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by Steve Risner

This week, the writing team of Worldview Warriors is focusing on the subject of the Bible, or “Why the Bible?” in fact. I would like to briefly discuss why I believe the Bible should be taken as the very Word of God and trusted. I'll try to keep it brief.

The Bible is a one of a kind collection of works. There is literally nothing to compare it to in all of literature. The Bible is a collection of 66 different books with over 3 dozen authors spread out over 1500 years. The miracle here is that all of these authors, from peasants and prophets to kings and scholars and spread out over 15 or more centuries, carry a unified message from cover to cover. Through the ages, from the oldest books penned to the most recently written shortly after the time Christ walked the earth, the message is consistent and unified. This in and of itself sets the Bible apart. However, there is so much more.

The Bible is, without any rival, the most accurately kept record of anything from the ancient world and was literally recorded thousands of times nearly flawlessly. The next closest ancient document scarcely has a handful of copies to review. Some laughably suggest the Bible's pages were manipulated over the centuries by kings and rulers to make laypersons submit to their power. Please don't take anyone seriously who suggests these things, which are easily verified as false. The oldest copies of the Bible's pages are identical to today's most recent copies. If there are changes that can be found, they are most frequently punctuation, spelling errors, or even modernizations of names of places. There is no argument to be made suggesting the actual content of the message has been altered in any way. The process by which scribes would copy the text to preserve it for us is amazing. To emphasize, this means it is thousands of times more accurate than any other ancient writing. We have the very words of God preserved for us from ages past. That's awesome!

The Bible's books are a collection of different types of literature: narratives on history, prophetic books, songs of praise, proverbs, and letters from one person to another or to a group of people. It speaks on many different subjects and has been found to be accurate on every topic. Archaeology repeatedly supports the Biblical narrative. Its pages are filled with details about historic events with real people doing real things in real places with real dates ascribed to them. This is different than many other religious texts. The Bible is not a science text, but when it speaks on such matters, it is accurate. The Bible tells us about the psychology of man in very deep ways. It reveals and explains much about the human condition. It goes into details of how man struggles against sin and wars against God. It also gives us great detail concerning how we can know God, walk with Him, and receive the salvation that only He can provide for us. It gives us a general code of conduct as well. 

One of the amazing things about the Word of God is fulfilled prophecy. The Bible is littered with prophetic words that often times contain exquisite details that have been fulfilled. Without getting into too much detail, simply reviewing the prophecies concerning Christ's first coming and His fulfillment of those makes skeptics out to be fools, in my humble opinion. The chances of the hundreds of prophecies concerning Christ's first appearing coming to pass without Divine guidance is literally not possible, and that's just the prophecies concerning Christ. There are many, many others. These are rarely generic or broad utterances that could accidentally be fulfilled. They are detailed, including names of kingdoms that didn't exist at the time, names of people who hadn't been born yet, or details of events no one in their right mind would have believed would happen. It's actually something you could take a decade to study and still not find all the fascinating information. Suffice to say, if you research the fulfilled prophecies of Scripture, you'll find a great deal of support for its Divine inspiration. Sure, there are websites that claim to have evidence for why none of this is true, but most of them are not reputable or have claims that are purely speculation at best.

But all of this pales in comparison, for me, when we look at what I believe is the greatest support for the Bible being the very Word of God: changed lives. Countless men and women have had their lives radically changed with an encounter with God. Very frequently, those encounters involve the Word of God being read or spoken to them. The Truth is found in the pages of Genesis to Revelation, and it's life-changing without a doubt. I've written before on the radical deliverance of my father from being a partier, drinking beer and smoking pot. He met the Lord and his life was instantly changed. I've often recommended Brian “Head” Welch as another “for instance.” He was/is the guitarist for the band Korn. His testimony can be found here on YouTube. It's amazing. His life was drastically changed when he met the living God after his real estate agent shared the Truth of God's Word with him.

There are a number of fairly famous (and some not so much) people whose testimonies are recorded by “I am second.” I know so many people personally who have been delivered from drugs, pornography, alcohol, anger, lying, and so much more, and quite frequently it's at the instant they encounter the God of the Bible. Who has studied atheism and had their life set on a better path? Who has been addicted to drugs and promiscuous sex and, after an in depth look at humanism, was instantly delivered? Who was angry and would beat their spouse, only to find peace and harmony and fulfillment in life because they had an encounter with an atheist disciple? What other faith on earth can boast of such radically changed lives? Who has been set free from some addiction or bondage in the name of humanism or science? 

I believe, with all of the amazing things we find within the Word of God—its historical accuracy, its depiction of real people, places and events, its probing of the human psyche, fulfilled prophecies, and its terribly accurate preservation through the ages—the single most awe-inspiring and greatest evidence for the Bible's authority and authenticity is without question the lives that have been changed by it. If none of these other things were true, I would still find that the Word of God is unlike any other work in literature as it has the power to move people to be something more, something they naturally are not. The power locked within its pages is more evidence than any honest person would really need. All the other evidences are simply icing on the cake.

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