Have Confidence In Your Bible 9

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."

John 10:27

This could go on for a long time. I could cite writings of first-century secular historians that confirm what is recorded in the New Testament: the writings of Tacitus, Suetonius, Josephus, Pliny, and Trajan. I could write about the lives of countless men and women who have been transformed by what they have read in the Bible. I could repeat well-documented accounts of men and women who, down the centuries, have put the promises they read in the Bible to the test and found them to be reliable. Many have staked their very lives on those promises. Others, the likes of George Muller who founded orphanages and cared for thousands of children in Bristol in the 19th century, or Hudson Taylor, a missionary to China whose influence on that country was immense, achieved big things only because they relied on the promises they read in the Bible for provision of the resources needed for their work. I could point to men and women whose confidence in the Bible was so strong that they sacrificed their lives so that it could be passed down and made widely available.

We have not yet mentioned the fact that Jesus, the apostles and indeed all the Bible writers quote from and refer to other parts of the Bible as if it speaks with the authority of God Himself. Jesus, Himself God, lived in perfect compliance with the Old Testament. The apostle Paul built a whole case on whether a single word from the Old Testament was singular or plural, such was his confidence that every word is God’s word. In these and many other ways, the Bible itself claims to be the inspired word of God. So much so that John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church, wrote:

"If there be any mistakes in the Bible, there may as well be a thousand. If there be one falsehood in that book, it did not come from the God of truth"

John Wesley, Journal, 24 July 1776

The Bible itself makes so many claims to be the Word of God that if it fails in any one thing then it is not what it claims to be. You cannot have it both ways: either it is an accurate record of the words passed down to man by God Himself or we might as well burn the Bible for it is deceptive throughout. Unless you are prepared to reject it all you cannot reject any part of it.

The Bible:

• Written over 1500 years yet harmonious throughout.

• It has outsold and been translated into more languages than any other book.

• It has been accurately copied and recopied for 2000 years.

• Even in Old Testament times it was transmitted and preserved without loss of accuracy.

• It has been preserved even though many have actively sought to destroy it.

• It is accurate in its predictions.

• It is historically accurate.

• Its accuracy is supported by a considerable body of archaeological evidence.

• It is attested by more manuscript evidence than any other ancient book.

• It is attested by better manuscript evidence than any other ancient book.

• It is supported by the writings of first-century secular historians.

• Its content is contrary to all that you would expect if men had written it.

• It has been an inspiration to countless other writers.

• Its influence on Western culture is immeasurable.

• It has been responsible for changing countless lives.

• Innumerable people have trusted the promises contained in it and found them reliable.

• People have been prepared to make great sacrifices and even to sacrifice their lives, to preserve it.

• The Old Testament is quoted by Jesus and the apostles and recognised by them as the word of God.

• It is either all right or all wrong.

None of those, I grant, is a conclusive argument but when you see them all together will you not agree that it is an entirely reasonable thing to have confidence in your Bible? Every word in the Bible is God’s word: inspired and infallible.

Adapted from Evidence That Demands A Verdict by Josh McDowell. Available to purchase at ICM Books.