With so many conflicting claims to truth vying for our trust, how do we sort through the clamor and ultimately land on the right one—the only one on which we can confidently bank our lives and our eternal destiny?
When my faith starts to wobble, it helps to be reminded of a few facts about the reliability of the Bible.
# 1. The Bible has been accurately preserved for thousands of years.
No other ancient document has as much physical evidence supporting its reliability. Just one example was the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 which verified over a thousand years of scriptural accuracy.
# 2. The Bible contains a consistent message.
What are the odds of 40 different people on three continents—most of whom lived at different times and didn’t know each other, writing over a period of 1500 years—all in agreement?
I love how author Kathy Howard puts it:
“All the individual books and stories within the Bible join together to tell us one big story. From Genesis to Revelation we read the golden thread of God’s rule, reign, and redemptive purposes. Jesus is present from the first story until the last. We call this God’s Big story or the ‘meta-narrative’ of Scripture. The presence of this meta-narrative proves God’s design, control, and intent. It shows us that we can trust what God has preserved for us.”
https://www.kathyhoward.org/3-reasons-we-can-trust-the-bible/ (by Kathy Howard)
# 3. The Bible has a perfect track record of fulfilling prophecy.
Astrophysicist Hugh Ross reveals stunning mathematical odds for the Bible’s uniqueness in accurately foretelling specific events in detail, far in advance of their occurrence. He states that of the approximately 2,500 prophecies in the Bible, about 2,000 have already been fulfilled to the letter—no errors.
He goes on to say, ”The remaining 500 or so reach into the future and may be seen unfolding as days go by. Since the probability for any one of these prophecies having been fulfilled by chance averages less than one in ten (figured very conservatively) and since the prophecies are for the most part independent of one another, the odds for all these prophecies having been fulfilled by chance without error is less than one in 102000 (that is 1 with 2,000 zeros written after it)!”
For more astounding details, see: https://reasons.org/explore/publications/articles/fulfilled-prophecy-evidence-for-the-reliability-of-the-bible (by Hugh Ross)
#4. The Bible documents overwhelming evidence of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This is one of my favorites when I’m feeling rattled by doubts. Jesus Christ fulfilled over 300 specific prophecies from scripture. All of them! And during his time on earth, Jesus told his disciples that he would suffer and die, and then rise again.
Here are a few historically documented facts:
- Jesus was a real person who lived and was crucified.
- The people who wrote about him in the gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) were eyewitnesses, and/or living at the time.
- Even his enemies acknowledged that his dead body had been in the tomb and three days later it was gone.
- Over 500 witnesses saw him alive over the next 40 days.
- Ten of his disciples willingly died as martyrs for their faith.
#5. God has given us his Word because he wants us.
Remember the big picture. The Bible has been given to us to help us come to know him as our savior and Lord, to strengthen our faith, and to equip us with everything we need for our journey.
This is God’s love letter to you. Ask him to help you understand his truth every time you read it. He loves you more than you can imagine. And his love is reliable! 💜
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Books to consider:
The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel
Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell and Sean McDowell
