Why We Should Trust The Bible?

Why we should trust the Bible? Is one of the most asked questions since before by various
doubters and even by the infidels or the unbelievers. This honest question must be answered honestly
with both internal and external evidences, not with mere presuppositions.

Everyone must know that that there are various designation of the Bible as a book. It is called
Bible (Luke 4:17); The Old and New Testaments, wherein the Old testament deals with the record of the
calling and history of the Jewish nation and the New Testament deals with the history and application of
the redemption wrought by the Lord Jesus Christ.; The Law and The Prophets; The Bible called “
Scripture of Scriptures” ( Mark 12:10; 15:28; Luke 4:21; John 2:22; 7:38; 10:35;Romans 4:3; Galatians
4:30; II Peter 1:20; Matthew 22: 29; Acts 17:11; II Timothy 3:15; II Peter 3:16) ; The Word of God is an
another name given to the Bible, that is doubtless, most significant, impressive and complete ( Mark
7:12, 13; Hebrews 4:12; I Thessalonians 2:13.

I. The Bible As A Divine Revelation Of God

A. Definition of Divine Revelation

Revelation may be defined as a supernatural communication from God to man, either oral or
written. The term is usually understood of a written communication. Horne says “ Revelation is a
discovery by God to man of himself, or of His will over and above what He has made known by the light
of nature or reason”

B. The Reasonableness of Divine Revelation

1. A Divine Revelation is Possible

Granted the existence of a personal God, omniscient and omnipotent, there can be no
insurmountable difficulty to belief in in such a revelation as that claimed for the Scriptures.

2. A Divine Revelation is Probable

Granted the sovereign grace and wisdom of God, it is logical to expect that these would prompt
Him as man’s Creator and Ruler to communicate with man

3. A Divine Revelation is Credible

Granted that a special divine revelation is both possible and probable. It is natural and easy to
believe the one has been given . Human nature is more credulous than incredulous. Thus, in all ages,
mankind has been prone to believe in alleged supernatural revelation. Witness the wide acceptance of
such so-called sacred books as the Koran, the Book of Mormon, Zend-Avesta of the Parsees, Records of
Spiritism, Mrs Eddyra “Science and Health”, “Key to the Scriptures”

4. A Divine Revelation is Necessary.

a. The imperfect light of nature calls for the perfect light of revelation. Nature thrown no light on Trinity,
the atonement, pardon, method of worship, etc. Even the truth to which we arrive by our natural
powers needs divine confirmation and authority when it addresses minds and wills perverted by sin. To
break this power of sin and to furnish encouragement to moral effort, we need a special divine
revelation of the merciful and helpful aspect of the divine nature. While conscience gives proof that God
is a God of holiness, we have not, from the light of nature, equal evidence that God is a God of love.

Reason touches man that, as a sinner,he merits condemnation; but he cannot from the reason
alone know that God will have mercy upon him and provide salvation. His doubts can be removed only
by God’s own voice, assuring him of redemption in Christ’s blood --- the forgiveness of sins according to
the riches of His grace, and revealing to him the way in which that forgiveness has been rendered
possible.

b. The dense ignorance, low morality, and abject helplessness of man in his natural states demands the
illumination, righteousness, and power which the Scriptures reveal and provide. The Babylonians
worshipped nature; Egyptians, animals; the Greeks and Romans magnified passions and powers of men.

c. Man’s spiritual longings require the satisfaction which revelation alone can fulfil: Job 31:35

d. Man needs a final authority for creed and conduct, for faith and practice, which can be had had only
in an authoritative revelation from God.

C. Methods of Divine Revelation

1. Revelation -2 Peter 1:20, 21

Revelation as distinguished from either illumination or inspiration may be defined as that act of
God by which He communicates to the mind of man truth not known before, and incapable of being
discovered by the mind of man unaided. Thus, used it is also to be distinguished from the term
revelation as descriptive of the truth thus communicated. This mode of the divine action in
communicating new truth operated variously by mental suggestion, by external vision, as well as by oral
statement.

2 Peter 1:21 – holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit in what they delivered as
the mind and will of God. ( Matthew Henry Commentary)

2. Illumination – John 16:8; I Cor. 2:13

Illumination as distinguished from revelation and inspiration may be defined as the divine
quickening of the human mind in virtue of which it is enabled to understand truth already revealed. By
“truth already revealed” is meant the truth of the Holy Scriptures.

“What light is to the eyes, illumination is to the mind:” Luke 24:32, 45; Matthew 16:17; I Corinthians
2:10, 14

I Cor. 2:13- the original manuscripts were written “ not in the words which man teacheth , but which
the Holy Spirit teacheth”

John 16:8 – the coming of the Holy Spirit was absolutely necessary to the carrying on of Christ’s interests
on earth: And when He is come , elthon ekeinos. He that is sent is willing of Himself to come, and at His
first coming He will do this, He will reprove, or as the margin reads it, He will convince the world, by your
ministry, concerning sin, righteousness and judgment. ( Matthew Henry Commentary)
3. Inspiration – II Timothy 3:16

a. Definition of Inspiration

 Defined as the operation of the Holy Spirit which renders a speaker or writer infallible in the
communication of truth whether or not previously known.
 Means that special divine influence upon the minds of the Scripture writers in virtue of which
their productions, apart from the errors of transcription and when rightly interpreted, together
constitute an infallible rule of faith and practice.

II Timothy 3:16 – the basis of The Verbal, plenary theory of inspiration or Full Inspiration means that
the very words of Scripture were given by the Holy Spirit, that the writers were not left absolutely to
themselves in the choice of words they should use, but were divinely directed in their selection.

Applies to the original manuscripts of the books of the Bible. (GQ)

-Bible is inspired ( God-breathed). Inspiration , the quality of being “ God-breathed,” refers to the fact
that God supernaturally guided the authors of the Bible to write exactly what He wanted to
communicate. Everything in Scripture is there because that’s what God desired to say to humanity. The
extent of that inspiration is defined by the dual terms verbal and plenary. Verbal means that every word
of Scripture is God-breathed. Every single word, not just the ideas behind the words, is in the Bible
because God wanted it there. . The word plenary means “ complete or full “; when used to describe the
inspiration of God’s Word, plenary means all parts of the Bible are equally of divine origin and equally
authoritative. (GQ)

Note: The Bible translations we have today are the works of scholars who have studied copies of the
original manuscripts, but the doctrine of inspiration does not extend to translations. Most modern
translations are trustworthy, but no one translation is divinely inspired in the way original manuscripts
are. (GQ)

The verbal plenary inspiration stands in contrast to the belief that only some parts of the Bible
are inspired or that only the thoughts or concepts that deal with religion inspired. Verbal plenary
inspiration is essential characteristic of the Word of God, as His words reveal who He is and what He has
done for us through Christ John 5:39-40; Acts 8:35).

(Revelation concerns the discovery of truth; Illumination the understanding of truth; Inspiration the
communication of truth)

II. The Biblical Doctrine of Divine Scriptures

A. The Doctrine of God- no other book of religion or philosophy sets forth so profound, rational and all-
sphered a doctrine of God

B.The Doctrine of man

C. The Doctrine of Salvation

III. The Canon of the Bible

A. Definition of Canon

The word canon comes from the root word “reed” (English word “cane”; Hebrew form “ganeh”
and Greek “Kanon”). The reed was used as a measuring rod and eventually meant “standard.”

The word “canon applied to Scripture means “an officially accepted list of books”

Note: The church did not create the canon or books included in what we call Scripture. Instead, the
church recognized the books that were inspired from their inception. They were inspired by God when
written. ( Evidence that demands a verdict)

B. Tests of A Book For Inclusion in The Canon

There were basically five guiding principles used to determine whether or not a book is canonical or
Scripture. Geisler and Nix record these five principles:

1. Is it authoritative? – did it come from God ? (does this book with a divine “ thus saith the Lord”?)

2. Is it prophetic? – was it written by a man of God ?

3. Is it authentic? – [The fathers had the attitude of “if in doubt throw it out” policy. This enhanced the
“validity of their discernment of canonical books.”]

4. Is it dynamic? – did it come with the life-transforming power of God?

5. Was it received, collected, read and used? – was it accepted by the people of God? (ETDAV)

C. Proofs of The Canon of Scriptures

a. External Proofs

1. It’s place in Literature

There are works, covering almost all the great literary writers, devoted especially to showing
how much the Bible has influenced them. (ETDAV)

The historian Philip Schaff ( The Person of Christ, American Tract Society, 1913) vividly describes its
uniqueness along its Savior:

“This 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, great men of ancient and modern times” (ETDAV)

2. Historical Testimony

From I Samuel through II Chronicles one finds the history of Israel, covering about five centuries.
The Cambridge Ancient History, ( Vol.I,p.222) says: “ The Israelites certainly manifest a genius for
historical construction, and the Old Testament embodies the oldest history writing extant” ( ETDAV)
3. Its Preservation and Survival

It is so amazing to know how the Bible is preserved by God and did survived through time, persecution
and criticism.

Written on material that perishes, having to be copied and recopied for hundreds of years
before the invention of the printing press, did not diminish its style, correctness nor existence. The Bible,
compare with other ancient writings, has more manuscript evidence than any ten pieces of classical
literature combined.

The Bible withstood vicious attacks of its enemies as no other book. Many have tried to burn it,
ban it and “outlaw it from the days of Roman emperors to present-day Communist dominated
countries”

H. L. Hastings, cited by John W. Lea, has forcibly illustrated the unique way the Bible has
withstood the attacks of infidelity and skepticism:

“Infidels for eighteen hundred years have been refuting and overthrowing this book, and yet it stands
today solid as a rock. Its circulation increases, and it is more loved and cherished and read today than
ever before. Infidels, with all their assaults, make about as much impression on this book as a man with
a tack hammer would on the Pyramids of Egypt. When the French monarch proposed the persecution of
the Christians in his dominion , an old statesman and warrior said to him, Sire, the Church of God is an
anvil that has worn out many hammers.’ So the hammers of the infidels have been pecking away at this
book for ages, but the hammers are worn out, and the anvil still endures. If this book had not been the
book of God, men would have destroyed it long ago. Emperors and popes, kings and priests, princes and
rulers have all tried their hand at it; they die and the book still lives.” (ETDAV)

4. Argument from the philosophy or nature of the case.

The proposition may be stated: The Bible is the history of redemption of the race, or from the side of the
individual, a supernatural revelation of the will of God to man for their salvation. But it was given to
certain men of one age to be conveyed in writing to other men in different ages. Now all men
experience difficulty in giving faithful reflections of their thoughts to others because of sin, ignorance,
defective memory and inaccuracy always incident to the use of language.

5. Testimony from Archaeology

During the last half of the nineteenth century, archaeological research in the Bible lands has
enabled us to bring forth much testimony for the credibility and authority of the Old Testament. These
archaeological discoveries, the fruit of the pick-axe and the spade, include such things as inscriptions on
rocks or temple walls, statues, obelisks, pavement slabs, clay tablets, papyrus rolls, coins, seals, pottery,
and other objects, dug up out of the old buried cities of the past, and now preserved in the great
museums of London, Paris, Constantinople, Berlin, New York, and other cities of the world. All the recent
discoveries in Egypt and other Bible lands, which have any relation to Scripture, speak with one united
voice, testifying to the accuracy of the statements of Bible.

6. Its adaptability
While the Bible had its beginning in infancy of the human race and the latest contribution to it was made
at least eighteen centuries ago, its message is as vital and applicable to human life and experience of the
present as at any time in the past. It is the Book for young and old, rich and poor, lofty and lowly , wise
and unwise---for all who need