Mosaic Law. When Josiah started his reign, the scrolls containing the Law of Moses were found in the Temple and read to him. His reaction was immediate. He ripped the clothing he was wearing, an oriental sign of distress, and sent to Huldah the prophetess to find out what to do. Josiah was worried because he knew the words that were read to him were God’s commands, not just “Moses’ wisdom” (2 Kings 22). Josiah did not take the attitude, “It is unfortunate we have missed out on the wisdom of Moses for so long, after all, Moses was such a learned individual.” Josiah, rightly, knew that it was God’s Word and God’s commands that had been lost, and he was concerned about the wrath of God that would come upon his kingdom because he and the people had been disobedient to His laws. Regrettably, people today are so convinced the Bible is “man’s words and man’s wisdom” that they feel completely comfortable ignoring it.
Jesus Christ believed God spoke to Moses and other people who wrote Scripture. He openly stated it is God’s Word. Surely he would not have said that if he believed the Bible was just the accumulated wisdom of some great men. Jesus also said the Word of God was true (John 17:17). He did not say it had contradictions or errors.
Although Moses lived some 2,500 years after Adam, almost 1000 years after the flood, and almost 500 years after Abraham, that does not mean what he wrote was passed down to him by word of mouth from earlier generations. God is eternal, He was an eyewitness of all the events on earth throughout history, and has a perfect memory. Therefore God is exceptionally well qualified to speak to a man who then wrote down what He said. Furthermore, God would get all the details correct—something evident in the biblical text but not something we would expect if the Bible were the product of accumulated folklore and stories passed down from generation to generation. Many critics of the Bible either do not believe there is a God or think that God would not speak to people, so they conclude that men authored the Bible. Their conclusion is wrong. God does exist. Furthermore, God created man to fellowship with Him, so it makes perfect sense for God to speak with men and women.
Does the fact that the Bible was written by revelation mean that there were no stories passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth or in other writings? Not at all. The great events described in the Bible would have been told and retold, and even inspired folklore and legends. Of course, the vast majority of these are lost to us. However, some were preserved (with a significant loss of accuracy) in the writings of other cultures. For example, many ancient cultures have a flood story. It is vital to understand, however, that there is a big difference between admitting there were stories passed down from generation to generation, and claiming that the writers of the Bible used these stories as the basis for their work. If anything, what God told the holy men to write would have confirmed or corrected things that had come down to people by word of mouth.
People who say the Bible is only a collection of folklore passed down through the generations often try to make this idea easier to accept by saying, “But the Bible is still a good book with wonderful lessons.” Make no mistake, the men who wrote Scripture claimed that God actually spoke to them. The whole Bible is record after record of “the Lord said,” or “the Lord did.” If these records are not true, if the Lord really did not speak to the men who wrote, if the Lord did not put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, or save Noah and his family on the ark, or sustain Israel with manna for 40 years, or dry up the Jordan River so Israel could cross over, or stop the sun for Joshua, or multiply the loaves and fish, or raise the dead, then the Bible is not a “good” book at all—it is a pack of lies, and the men who wrote it were colossal liars. The Bible does not claim to be a book of stimulating stories and inspiring records—it claims to be “truth.” The books of the Bible do not begin with “Once upon a time” or some other cute opening that would let the reader know they are just man’s folklore. They are clearly written as if they happened the way they are recorded.
The Bible makes many claims: claims about its author, God; claims about the men who wrote what God said; claims about events such as the walls of Jericho falling down; claims about salvation and how to obtain eternal life, and claims about the future and how things will be at the end of this world. If these claims are not true or are exaggerations of what really happened, what is left to believe? That the Bible is a book with some nice proverbs and a few insightful parables and stimulating stories? That is not very satisfying or comforting, and it does not make the hard work of learning the Bible even worthwhile. If, on the other hand, the Bible is the Word of God as it claims to be, then it is worth studying, learning, and obeying. Furthermore, if the Bible is in fact the Word of God, then the critics are doing mankind a disservice by causing people to doubt it, and they will be in serious trouble “on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ” (Rom. 2:16).
The Bible is the most unique book in history. Even the circumstances of its being written and what it contains are evidence of the fact that it had one sole author, God. The Bible was written:
By one Author, God, who spoke to many different writers through the ages
By more than 40 different writers
By writers who have vastly different personal backgrounds,
By writers who live in different countries with differing customs, some of whom wrote contemporaneously without being able to access one another’s writing
Over a period of more than 1,500 years
In three languages
In many styles: prose, poetry, allegory, proverb, prayer, judicious interpretation, epistle, sermon, etc.,
Speaking about many controversial issues (which people today can barely agree on)
Producing a finished product that has great continuity and no contradictions.
A sampling of the writers of the Bible who hailed from different cultures, different backgrounds and even different languages includes:
Moses — given the best education in Egypt but who wrote from the desert Samuel — a priest in Israel who was trained in the master-disciple method David — a shepherd who became the king of Israel Amos — a simple herdsman who lived close to the desert of Judea Ezekiel — an Israelite priest who wrote from Babylon Daniel — a captive from Judah who was given the best education available in Babylon Peter — a fisherman from Galilee Matthew — a Jewish tax collector working for the Roman authorities in Galilee Luke — an educated Greek and a medical doctor Paul — a Jewish rabbi who converted to Christianity James — the half-brother of Jesus and the head of the Church at Jerusalem
If you put such diversified people in a room today to discuss the topics in the Bible, which are some of the most controversial topics known to man, you would likely be arrested and charged with inciting a riot. You would most certainly have an argument. The Bible gives right doctrine about highly complex and emotionally charged topics such as marriage and divorce; sexuality and homosexuality; punishments for criminal offences including the death penalty; the nature and causes of good and evil; how to be holy; how to be saved; and much more. Yet students of the Bible have seen over and over that these subjects are discussed with a unity and single-mindedness that could not have been accomplished unless God were in fact its sole author.
Ultimately, whether you believe the Bible is up to you. That is because if you diligently seek God you will find Him. When God makes a promise, you can bet He will keep it. Scripture is clear that if you seek, you will find (Deut 4:29). Of course, seek means seek, and God responds to a serious and diligent effort (Prov. 2:1-6; Matt. 7:7-11). There are millions of Christians on the earth, and each of them has a different story of how he or she came to the faith. History is filled with glowing testimonies of people who sought for the Lord Jesus Christ and whose lives have been touched by him.
You do not need to be “down and out” to find God. All He requires is that you genuinely want to know Him. God and the things of God will not become clear to you if you try to examine them from a distance as if you were considering some object in a store window that you were thinking of purchasing. People who remain distant or just want to know about God so they can “decide” whether to believe and obey Him will never learn the truth about Him. God created the heavens and the earth, and He made the rules. We are God’s creation, He is not our creation. Many people wonder if the Bible is really God’s Word. Jesus Christ gave us clear instructions on how to find out for ourselves if God’s Word is indeed true:
John 7:17
If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.
This verse is very clear: the key to knowing God is choosing to do God’s will. As you begin to obey God, He will reveal Himself and His Word to you. Once you begin to seek and obey God, things about God that were not at all clear become very understandable. God designed things such that obedience is the great key to knowing Him.
John 14:21
Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.
Notice that when someone loves God and obeys Him, then God reveals Himself. But that is not what skeptics and doubters want. They want God to show Himself so they can examine Him and make up their minds whether He is acceptable or not (Matt 12:37-38). Well, the skeptics and doubters did not make the rules. God is the Living God, and He is also the Loving God. He wants a relationship with people, but, like we humans, He wants a relationship with those who honor Him and believe Him. He will not “show up to be examined” by the skeptic. Skeptics often laugh at believers and call them gullible, naive, wishful thinkers, easily fooled, etc., just because these scoffers do not see what the believer sees. This is not new. Christ spoke very openly about the fact that people who do not belong to God cannot “hear” the truth. He told the Pharisees who did not believe in him that they could not hear him because they did not belong to God:
John 8:47
He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you [Pharisees] do not hear is that you do not belong to God.
The critic and the skeptic will never “hear” the words of God. God’s wisdom is for the seeker and the believer. To others it is foolishness, and the Bible is very clear about that:
1 Corinthians 2:14
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
There are a lot of reasons to accept the Bible as the truth, but to the skeptic the idea that “all Scripture is God-breathed” (2 Tim. 3:16) is foolishness. So are miracles, healings, prophecies, and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Scripture tells us these things will be foolishness to the unbeliever, so believers should not be surprised when the skeptics doubt. The first step toward really understanding the things of God, and the most important step anyone can take, is to get saved and receive God’s gift of everlasting life. Since salvation is the first step most people take toward God, He has made the instructions clear and the way easy:
Romans 10:9
That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Salvation is very important, so we must be sure we understand God’s instructions. To be saved, you must confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. What does that mean? It means that you say what the Bible clearly declares; that Jesus is Lord, i.e., that he is the Son of God who died for your sins, was raised from the dead and highly exalted to the right hand of God. Have you ever opened your mouth and said, “Jesus is Lord”? Why not say it right now? Just say, “Jesus is Lord.”
Once you have said with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, Romans 10:9 goes on to say you are to believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. That is not difficult to do if you believe in God. If God can create entire galaxies, then surely he can give new life to a dead body. Once you have confessed with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believed in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you are saved. Salvation is very easy to attain because God wants everyone to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4).
The Bible is…
While critics of the Bible assert it is untrue and imperfect, the Bible asserts that those who hear and obey it are blessed (Luke 11:28). The Word of God is:
God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16)
True (John 17:17)
Holy (Rom. 7:12)
Righteous (Psa. 119:172)
Perfect (Psa. 19:7)
Living (Heb. 4:12)
Enduring (1 Pet. 1:23)
Eternal (Psa. 119:89)
Flawless (Psa. 12:6)
Sure (Psa. 19:9)
Active (Heb. 4:12)
Healing (Psa. 107:20)
Useful (2 Tim. 3:16)
Wonderful (Psa. 119:129)
An encourager (Rom. 15:4)
A source of peace (Psa. 119:165)
A source of wisdom (Psa. 119:98)
A source of hope (Rom. 15:4)
The joy of my heart (Psa. 119:111)
Trustworthy (Psa. 19:7)
Right (Psa. 33:4)
Near (Rom. 10:8)
A counselor (Psa. 119:24)
Seed (Luke 8:11)
Not chained (2 Tim. 2:9)
Not burdensome (1 John 5:3)
A light for your path (Psa. 119:105)
More precious than gold (Psa. 19:10)
Sweeter than honey (Psa. 19:10)
The sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17)
Sharper than any double-edged sword (Heb. 4:12)
Exalted above all things (Psa. 138:2)
Conclusion
God created mankind because He wanted a family to love and be with for all eternity. Because of His desire for a loving family, God wants all men to be saved and learn the truth (1 Tim. 2:4). However, He does not force Himself on people. He gave mankind freedom of will so that everyone is free to choose to love and obey God or to walk away from Him. In order to show Himself to people as a loving God, He gave His Word as a guidebook and as a testimony of His goodness and love. Furthermore, He has moved powerfully in history and in people’s lives to reveal Himself.
Millions of people have responded to God’s love and have given their lives to Him by accepting everlasting life through Christ and by being obedient to His Word. However, millions of others have not accepted the Word of God and doubt or even scoff at the thought that the Bible has been authored by God and is His guidance for mankind. Yet the evidence is clear: men could not have written the Bible. More than 40 men, writing over a period of some 1500 years, could never have agreed on the important and controversial topics covered in the Bible. Those who came after them would not have worked so hard to accurately preserve a book that was known to contain false statements, especially invented histories and false claims about “talking with God.” Men could not have written about history so accurately, and men did not have the knowledge to record the scientific information that appears in the text of Scripture. Furthermore, men could certainly not have foretold the future clearly and accurately time after time as the Bible does.
The facts are clear to those with eyes to see and ears to hear. The Bible says it is “the truth,” “God-breathed,” and written “by revelation.” It “never had its origin in the will of man,” but “holy men” wrote as they were moved by God.
The Bible:
It is a book that will work wonders in every life, here and hereafter, if acted upon and obeyed in faith and sincerity. It is God’s inspired revelation of the origin and destiny of all things, written in the most simple human language possible so that the most unlearned can understand and obey its teachings.
It is the book that reveals the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts binding, its histories true, and its decisions immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and 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. Here heaven is opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good is its design, and the glory of God its end.
It should fill your memory, rule your heart, and guide your feet in righteousness and true holiness. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully, meditatively, searchingly, devotionally, and study it constantly, perseveringly, and industriously. Read it through and through until it becomes part of your being and generates faith that will move mountains. The Bible is a mine of wealth, a source of health and a world of pleasure. It is given to you in this life, will be opened at the Judgment, and will stand forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the least to the greatest of labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.
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