1. The Bible is God’s word.
What does it mean that the bible’s words are from God?
Fully Inspired
“God-breathed.” This term is used in 2 Timothy 3:16 to describe Scripture. This means that God moved and guided the authors of the Bible as they wrote. At the same time, this process allowed the writers to utilize their own styles and personalities.
Authoritative
The words of the Bible ultimately come from the God who knows everything and who cannot lie. Therefore, it is authoritative in every subject it addresses, whether it is discussing scientific issues, history, geography, or any matter of faith and practice.
Without Error
Since the Bible is the Word of God, and since God cannot make mistakes, then it follows that the Bible does not contain errors. This teaching, known as the doctrine of inerrancy, applies to the original manuscripts.
2. The Bible is Unique & Unified
The Bible is unique among all the books in the world.
Written by over 40 different writers
Including shepherds, kings, priests, scholars, fishermen, and prophets.
Flawed Heroes
Most sacred writings hide the faults of their heroes, but the Bible does not do this. For example, King David committed adultery and tried to cover it up by having the woman’s husband killed.
Written over a span of 1500 years
From three different continents and in three different languages.
The Bible’s message is unified throughout its 66 books.
Genres
The Bible remains unified in its message even though it displays a wide variety of literary styles: Genesis is primarily historical narrative, the Psalms are poetry, and the New Testament contains personal letters and predictive prophecy.
Purposes
The Bible maintains perfect unity despite the fact that its authors had different purposes in writing: Moses traced his people’s history, David composed songs for worship, and Paul
instructed churches to hold on to sound doctrine.
Emotions
The Bible exhibits amazing consistency; still its writers express a broad range of powerful emotions: some Psalms vent intense anger, Lamentations conveys great sorrow, and Romans displays exhilarating joy in God’s salvation.
3. The Bible has been faithfully passed down
Is the Bible just a copy of a copy?
This common objection to the accuracy of the Bible is based on a misunderstanding of how the Bible has been handed down to us. The scribes who copied Scripture took great care in their work. Accuracy was ensured by a number of safeguards, including the counting of the number of letters in a line and on a page. Minor variations exist between certain manuscripts, but thanks to the abundance of early texts and fragments, we can ascertain the original wording in nearly every case.
Amazing consistency across centuries
The discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls in 1947 provides one remarkable example of how faithfully God’s Word has been preserved. The earliest complete Hebrew manuscript of the Old Testament, the Leningrad Codex, dates to the early eleventh century AD. The Dead Sea Scrolls were written more than 1000 years earlier, before the time of Christ. Other than variations in spelling and style, there is extraordinary consistency between these two sources, a fact that contradicts the critics’ claims that the Bible has repeatedly been altered.
4. The Bible contains fulfilled prophecy
The Bible predicted the following details about the messiah, each of which has been fulfilled by Jesus Christ.
Messiah’s Birth
The Bible prophesied that the Messiah would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14). His birth would be in the town of Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). He would be from the line of Abraham (Genesis 22:16-18) through Isaac (Genesis 26:4), Judah (Genesis 49:10), and David (Isaiah 9:7).
Messiah’s Death
The Old Testament explained that the Messiah would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12), and that His hands and feet would be pierced and people would gamble for His clothes (Psalm 22:16-18). He would die as a sacrifice for others (Isaiah 53:8; Daniel 9:26).
Messiah’s Resurrection
The prophets foretold that the Messiah would be buried in a rich man’s tomb (Isaiah 53:9), but that He would not remain in the tomb for long (Psalm 16:10). Jesus predicted His own Resurrection on numerous occasions (Matthew 12:40, 20: 18-20; John 2:19).
The divine origin of the Bible is demonstrated through its frequent use of prophecy. Of all the “holy books” of the world, on the Bible contains accurate, predictive prophecy, because only the God of the Bible knows the future and has the power to bring it to pass (Isaiah 46:9-10).
5. The Bible holds the keys to eternal life
Our Greatest Need
Each of us has sinned against God and desperately needs His forgiveness. The need far exceeds all others.
Our Deepest Longing
Throughout history, people have longed to cheat death and avoid God’s judgement, but the fountain of youth does not exist, and unless the Lord returns, death is inescapable.
The Only Answer
The Bible’s ultimate message answers our greatest need and meets our deepest yearning. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place, taking our sins upon Himself. Jesus Christ satisfied God’s justice, and three days later God raised Him from the dead, demonstrating that He has power over death and giving the hope of eternal life to all who turn from their sins and believe on Him. The answer to our greatest need and deepest longing in the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Source: The Creation Museum