The Bible is not afraid to be tested

Perhaps the Bible had just .

one author.

Perhaps it was the God of .

the Universe.

What if the Bible is True?

Miraculous Unity

-There is a great amount of agreement, sometimes “point by point,” throughout the Bible. This is miraculous when one considers that the 66 books were written by at least 40 writers, each from vastly different cultures, different backgrounds, in different locations, and in different circumstances.

The Bible is

NOT

Afraid to be Tested

Are you surprised?

Don’t Be!!

Question: How do we know that the Bible has been accurately passed down to us?

Answer: We have more than 5,000 manuscripts existing today and there are several million people who still speak the original languages (Hebrew & Greek). We do not depend on a translation because we have direct access in the original languages.*

*Between the 99.5% accuracy “word for word” of the ancient manuscripts, and the fact that there are more extant manuscripts of the Bible than any other ancient writing proves strong reliability that far exceeds all other books of antiquity.

Science and Medicine

-The book of Leviticus contains amazing medical insights far ahead of its time including circumcision on the 8th day, washing hands after touching someone infected, quarantine of those who had been in contact with the dead, and many other sanitation procedures which we take for granted today but they couldn’t have known about without divine guidance.

100% perfect prophecy

This is one of the many proofs we have that the Bible is completely accurate beyond human reason. (I Thess. 5:21 Test everything. Hold on to the good).

Prophecy Scripture Odds

Isaiah’s naming of Cyrus nearly Isaiah 44:28-45:3 1/10,000

two centuries in advance

Daniel's 400 years of precisely Daniel 8 1/1,000,000

predicted history

The detailed prophecy of the Ezekiel 26 1/100,000

destruction of Tyre, hundreds

of years in advance

>More than 500 years before the time of Jesus, Daniel predicted to the year when the Messiah would be killed (Daniel 9.25-26)

These were unbelievable predictions! The likelihood that these prophecies came true by some random chain of events is all but impossible. Also remember that this is only an extremely short “glimpse” of predictions spoken of in the Bible by God's prophets. Of the events that were to have taken place by now, every one happened just the way they predicted it would. No other "sacred writing" has such perfectly accurate predictions of the future.

-In 33 AD, Jesus was crucified (a prophecy) and died (a prophecy). Three days later he rose from the dead (another prophecy), after which he was seen by over 500 witnesses. These miracles and others were done many times in front of thousands for over 3 years.

Archaeology

-No archaeological discovery has ever contradicted a Biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been made which confirm the Bible’s reliability. In addition, dozen of times the descriptions given in the Bible have led to great archaeological discoveries.

-About two thousand years elapsed between the time the Dead Sea Scrolls were deposited in the caves of the barren hills surrounding the Dead Sea and their discovery in 1947. The fact that they survived for twenty centuries, that they were found accidentally by Bedouin shepherds, that they are the largest and oldest body of manuscripts relating to the Bible and to the time of Jesus of Nazareth make them a truly remarkable archaeological find offering credence to the accuracy of the Masoretic Texts written much later.

- As well as consistency throughout, and brutal honesty of the Bible writers, archaeology confirms our reasons to believe in the Bible, If Luke was so painstakingly accurate in his historical reporting, on what basis may we assume inaccuracy in his reporting of matters that were far more important, not only to him but to others as well; such as, the resurrection of Jesus—the most influential evidence of Jesus' authenticity of being Christ. This, says Luke, was firmly established by “many convincing proofs” (Acts 1:3).

(Luke is the gospel which gives the most information about locations and rulers)

-Sir William Ramsey, one of the greatest archaeologists of all time, spent 30 years of his life trying to disprove the New Testament, especially Luke's writings. After much intensive research, with many expecting a thorough refutation of Christianity, Ramsey concluded that Luke was one of the greatest historians of all time and leading Ramsey to become a Christian. (This is a rather ironic pattern followed by many who have tried to disprove the Bible through their own research and ended up believing it)

The longer archaeology does its work

the more the bible is proven true

-Some scholars argued that King David was a myth, until 1993 when a stone monument was discovered at Tel Dan, near the border of Syria and Israel. It mentioned a victory over King David and the house of David, just as indicated in I Kings 15:20.

JERUSALEM Nov 10, 2005

-Archaeologists digging at the biblical home of Goliath unearthed a shard of pottery bearing an inscription of the Philistine's name —a find they claimed lends historical credence to the Bible's description of David's battle with the giant.

The New Testament Record has never been successfully refuted

Christians were strongly persecuted by both the Jews and the Roman government. If the New Testament writings were false, these two groups would have produced a great deal of evidence to stop the growth of this "sect." None exists. Furthermore, the New Testament writings circulated during the lifetimes of thousands of people who had actually seen Jesus' miracles and other historic events. No one ever refuted the New Testament writings.

Original article by Living Hope International Ministries