Why You Should Believe the Bible

What exactly is the Bible?

The Bible is the collected writings of people who knew God over many centuries. But more than that, as Christians we understand that God has spoken through these people.

Some Bible books recite what God has done in people's lives—like 1 and 2 Kings. Other books, like Isaiah, show God speaking directly to us through the voice of a prophet. Isaiah doesn't just reflect for God, and God actually speaks through him. And the New Testament Gospel writers have Jesus speaking directly to us.
on his personal experiences with God. He speaks 

How did the Bible come about?

Centuries ago, Jews and Christians had to settle which writings were inspired by God and which weren't. But there were many more writings floating around than we now have in our Bible.

The Jewish community met about A.D. 90 to decide which writings were authoritative. The books of Moses? No question. The great prophets? No debate. But other books were discussed more. The collection of writings that was selected is what we now call the Old Testament.

Christians had a harder time coming up with the New Testament, because early Christianity was an underground movement; Christians couldn't even hold public meetings until the 4th century. But 2nd-century bishops (overseers of groups of churches) were already writing to individual churches saying, "Read these books, don't read those books"—even before there was an "official" New Testament. So, there were already books considered authentic and books considered fraudulent.

How did the church decide which books were authentic and which were frauds?

It boils down to two issues: historical credibility and spiritual benefit.

Historical credibility simply means asking, "Does an apostle—one of the 12 disciples or Paul, for instance—stand behind this writing?" Matthew was an apostle, and he was with Jesus, so his book holds a lot of weight. Mark wasn't an apostle, but he worked with Peter, and Peter was with Jesus; that's why Mark's book holds weight.

Many books claimed "apostolic connection," but some of those claims—like the Gospel of Thomas—were fraudulent. Which brings up the spiritual benefit issue. Wise bishops in the early church examined these writings and asked: "Is Thomas really the author? Does this writing reflect the spiritual and theological commitments of the other books?" With the Gospel of Thomas, the answer was "no" on both counts.

Why are there so many translations of the Bible?

Translators want to reflect the original Greek and Hebrew as accurately as they can, but in a way that communicates clearly. It might be that one Greek word really should be translated as three English words.

Some translations, like the New American Standard (NAS), give an almost one-for-one correspondence between Hebrew and English or Greek and English. You can set a NAS right next to a Greek text and follow along quite closely.

But the New Living Translation, on the other hand, attempts to represent the heart and soul of the original languages, even though the sentence structure might be different from the original.

What does it mean to say the Bible is "true"?

Partly, it means the Bible is factual. It successfully and accurately records historical events.

But truth goes beyond accuracy. Something can be true factually, but have no real significance. I could tell you how many buttons are on the shirt I'm wearing right now, but who cares?

The Bible has real significance. When I say the Bible is true, I'm saying it explains life in a way that is beyond question. The Bible says something profound about human experience.

Does modern science disprove Bible miracles like the crossing of the Red Sea and Jesus' resurrection?

No, although many people are critical of the Bible because it records events that seem fantastic, the stuff of fairy tales. But I think this discussion is less about what the Bible records than about our beliefs concerning the nature of reality.

Most people believe in a God. Most people believe God was involved in the creation of the world. And most people would say God is bigger than the world itself. So why are they skeptical of supernatural events?

If God created the world, doesn't it make sense that he'd be interested in what goes on in the world? And if God is bigger and more powerful than all creation, and he steps into the world, wouldn't people be dazzled by what he does? Fantastic events are possible. Miracles can happen. You can't just disqualify them.

What sets the Bible apart from other great religious writings?

Christians believe the Bible is unique for a number of reasons. The problem is, most of those reasons only work for Christians; they're not very convincing reasons to non-Christians.

Take personal experience, for instance. Throughout the history of the Church, the Bible has had the power to transform lives. But Islam makes the same claim about its scriptures, the Qur'an.

Another "proof" I often hear is, "Jesus fulfilled so many Old Testament prophecies that it couldn't be an accident." If you use that in your high school classroom, you'll get hammered, because skeptics will just rearrange the timeline. The Old Testament prophesies that the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem; non-Christians will say that after Jesus was born, Matthew added Bethlehem to his book to make sure the prophecy was fulfilled.

Here's something about the Bible that I think holds water with non-Christians: The Bible wasn't put together in secret; it was a very public process. People have been able to closely examine its claims all along, even to this day. And Christians welcome that kind of scrutiny, because we know our Bible can