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Is The Bible Really The Word Of God?

Throughout the centuries, various skeptics have sought to discredit the Bible as the Word of God. Let us ask ourselves this question: “How can we be certain that the Bible is really the Word of God?” In this short article, let us consider the following thoughts along with related secular documentation and Scripture:

1) The Bible is a perfectly conceived document — There are over two hundred separate compositions in the Bible, counting the Psalms. A span of more than 1,500 years separates the writing of the first book (Genesis, by Moses) from that of the last (Revelation, by John). More than forty individuals had a hand in the writing, most of whom lived in different places at different times, and never met any of the other writers. If the Bible does not represent supernaturally inspired authorship, how else can we explain its consistency over that long period of time, with many hands involved in its writing and preservation? There is only one logical explanation — Almighty God is its Author (Hebrews 1:1-2 – NKJV; cf. Romans 16:25-26 – NKJV; Ephesians 1:3-11 – NKJV).

2) The Bible is historically flawless — In the recording of secular events, the Bible accurately describes those events in every detail. For centuries, the Bible has been used as a sourcebook by archaeologists, because it tells of nations, cities, and people known only because the Bible revealed their existence and location. For example, the Hittites were a forgotten people until the second half of the nineteenth century. In 1832, the Hittite capital of Boghazkoy (located in Turkey) was discovered by Charles Texier. More than 10,000 clay tablets have been unearthed from the site. The evidence gathered from this site not only has significantly advanced Hittite studies, but has confirmed the Bible’s account of their existence (cf. Genesis 23:1-20).

3) The Bible has never been successfully challenged — We’ve all heard people say, “The Bible is full of contradictions.” The simplest way to answer one who expresses this view is to hand him or her a Bible and say, “Show me one.” Yes, there are slight differences in the details where an event is described by two Bible authors, just as two artists painting the same landscape will not paint it exactly alike. One sees things the other does not see, or omits details the other uses. But that is not the same as a contradiction. There are no so-called conflicts between Bible authors when their inspired writings come under close scrutiny.

4) The Bible never argues in its own behalf as being valid — The inspired writers simply state factual accounts and move on. When miraculous happenings are recorded, there are no explanations of how these things took place; we just learn that they occurred. A human author would likely have tried to present all sorts of evidence to support his views, but God just tells us exactly what He wants us to know, no more and no less, and then leaves it to us either to believe or to disbelieve (cf. Acts 14:4 – NKJV; Acts 17:32 – NKJV; Acts 28:24 – NKJV).

5) The Bible does not try to make its characters look good — Although the Scriptures present numerous individuals as examples of faith (Hebrews 11:1-40), it always displays these people in a very human light. We hear of the steadfastness of Abraham (Hebrews 11:8-10), but we also see instances where he was willing to sacrifice his wife’s virtue to save his own neck (cf. Genesis 20:1-18). We have David described as “the man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22 – NKJV; cf. 1 Samuel 13:14 – NKJV), but we also see him fall into temptation (2 Samuel 11:1-5 – NKJV). We read of the instability of Peter in the same gospels where his faith is praised (Matthew 26:69-75; Mark 14:66-72; Luke 22:54-62; John 18:15-27; cf. Matthew 16:17-19). It would have been easy to have recorded only the positive qualities of these men, but instead we see them presented as they were — imperfect and in need of a Savior.

6) The Bible tells us everything we need to know, and no more — Although the Scriptures contain the greatest prose and poetry ever composed (the Psalms), and tell the most wonderful stories of God’s amazing love and grace (read the prodigal son story – Luke 15:11-32 – NKJV), not a word is wasted. Unlike a book written for entertainment, adjectives and descriptions are used only when necessary to make a point. For instance, not a word appears to tell us exactly what Jesus looked like (cf. Isaiah 53:2). Why? Simply because God didn’t deem it as being important, so it isn’t recorded. No secular historical book is written in so clear, precise, and direct a manner as the Bible.

We could go on and on listing all sorts of other indicators of the fact that the Bible is what we believe it to be — the complete, inerrant, and inspired Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17 – NKJV). The few indicators that we have listed above will suffice. Let us be sure to mention them to the next Bible skeptic that we run across.