CAN WE TRUST THE BIBLE?

Jonathan Gallagher

"Of course we can," replies the offended churchgoer. "What a ridiculous question!"

"Trust the Bible? Might as well believe that pigs can fly," answers the sarcastic sceptic.

"I dunno," says Mr Average. "After what I hear some of the bishops say, and seeing the way some church people act, and listening to what modern science has proved, who knows? Some chap at work was saying he'd read a book which said God was an astronaut and that the Bible talked about spaceships. No way of knowing who's right, is there? Like I saw on the telly, the Bible could be all made up, couldn't it? Same as those Hitler diaries--who's to say somebody didn't fake the Bible?"

Fake or Mistake?

Well? Whatever you believe, don't you owe it to yourself to really find out what really is the truth? Could the Bible be a fake? A mistake? Irrelevant to the modern world? Or is it true and trustworthy?

Is the Bible a gigantic hoax, with us as the victims? Did some "person or persons unknown" write it just to fool us? Even just a quick look at the evidence shows such suggestions to be daft. For the writers of the Bible themselves were clearly convinced of what they were writing. They spanned some 1500 years and represent a variety of nationalities and backgrounds. No conspiracy in the world could have produced the Bible. And for what? What's the motive?

And what of commitment? Nobody dies for a hoax, as did so many of the Bible's writers. You may disagree with their conclusions. You may doubt that Jesus was truly God. But there is no doubt that Jesus lived and died, and that the New Testament writers present him as their risen and returning Lord.

What--No Hittites?

So often the Bible is accused of being mistaken--in its facts, and in its conclusions. Take one example from the recent past. High-brow scholars read the Bible and found mention of a nation nobody had ever heard of. The Hittites. And with the arrogance of modernity the scholars said: "We know nothing of a nation called the Hittites. They are never mentioned by classical historians. This proves the Bible is untrue. It cannot be trusted--at least not as a historical record."

Then some unknown inscriptions were found in Asia Minor, and in 1906 archaeologists discovered that the city they were excavating at Boghazkoy in Turkey was the ancient capital of the Hittite empire.

Talk about the Spade confirming the Book! Here was an unknown empire whose only mention came from the Bible. Their existence had been forgotten by everybody else. Now here they were! What a knock-back for the critics when they were faced with hard evidence of the real existence of a vast Hittite empire...

Many of the other supposed "historical mistakes" of the Bible have also been disproved. The Bible is an accurate historical document. As Werner Keller, author of the best-selling The Bible as History said: "In view of the overwhelming mass of authentic and well-attested evidence now available...there kept hammering in my brain this one sentence: 'The Bible is right after all!'"

Revealing God

So what of the possibility that though the historical facts are accurate, the interpretations may be wrong. Like the resurrection of Jesus, the many miracles, God's direct actions. Can we trust the Bible when it speaks about such "fantastic" things? For the Bible itself claims to be the record of God speaking and relating to people. Maybe that's where these Bible writers made their big mistake...

Some Christians say at this point: "Oh well, that's where you have to have faith." As if faith was entirely separate from proof and evidence. But if the Bible is what it claims to be: a record of God's dealings with mankind, then everyone should examine the evidence. Is it possible, is it true; could God could have done this, said that? And if so, what kind of person is this God of the Bible?

What is the Bible?

Look again at what the Bible claims:

* "In the beginning God..." (Genesis 1:1). God is proclaimed from the first verse of the Bible. He is not proved, or debated. God is.

* Nearly 4000 times it's recorded that "The word of the Lord came to..." or "Thus says the Lord". Clear proof of what the Bible says of itself--the word of God.

* "For no prophetic message ever came just from the will of man, but men were under the control of the Holy Spirit as they spoke the message that came from God." (2 Peter 1:21 TEV). "All Scripture is God-breathed... (2 Timothy 3:16 NIV). God speaks through men. That's what the Bible says it is--the record of this inspiration.

* "Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." (John 20:30,31 NIV). That is the purpose of the Bible.

What is the Bible, then?

--The record of God revealing himself to human beings all through history, and especially in the greatest revelation of all: God's Son, Jesus Christ.

--The account of the great controversy between God and the Devil, good triumphing over evil, and how we all are involved in the battle over the nature and character of God.

--The demonstration of how God came to save us and to re-make us in his image. The evidence of God's salvation.

So it can't be just a good book, or sublime literature, or human imaginings. Take or leave it--the Bible says of itself: this is God speaking to you.

Can we trust this God?

For to answer the question "Can we trust the Bible?" really means answering a deeper question: "Can we trust the God the Bible describes?" So what of the God of the Bible? Doesn't really matter whether the Bible can be trusted if we can't trust the God it speaks of.

From Eden to Exodus, from Mount Sinai to the Mount of Olives, from Galilee to Gethsemane--the chorus of the Bible is: God can be trusted! He really does do what he promises. He really can fulfil his claims. He really is as he says.

Salvation unlimited

The Bible is not full of pious sayings and religious instructions. Instead it shows how God acts and reacts to human beings. The Bible tells the story of how God so loved the world that he was willing to do absolutely everything--even to die on the Cross--to win us back.

Take time to check out this God. He doesn't say "Believe blindly in me." He says "Take a look. See the kind of person I am. Examine my record. Understand my nature. Then accept me for what I am. Look at what I can do for you. Salvation unlimited!"

That's what the Bible describes. In clear and simple terms it tells us how God is involved with us. The evidence is overwhelming. Why do so many ignore the Bible, then? Why do so few people trust the Bible?

People don't reject the Bible because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts themselves! Sadly most don't want to know what the Bible says because they don't want to know God. As Josh Billings suggested: "Almost any fool can prove the Bible ain't so--it takes a wise man to believe it."

So let's leave aside all the pointless quibbling over this "inaccuracy" or that "mistake" in the Bible. It either is the word of God or not. That's the question. Either it is a pack of lies, or the deepest truth. No two ways about it.

How do you decide, then? How do you decide personally whether you can trust the Bible and its God? Only one way--read it, and find out! Start with the heart of the Bible, one of the gospels.

Ask yourself questions: What is this telling me? Who is this person Jesus who claims to be God? Is he trustworthy? What did he do? How does this affect me now?

Experiment

Only by doing such an experiment will you find out the truth for yourself. "The Bible must be its own argument and defence." --H.J. Van Dyke.

Only then will you really know, instead of relying on other people's ideas and opinions. As Charles Hodge said: "The best evidence of the Bible's being the word of God is found between its covers." For personal experience is the only way the Bible can be analysed and judged trustworthy.

As I myself searched for answers, to discover real meaning in life, I turned to the Bible.

I found the Person I'd been looking for. I found someone who I could trust absolutely. Someone I would trust with my life! And I found Him by reading that book which I know is 100% trustworthy. As David Livingstone declared: "All that I am I owe to Jesus Christ, revealed to me in His divine Book." God's own book, the Bible.

Can we trust the Bible? Find out for yourself. I already know the answer!

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BIBLE QUOTES

I find more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history whatever. --Sir Isaac Newton.