I don’t want anyone’s faith to be blind faith, and neither did the Bible writers. Peter said, “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Peter 1:16).The Word of God places some heavy demands on the lives of its followers, and honestly one should make sure the book is true. To that end, there are many legitimate reasons to believe the Bible, which you need to carefully consider.
1. Miracles occurred which were confirmed by credible eyewitness testimony written within its pages (Mark 16:20; John 21:24; Acts 1:3; 2:22; 1 Corinthians 15:3-8).
2. It holds the same message without contradiction even though it was written over 2,000 years ago (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
3. Unlike other religions and writings, the authors of the Bible refused glory for themselves. One example is in 1 Corinthians 1:10-14, when Paul condemned the Corinthians by glorifying the apostles who converted them. There’s also the gospel of John, who simply referred to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 21:20-24) to draw attention away from himself and to Christ.
4. Their beliefs, which were based from the pages of the New Testament, led them to do good works amidst persecution, as seen in 1 Peter 2:12.
5. The prophecies of numerous prophets living in different periods of time and different places of the Old Testament came to pass in Jesus’ life (e.g. Isaiah 53:1-12; Micah 5:2-5).
6. Failures of heroes of the Bible, both men and women, are recorded rather than avoided (e.g. David’s sin with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11-12). This showed that even the Word of God wasn’t partial to some of its most admired characters — contrary to other religions’ actions, even today.
7. All the New Testament writers agreed in their writings regarding the words of Christ and His will. One can find an example of Peter’s agreement with Paul in 2 Peter 3:15-16.
8. Geographical accuracy is evident in the Bible (e.g. Acts 8:5; Galatians 1:17-18). This means the writers were familiar with where they wrote. They were not hundreds of years and far distances removed from the events they wrote about.
9. Isaiah mentions Cyrus by name in prophecy (Isaiah 44-45) and describes what he would do almost a hundred years before he was born.
10. Whenever the Bible’s historical accuracy is questioned, it always proves itself true. One example is in the case of Herodotus, who claimed Egypt never had grapes, contrary to what Moses wrote (Genesis 40:11). The words of Herodotus were later proven false by archeological findings.
11. The Bible is scientifically accurate. One example is that it states in Job 26:7 that the Lord “hangs the earth on nothing”. If you turn your telescope due north, there’s nothing but a vast void. Job knew this thousands of years before scientists discovered the fact. Additionally, the shape of the earth is revealed in Isaiah 40:22. For centuries, man believed that the stars numbered just over 1,000. It’s now suggested that over 25 sextillion stars exist (Jeremiah 33:22). The sanitation laws of Leviticus 11-15 (such as not eating animals that die naturally, not eating scavenger animals, burying human waste, etc.) that God put into place still help us avoid disease and death. Lastly, life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11). It wasn’t until 3,000 years later that man discovered that blood carried oxygen throughout the body.
12. The Bible is written to anticipate the erroneous doctrines of our day and provide an answer. An example is the Catholic doctrine of the Pope. Catholics believe that Peter was the first Pope, yet the Pope can’t be married. The Scripture distinctly states Peter was married according to Matthew 8:14-15 and 1 Corinthians 9:5. Thus, the false doctrine falls flat.
13. The Bible contains 66 books written by 40 different writers who spoke three different languages, lived in various nations, and at different times. Yet through it all, the Bible is in harmony with its own message. This accomplishment would be theoretically impossible if it were merely the product of men. The Scriptures are the most unique of writings. They were meticulously crafted to instill belief. John 20:30-31 says, “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name”.The true question is, will you choose to believe the Bible? It has been an “implanted word” for millennia (James 1:21). You need to be one who “looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it” (James 1:25). Why? Because there’s tremendous power in its pages (Romans 1:16).
Ethan Jennings