Sermon Cloud

IS THE BIBLE RELIABLE?

Introduction

In order to be a Christian you have to believe in the Bible!
While General Revelation such as what we may know about God through nature and conscience can give us valuable information about the existence of God, his wisdom, his justice, his power and creativity, it can never get us to a place where we know that he sent his own Son, Jesus Christ, to become human and die for our sins to bring us back into relationship with God. For that knowledge specific revelation is required. This specific information is found in scripture - the Bible. However, the question many people will ask is; can we trust the Bible?

What is the Bible?

• The Bible is a library of 66 books organized in the scriptures of  the Old and new testament.
• Rather than chronological the Bible is organized by genre of literature.
• The Bible was written by over 40 authors, which included kings, government officials, shepherds, priests, prophets, farmers, theologians, fishermen, tax-collectors and even a physician.
• The Bible was written over a span of 1500 years.
• The Bible was written in three languages, Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic; and composed on three continents - Europe, Asia and Africa.
• The Bible claims of itself that nothing should be added to it, that it is the word of God, that it is breathed out by God for our benefit, that it is truth and that it is prophecy inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Isn't the Bible just a bunch of legends, made up by the powerbrokers of it's day designed to shore up their positions of power?

1. The Bible is written too early (Gospels within 30-60 years / Paul's epistles within 15 years) and contains eyewitness testimony!
2. Jesus does not take sides in important controversies of the early church, which is something you would assume if the powerbrokers made it up.
3. The biblical account is counterproductive, since it makes Jesus look like a criminal being crucified, the apostles look incompetent and foolish and the primary witnesses of the resurrection are women whose testimony would have been inadmissable in a court of law.

Isn't the Bible culturally obsolete and socially unacceptable?

1. The biblical teaching offends cultures of all times and all places equally, however not on identical fronts.
2. We assume our western culture is superior to all other cultures.
3. We lack understanding of issues such as slavery and the role of women during biblical times and substitute our 21st century western assumptions, thereby misunderstanding key teaching and dismissing scripture summarily in error.