By Gene S. Foster, M.S.
Do you trust the Bible? Do you believe that every word of it is the Word of God in every area of its content? Or are you, like many, selective in what you believe of that which is written in it? Perhaps you have been led to believe that only certain parts of the Bible really came from God. A broadcast commentator recently stated the idea that the “Gospels are not history, but just stories to teach us about truth.” If you believe him, then your confidence in Jesus Christ is devastated because you must doubt His virgin birth, miraculous feats and His resurrection from the dead.
As we saw in Lesson 1, the Bible declares itself to be the Word of God. It states without hesitation, without reservation, and without limitation, that it is all inspired (breathed) by God. From the first verse which states unequivocally, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth…” to the last chapter which says, “And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come…and whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely…” – the Bible never hints that there is any part of it that isn’t exactly and completely true. In fact, it openly declares that “Thy Word is true from the beginning.” (Palms 119: 160)
Yet some people still confidently assert that they know this to be false. Surprisingly, even numerous professors of Bible colleges and seminaries do not believe the Bible to be completely true, and they teach their unsuspecting students to disbelieve its truthfulness and accuracy. And of course, atheistic scientists assert that none of it is true so public school teachers pass this dogma of doubt on to their students. Perhaps saddest of all is the fact that many Christians who say they believe the Bible, actually don’t act like they believe it. This is especially true when they disregard the clear factual teaching and preaching of it.
This writer believes that the Bible reveals the Author to be God. Now if God is the Author of the Bible then it should reveal this as fact. Over the course of my own quarter century study of the Bible, I have found that the Bible does reveal itself to be the Word of God in all of the areas of its revealed knowledge. Contrary to the false assertions by many, the Bible is accurate in its statements that concern matters of the physical world. Though the Bible is not intended to be a science textbook, it does, during it discourses, make statements about the physical universe (nature). It speaks of outer space, of earth, of the seas, of man and animal life. As one studies some of these statements of science in the Bible, it becomes clear that the men who were the penmen of Scripture possessed knowledge that preceded man’s scientific knowledge. This is as one should suspect if the Bible is written by the all knowing Creator of the universe!
History is another area that we can examine to determine the authorship of Scripture. Unlike the Muslim Koran or other ‘holy books’, the Bible devotes itself to extensive discussions of events that actually occurred. Though the historical accuracy of the Bible has been widely mocked, time and discovery increasingly show the historical events described in your Bible to be accurate just as you would expect and demand if it indeed is authored by God.
Finally there is the matter of prophecy – the prediction of future events. The Bible is the most analyzed and discussed writing in human experience. It has occupied the intellectual energy of the greatest minds that humanity has produced. As the result, today we know a great deal about the history of its writing. We know when most of the men who were its penmen lived and so we also know with reasonable accuracy when most of the books were written. For example, we know that King David lived about 1,000 B.C. and that his son, Solomon, lived about 900 B.C. and so we know when Psalms and Proverbs, the books authored by these two ancients, were each written. This is vitally important because it gives us knowledge about the time when the prophetic portions of their books were written. Knowing these things, we can examine the prophecies of Scripture penmen and then examine whether those predictions came to pass as stated. Since no mortal knows the future with precision, a fulfilled prophecy could only come from knowledge given to the prophet by God Himself.
This lesson will only present a small sample of those things which can be discovered from Bible. Vast numbers of books and videos are available to thoroughly present the full body of knowledge about what the Bible reveals relating to its perfections in these three major areas of knowledge. At the end of the written lesson material will be a list of resources where you can obtain more information. Our church library is stocking some resources and our inventory will continue to grow in this and other areas of preserved biblical knowledge.