“It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.” – George Washington
“England has become great and happy by the knowledge of the true God by Jesus Christ. This is the secret of England’s greatness.” – Queen Victoria
“The Bible is more than a book. It is a living being within an action, a power which invades everything that opposes its extension.” – Napoleon
“I have known 95 of the world’s great men in my time, and of these, 87 were followers of the Bible.” – W. E. Gladstone
As Christians, we believe the Bible is inspired by God, the very word of God, without error, the sole infallible rule of faith for all Christian life, practice, and doctrine. The word “Bible” means “the book.” Its very title makes the claim that irrespective of whatever else you read, only the Bible is ‘THE BOOK’ because of its Divine authorship.
2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is God breathed…”
Jesus Himself had this high view of Scripture. In quoting from the book of Genesis, Jesus said, “…have you not read what was spoken to you by God…” (Matt. 22:31)
But… the Bible would say this kind of thing, wouldn’t it?
All religions and cults claim that their sacred book is inspired. Is there any objective evidence we can point to that would show the Bible to be of a supernatural origin, or certainly more than a book filled with the thoughts and opinions of mere mortal men?
Here’s just a couple of evidences that support the Bible’s claim to being the Word of God, so that we can believe it, beyond doubt.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Most of the Old Testament was written 3,000 – 4,000 years ago. The New Testament was written nearly 2,000 years ago. Interestingly, the other major religious books were written about the same time. For example:
The Koran – written approx. 1400-1500 years ago
Buddhist writings – written approx. 2,000 years ago
The Hindu Vedas – written approx. 3,200-3,500 years ago
HISTORICAL SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE
It is important at the outset to remind ourselves that people have not always believed what we now believe about our world. There is no doubt that scientific knowledge has taken giant leaps forward in the last 2,000 to 4,000 years.
Now this is where it gets interesting. If we read the books of other religions, they all show the scientific thinking of their day – thinking that has huge fundamental errors. For example, the Hindu Vedas teach that the earth is held up on the back of four elephants. When this was written, this indeed was the thinking of the day. The earth was a very heavy object and something strong had to be holding it up. The biggest creatures around who could carry the biggest weights were the elephants.. so the scientific conclusion was obvious wasn’t it? .. elephants were holding the world up… and earthquakes occurred whenever the elephants shivered. When they shook, the earth shook. Obviously! Whenever someone asked, “who or what is holding the elephants up?” the answer was “a huge turtle which carries the elephants on its back while it swims in a gigantic lake.”
I think you will agree with me that science has found this claim to be an inaccurate one! The Hindu Vedas got it wrong.
The Hindu Vedas also teaches that the moon is 1500 miles above the sun, and that it (the moon) shines with its own light, and that the earth is flat and triangular in shape. All of these statements have proven to be false scientifically.
As another example, among many that could be quoted here, was the belief of the Greeks, that a man called Atlas held the earth on his shoulders.
Every other religious book contains statements which, when they were written, were accepted as correct, but have since been proved to be incorrect… every religious book, except the Bible. And here’s where it gets exciting; the Bible contains no such nonsense Scriptures. Even though when the Bible was written most people believed these wild theories, there is no mention of them in the Bible whatsoever… no elephant theory.. no turtle theory.. no moon shining with its own light theory.. no earth is flat and triangular theory..
What does the Bible say…?
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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Over the years, R.C. Sproul’s students have asked him countless questions. Now you can read his answers to more than 300 of these questions in Now, That’s a Good Question! Topics include theology, apologetics, the Bible, philosophy, and personal and cultural ethics. While the answers are brief, they all display the depth and breadth of learning, reasonableness, wit, and commitment to God’s Word that characterize R.C.’s approach to teaching and ministry.