Table of Contents
In part 1 of “Why Believe in Jesus,” we looked at the uniqueness of Jesus of Nazareth as revealed in the New Testament section of the Bible. We found it to show that no one who has ever lived comes close to His uniqueness. Therefore, we can trust that He IS who He said He IS. However, the assumption that everyone believes the Bible is accurate in its claims, is not reality. Likewise, part 2 of “Why Believe in Jesus” shows the trustworthiness of the revealed Word of God, the Bible.
As I did in the If God Is Good study, I will share excerpts from my reading, research and links for further information.
By the way, did you notice above, I did not say “He was who He said He was?” That’s because He IS ALIVE today and returning soon.
Unless otherwise noted, all scriptures used are from the Modern English Version translation (MEV).
The Bible Alone IS THE Revealed Word of God
Christianity believes and teaches that the Bible alone is the revealed Word of God. Even though it was written by men, the ultimate author was God Almighty. This claim was not invented by the Church but is the claim the Bible makes for itself.
- “The word of the Lord endures forever” – 1 Peter 1:25
- “All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration]” – 2 Timothy 3:16 AMP
- “ For no prophecy at any time was produced by the will of man, but holy men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” – 2 Peter 1:21
Moreover, the Bible claims to be a record of the words and deeds of God.
Josh McDowell states that there are over 2,000 similar clauses as those below in the Old Testament alone.
I decided to see for myself how many times the exact phrases below appeared in the Bible. Using BlueLetterBible.org in the NKJV it indicated:
- 146 occurrences of the phrase “The Lord (or God) spoke to…”
- 108 occurrences of the phrase “The word of the Lord (or God) came…”
- 280 occurrences of the phrase “The Lord (or God) said…”
He also goes on to say on his website:
“The mere fact that the Bible claims to be the Word of God does not prove that it is such, for there are other books that make similar claims. The difference is that the Scriptures contain convincing evidence as being the Word of God. One reason that the Bible is different from other books is its unity. Although this book was composed by men, its unity reveals the hand of the Almighty.” – Josh McDowell
Who is Josh McDowell?
As a young man, Josh McDowell considered himself an agnostic. He once thought God and Jesus were fake and that Christianity was for ignorant people! He truly believed that Christianity was worthless. However, when challenged to intellectually examine the claims of Christianity, Josh discovered compelling, overwhelming evidence for the reliability of the Christian faith.
Therefore, you will see that I will be sharing various excerpts from his findings. Per Josh McDowell:
- The Bible was written over a period of about 1,500 years by more than forty different human authors.
- These authors came from a variety of backgrounds, including:
- Joshua (a military general)Daniel (a prime minister)Peter (a fisherman)
- Nehemiah (a cupbearer)
- The authors of the various books wrote in different places, such as
- the wilderness (Moses)prison (Paul)
- exile on the Isle of Patmos (John)
For More Interesting Facts: The Bible IS Trustworthy and Relevant to Us Today
The Bible is One Unfolding Story
The contents of the Bible deal with many controversial subjects. Yet, the Bible is a unit. From beginning to end, there’s one unfolding story of God’s plan of salvation for mankind. This salvation is through the person of Jesus Christ.
Jesus said:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” – John 14:6
Jesus also testified that He was the theme of the entire Bible.
“You search the Scriptures because you think in them you have eternal life. These are they who bear witness of Me.” – John 5:39
“For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote of Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” – John 5:46-47
“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He [Jesus] explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.” – Luke 24:27
“ He [Jesus] said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning Me.” – Luke 24:44
SIDE NOTE: Throughout the New Testament we see many times that Jesus of Nazareth, was referred to as Jesus Christ. Some in our modern era may think that it was/is His last name. However, the term Christ means Messiah. Therefore, instead of referring to Jesus as Jesus The Christ or Jesus the Messiah, in its abbreviated form reads as Jesus Christ.
I love doing searches and I found using BlueLetterBible.org, that the NKJV Bible references the term, Jesus Christ – 184 times, Christ Jesus – 69 times.
“Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?
He is [an] antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.” – 1 John 2:22
“Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God,
and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.” – 1 John 5:1
The Bible is All About Jesus
- The Old Testament is the preparation (Isaiah 40:3-5).
- The Gospels are the manifestation (John 1:29).
- The Book of Acts is the propagation (Acts 1:8).
- The Epistles give the explanation (Colossians 1:27).
- The Book of Revelation is the consummation (Revelation 1:7).
The unity of the Bible is a strong argument in favor of its divine inspiration. The unity of the Scriptures is only one reason among many which supports the Bible’s claim to be the divine Word of God. Others which could be explained in detail are the testimony of the early church, the witness of history and archaeology, and the evidence of changed lives throughout the centuries, to name but a few.
These factors led the great archaeologist, W. F. Albright, to conclude,
“The Bible towers in content above all earlier religious literature; and it towers just as impressively over all subsequent literature in the direct simplicity of its message and the catholicity of its appeal to men of all lands and times” (The Christian Century, November 1958).
Read More from Josh McDowell at: What turns skeptics into believers?
A Closer Look at the New Testament
Many people today harbor the notion that the distinctively Christian Scriptures collected together as the New Testament can hardly be trusted in what they teach. Ironically, there has never been more evidence readily available that supports their reliability.
As F. F. Bruce says,
“The historical ‘once-for-all-ness’ of Christianity which distinguishes it from those religious and philosophical systems, which are not specially related to any particular time, makes the reliability of the writings which purport to record this revelation a question of first-rate importance” (The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? p. 8).
The TheGospelCoalition.org writes:
“The New Testament contains only one book with the genre or contents of the Acts of the Apostles. This is a theologically rich and artistically refined work of history. The number of characters and places in this selective account of key events in the first generation of church history that have been confirmed is staggering. Read More here.
There are three different types of evidence that are to be used in evaluating the New Testament text.
- The Greek manuscripts
- The various versions in which the New Testament is translated
- The writings of the Church fathers
Moreover:
- The New Testament was originally composed in the Greek language.
- The New Testament was written from about A.D. 50 to A.D. 90.
- There are approximately 5,500 copies in existence that contain all or part of the New Testament.
- Although we do not possess the originals, copies exist from a very early date.
- The earliest fragment dates about A.D. 120,
- with about fifty other fragments dating within 150–200 years from the time of composition.
- Two major manuscripts, Codex Vaticanus (A.D. 325) and Codex Sinaiticus (A.D. 350), a complete copy, date within 250 years of the time of composition.
This may seem like a long time-span, but it is minimal compared to most ancient works.
- Caesar’s The Gallic Wars earliest copy dates 1,000 years after it was written.
- The Odyssey by Homer first complete copy dates 2,200 years after it was written.
- Aristotle lived between 384 and 322 BC and the earliest copy of Aristotle’s works still in existence was produced some 1400 years after he wrote the Egyptian originals.
- Plato lived from 427 to 347 BC and the oldest copies we have of his works date from at least 1100 years after the originals were produced.
Yet almost no one denies the authenticity of these authors writings.
When the interval between the writing of the New Testament and earliest copies is compared to other ancient works, the New Testament proves to be much closer to the time of the original.
Did You Know?
- The New Testament documents have more manuscript evidence.
- A close time interval between the writing and earliest copy.
- New Testament documents were also translated into several other languages at an early date.
- Translation of a document into another language was rare in the ancient world, so this is an added plus for the New Testament.
- The number of copies of the versions is in excess of 18,000, with possibly as many as 25,000
- This is further evidence that helps us establish the New Testament text.
- The text of the New Testament could still be reproduced within 250 years from its composition.
- This can be accomplished by the writings of the early Christians from commentaries, letters, etc., these ancient writers quote the biblical text, giving us another witness to the text of the New Testament.
- John Burgon has catalogued more than 86,000 citations by the early church fathers who cite different parts of the New Testament.
No Doubting, The Evidence is Overwhelming
F. F. Bruce makes the following observation:
“The evidence for our New Testament writings is ever so much greater than the evidence for many writings of classical authors, the authenticity of which no one dreams of questioning… And if the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt.” – (The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? p. 15)
Sir Frederic Kenyon, former director and principal librarian of the British Museum, was one of the foremost experts on ancient manuscripts and their authority. Shortly before his death, he wrote this concerning the New Testament:
“The interval between the dates of original composition (of the New Testament) and the earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed. Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be regarded as finally established.” – (The Bible and Archaeology, pp. 288-89)
Closing Thoughts
I hope that you now understand that there is so much more evidence for the reliability of the Biblical text than any other comparable writings in the ancient world. Therefore, we can rely on the trustworthiness of the revealed Word of God and that Jesus Christ is the soon returning Messiah to set up His righeous kingdom on this earth. Are you ready for His return? Will you willingly acknowledge Him as Creator, Savior and Lord before it becomes to late? Time is running out…
Maranatha! Until next time, I am Passionately Loving Jesus, the Anchor of my Soul.
Read the complete series here.
Further Resources
Lee Strobel
The Case for Christ Explained in 16 Minutes.
Lee Strobel, a former atheist turned Christian who wrote the book The Case for Christ, shares how he went from skeptic to believer. This 16-minute explanation explores the truth he uncovered about the resurrection, the gospel accounts, and the controversies he had to overcome to support the evidence for Christ and make a case for the foundational belief in Christianity.
Josh McDowell
Josh McDowell once thought God and Jesus were fake – and that Christianity was for ignorant people! So how did he end up becoming not just a Christian, but one of the world’s leading apologists? For 50+ years now, he’s been proving that it’s all true!
