How do we know the Bible is true?

How do we know the Bible is true?

 

 

 

 

What is the Bible?

 

It’s not a book that arrived in complete form at one point in history. Instead, the Bible was written over a period of some 1,500 years by a number of authors. Although it is viewed as one book, it’s actually a collection of many books.

It is called God’s Word even though God did not physically write it. Instead, God worked through everyday people, inspired by Him, to record what Christians accept as the Bible. The Old Testament is primarily a record of God’s dealings with His chosen people – the Hebrews or Jews. The New Testament continues the record with first century accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus and the struggles faced by new Christians in a hostile culture.

 

Miraculous or not?

 

In the Old Testament, God parts the Red Sea, allowing His people to escape a hoard of angry Egyptians. In the book of Joshua, the sun is said to have stood still, while Jonah records a prophet swallowed by a large fish. In the New Testament the blind receive sight, Jesus walks on water and is resurrected after being executed on a cross.

In a largely naturalistic age, meaning belief only in the material world, miracles are often doubted. The supernatural – anything beyond the natural world – is dismissed or relegated to a second-class status. This often results in doubt about the Bible. Can we trust it to be true? Are we really expected to believe the supernatural events it records? This is a bias that defines miracles out of existence rather than reasoning that if God exists, then miracles are possible.

 

Truth and the Bible

 

What is truth? While this question is often presented as a deep philosophical puzzle suitable only for the “brainy” to tackle, the answer is not so complex. Truth is what corresponds to reality. Consequently, what is real is true, what is unreal is false.

The Bible makes some very distinctive truth claims. It claims, for instance, that God exists. It also claims that He has chosen to communicate with us through His creation, our moral conscience, and via the Bible. Jesus claimed to be God in the flesh and that the only way for human beings to be saved is through Him (John 14:6). Moreover, the death and resurrection of Jesus are also key to Christian theology.

These claims the Bible makes either correspond to reality or they do not. Christians believe that they do correspond to reality, meaning that the Bible is true. God really exists, Jesus is not a myth, and the resurrection really happened. But how do we know this?

 

Knowledge and the Bible

 

Quoting the Bible to prove the Bible is viewed as being circular reasoning or illogical. After all, quoting the Bible to prove the Bible assumes the Bible is true, which is really the point of contention or discussion.

But if the Bible can be shown to be a reliable document, accurately recorded and transmitted through history, from God to us, then we can build a strong case that the Bible is indeed true.

Evidence for the Bible

 

We have copies of the manuscripts and throughout history these copies show that the Bible has been transmitted accurately. Despite common skeptical claims that the Bible has often been changed through the centuries, the physical evidence tells another story. The New Testament records are incredibly accurate. There are minor differences in manuscripts, called variants, but none of these variants impact or change key Christian beliefs or claims.

Other physical evidence includes archeological finds. The Archaeological Study Bible presents many notes and articles documenting how archeology has again and again proven that the Bible does correspond to historical reality.

There are other kinds of evidence that the Bible is true. These have to do with internal consistency and coherence. Although the Bible was written over many centuries by different writers, the messages it contains are coherent and consistent. The Bible presents a coherent theology and worldview and presents this material consistently. Moreover, the Christian worldview is robust, reasonable and grounded in history.

 

Jesus and the Bible

 

If it can be shown that the four Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – present an accurate record of the life and ministry of Jesus, then Jesus Himself becomes an argument in support of the truth of the Bible. If the Bible has been shown to be reliable, this line of reasoning is no longer circular, but rational. In other words, what the Bible records about Jesus, including what He says about God, human nature, salvation and the Old Testament record, can then be trusted.

What does Jesus say about God’s Word? He says, “the Scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35, NIV), thus testifying to the authority of the Bible. In Matthew 5:17, Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them,” meaning that Jesus believed and trusted in the Old Testament “Law” and “Prophets.” Jesus also said, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God'” (Matthew 4:4). Space does not allow a thorough investigation of the views of Jesus on the Bible, but it is sufficient here to note that He believed God spoke through the Bible, He overtly upheld belief in several Old Testament stories, and revered the Bible as holy and authoritative.

The cornerstone of Christian belief is the resurrection of Christ. Even Paul the Apostle admitted that if the resurrection did not happen, Christian faith “is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17). In this sense, making a case for the truth of the resurrection also makes a case for the truth claims of Jesus and, in turn, the reliability and truth of the Bible.

 

Does our view of the Bible matter?

 

Liberal theologians sometimes point out that our view of the Bible doesn’t really matter. So long as we gain strength and insights from it, they say, that is enough. Following this line of reasoning, they remove many miracles of the Bible or simply treat them as myths. This is a mistake, particularly when it comes to the Resurrection of Christ. Our view of the Bible matters immensely, especially if what it claims is indeed true. If it is, as we have argued, then our eternal destiny hinges on how we will respond to Christ and His calling. Will we reject Him or accept Him?

There is much more that could be said on the matter of truth and the Bible. Learn more by checking out some of our other articles on the Christian Worldview.

 

Don Stewart :: How Do We Know That It Is the God of the Bible Who Exists?

 

There are reasonable arguments that give testimony to the existence of God. But which God exists? Is there only one God or many gods who exist? If there is only one God, is it the God of the Bible or some other God? How can a person be certain that the God of the Bible really exists?

Only The Biblical God Exists

As the evidence is evaluated the only reasonable case that can be made for the existence of God comes from the Bible. The evidence for the existence of the God of the Bible includes the following: the Bible itself, predictive prophecy, Jesus Christ, and changed lives of believers.

Evidence 1. The Testimony Of The Bible

One of the reasons we can have confidence that God exists is the Bible. The Bible is like no other book that has ever been written before or since. It claims to be the inspired Word of God, and has more proof for that claim than any other book.

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16).

But the mere claim of divine inspiration does not make it true. There has to be evidence to back up the claim, and the evidence for the inspiration of the Bible is sufficient to the reasonable questioner.

The Bible Has A Unique Makeup

The Bible, though made up of sixty-six separate books, is in reality one book. One of the strongest arguments for the inspiration of the Bible is its unity.

It Was Fifteen Hundred Years In The Making

The first book of the Bible written was either Genesis or Job (about 1400 B.C.). The last book composed was either the third letter of John or the Book of Revelation. They each were written toward the end of the first century A.D. This makes a total of about fifteen hundred years from the composition of the first book of the Bible until the last.

There Are Many Authors With Many Occupations

In addition, there were over forty different authors who composed the books of the Bible. They came from a variety of backgrounds and different occupations. For example, Amos was a herdsman, Peter and John were fishermen, Luke was a doctor, Joshua, a military leader, and Daniel a prime minister.

It Was Written In Three Languages

The Bible was written in three different languages-Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek; and upon three different continents-Africa, Asia, and Europe.

It Covers Many Different Subjects

The subject matter contained in the Bible includes many controversial matters including the existence and nature of God, the formation of the universe, the creation and purpose of humankind.

The Bible Is A Unity

Thus the Bible is sixty-six books, composed by forty different human authors, over a fifteen-hundred-year span, written in three different continents, covering many controversial subjects. One would expect the result to be a confused and disjointed text, anything but harmonious. Yet the Bible is a unity. It is one unfolding story from beginning to end written with complete harmony and continuity. This feature is remarkable when one considers the different factors involved. The only reasonable way that this Book came together so precisely is that the ultimate author behind it was God Himself

Evidence 2. Predictive Prophecy

The Bible itself is a starting point for us to believe in the existence of God. But there is much more. One of the strongest lines of evidence that can be marshaled for God's existence is the subject of predictive prophecy. The Scripture records many events that were predicted in advance by God. These fulfilled prophecies are evidence of God's knowledge of all things. Only God, who is outside of our time-space existence and our finite knowledge, could accurately and consistently reveal the future. The Bible says,

We also have the prophetic word made more sure, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of humans, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:19-21).

Prophecy is God foretelling events before they occur. Biblical predictions are not vague prophecies but are specific in nature. Furthermore, they cannot be accounted for by chance, common sense, or collusion.

The Biblical Tests Of A Prophet

For predictive prophecy to be considered valid, it must pass the following tests.

1. The prophecy must be given before the fulfillment takes place.
2. The prophecy must be of an explicit nature - it must be able to be falsified if the event does not come to pass.
3. Those who give the prophecies cannot have any part in the fulfillment.
4. The fulfillment must correspond exactly, and in all points, to the predictions that were given.

Some Examples Of Fulfilled Prophecy

The Old Testament predicts the coming of a Savior known as the Messiah. The predictions surrounding Him are very specific. They include:

The Birthplace Of The Messiah Predicted

He was to be born in Bethlehem.

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth One to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting (Micah 5:2).

The Family Line Predicted

The Old Testament predicted the exact family line that the Messiah would come through. This includes the line of Abraham (Genesis 22:18), the line of Isaac (Genesis 21:12), the line of Jacob (Numbers 24:17), the family line of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1), and the line of David (Jeremiah 23:5).

He Must Come Before The Temple Is Destroyed

The Messiah was to come on the historical scene before the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed.

And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary (Daniel 9:26).

The Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70. Thus the predicted Messiah was prophesied to come upon the scene of history before A.D. 70.

The Prophecies Were Literally Fulfilled In Jesus

The odds that one person could fulfill these prophecies by chance are astronomical. But Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled these and many others demonstrating He was the promised Messiah.

The Bible also gives many prophecies concerning nations and individuals, which have been literally fulfilled. These also demonstrate that God exists and that He is controlling history.

Why Has He Told Us The Future?

Since the Bible gives us examples of God predicting the future we may rightly ask why He does this? Why has God at times predicted future events? Through the prophet Isaiah God gives us the answer to this question:

Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure' (Isaiah 46:9,10).

Isaiah also recorded God saying.

I have declared the former things from the beginning; they went forth from my mouth, and I caused them to hear it. Suddenly I did them, and they came to pass . . . Even from the beginning I have declared it to you; before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you, lest you should say, 'My idol has done them, and my carved image and my molded image have commanded them' (Isaiah 48:3,5).

From these verses we can deduce the following:

1. By telling us what is going to happen in the future we know that God exists for only God could know with certainty what will happen.
2. We can also know that He is the only God who exists for no other God or idol has been able to foretell the future with complete accuracy.
3. Humanity can also rest assured that other predictions God has made, which have not come to pass, will indeed be fulfilled.
4. We can also trust anything else that God says because He has given us a basis for trusting Him.

We can, therefore, have confidence that God is controlling history and our own lives. By realizing that God has predicted the future accurately, we can live in the security of what He has told us will happen.

Evidence 3. Jesus Christ

There is a third reason why one should believe in the existence of the God of the Bible-Jesus Christ. The New Testament declares that Jesus Christ is the incarnation of the one true God. The Gospel of John begins by stating the eternal nature of Jesus.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:1,14).

Here is the clear testimony that Jesus, the eternal God, became a man. The Jews were offended at Jesus' claim to be God.

Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was his Father, making himself equal with God (John 5:18).

Were His Claims True?

The fact that Jesus claimed to be God is clear; but were His claims true? Jesus gave evidence that He was God by doing the things only God could do. This included healing incurable diseases and raising the dead. As we have already noted, His coming to earth fulfilled a number of prophecies that could not have been fulfilled by mere chance.

In addition, Jesus did something else only God could do; He forgave sin. Jesus said to a paralyzed man who was brought to Him, "Son, your sins are forgiven you" (Mark 2:5).

This claim brought a heated response from the religious leaders:

Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone? (Mark 2:7).

They were absolutely right. Only God has the ability to forgive sins. The prophet Isaiah records God as saying:

I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins (Isaiah 43:25).

Jesus, by claiming the ability to forgive sin, put Himself on an equal level with God.

Jesus Conquered Death

Jesus' greatest feat, however, was conquering the greatest enemy we all face, death. The Bible says that the resurrection demonstrated that Jesus was God the Son.

And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4).

The death of Christ on the cross and His resurrection from the dead is the gospel, or Good News, in which we place our faith.

Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:1,3,4).

The resurrection of Jesus demonstrated the fact that He is God. It showed that He has authority in all matters including life and death.

Summary

Therefore we can sum up the matter as follows:

1. The New Testament testifies that Jesus is the eternal God.
2. Jesus demonstrated that He could do the things only God could do, including conquering death.
3. Jesus' resurrection is evidence that He indeed was God the Son.

Evidence 4. The Testimony Of Changes Lives

There is, as we have seen, much objective evidence to tell us that God exists. There is a final line of evidence and that is the testimony of changed lives. The Bible encourages people to experience God.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who trusts in him! (Psalm 34:8).

Christian experience does not in and of itself prove the reality of the Christian faith. Yet if God has revealed Himself in the Bible, we should expect Christian experience to provide a testimony consistent with that revelation.

The Changed Lives Of Jesus' Disciples

The disciples of Jesus are an example of experience validating God's Word. They all abandoned Jesus when Judas Iscariot betrayed Him. Simon Peter even denied knowing Him. When Jesus was tried and crucified His disciples were nowhere to be found. Yet, less than two months later these same cowards were boldly proclaiming the truth of Christ to the world. They testified that seeing Jesus risen from the dead is what made the difference. Each one of these men suffered persecution the rest of his life and, with the exception of John, went on to die a martyr's death for his belief in Christ.

They Saw The Risen Christ

Something changed their lives. Cowards do not become martyrs without a reason. What was it? The disciples testified that it was seeing the risen Christ that made the difference. This was an historical event, not just a fairy tale. The Apostle Peter declared,

For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when such a voice came to him from the Excellent Glory: 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain (2 Peter 1:16-18).

The Conversion Of Saul Of Tarsus

The changed life of Jesus' disciples serves as a testimony to the truth of the Christian message. Saul of Tarsus is another example. He was a persecutor of Christians, but his life changed when he experienced the risen Christ while on the road to Damascus. This was a genuine experience, not a fantasy. He told King Agrippa:

For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner (Acts 26:26).

As was the case with Jesus' disciples, there is no disputing that Saul's life was radically changed. Like the disciples, he testified that it was caused by seeing the risen Christ. His changed life adds another testimony to the truth of the Christian faith.

Millions More Can Testify To Changed Lives

Since the time of Christ, there have been millions of others who have had their lives changed by experiencing the risen Christ. The experience of those who have believed in Christ is further confirmation of the truth of the Christian message. We may conclude:

1. Christian experience is based upon the facts of the gospel.
2. The disciples of Jesus and Saul of Tarsus are two biblical examples of the confirmation of Christian experience.
3. Millions of others since the disciples have had the same experience.
4. Thus Christian experience gives a further confirmation of the truth of the Christian message.

Summary On God's Existence

The following lines of argumentation can demonstrate the existence of the God of the Bible.

1. The traditional arguments (cosmological, teleological, anthropological, moral, biological and universal belief in His existence). They show that belief in God is not contrary to observable evidence.
2. The evidence from the nature and the reliability of the Bible.
3. The evidence of fulfilled prophecy.
4. The person and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
5. The testimony of changed lives.

This combined evidence gives sufficient testimony to the existence of the God who has revealed Himself in Scripture. We cover these issues in much more detail in our course The Case For Christianity.

Summary

While evidence from the traditional arguments argue for the existence of God it does not tell us what God exists. There is a separate line of evidence for the existence of the God of the Bible. One line of evidence is the Bible itself. Another strong evidence for believing in the existence of the God of Scripture is predictive prophecy. The person of Jesus Christ gives a resounding testimony for the existence of the God of Scripture. Finally, there is the personal evidence - the change lives of the followers of Jesus. Each of these lines of evidence provides a strong reason for the belief that the God who exists is the God of the Bible.

 

God’s Peculiar Glory

How We Know the Bible Is True

Houston, Texas

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For the last two years, I have focused in a greater way than ever before in my life on the question of how we know that the Christian Scriptures are completely true, and then, in view of that, how we should read them. The overflow of that focus and that thinking is now in two books. The first was released two weeks ago. The title is A Peculiar Glory: How the Christian Scriptures Reveal Their Complete Truthfulness. The second I just finished a few weeks ago (it is scheduled to be released next year). I’d like to call it Reading the Bible Supernaturally: Seeing and Savoring the Glory of God in Scripture.

So what I would like to do in our time together is help you see how your confidence in the Scriptures can be unshakable — not because you are stubborn or strong-minded, but because there is a reasonable and warranted ground for this confidence. And, of course, the ultimate goal is that through the Scriptures you would see the glory of God and savor the glory of God and be transformed by this seeing and savoring so that your emotions and attitudes and ideas and words and way of life magnify the glory of God increasingly forever.

The Most Urgent Quetion

Ever since I first got serious about the question how we know the Bible is true, it has seemed to me that the most urgent question is not how to provide arguments that convince modern atheists (like Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennet, Christopher Hitchens), but rather, how it is that an uneducated Muslim villager in the bush of Nigeria, or a pre-literate tribesman in Papua New Guinea, can know that the message of the Bible is true so that, three weeks after hearing and believing it, he would have a justified, warranted courage to die for his conviction. He could die for the truth of the Scriptures, and not be a fool.

That, to me, is a far more urgent question than how to answer secular skeptics. Is there a way for uneducated, ordinary people around the world to have a well-founded confidence that the Bible is true?

One of the reasons this question began to be so relevant for me when I was about 22 years old, and wrestling with the issues of biblical certainty, is not that uneducated people are more precious than educated people, or more in need than educated people. That’s not true. The reason had to do with my own quest for confidence. When I was exposed to the best arguments for the reliability of the Bible, I was wonderfully encouraged and helped. They seemed right to me. They were compelling.

You don’t need to be a scholar to know the Bible is true. God makes this confidence available to every Christian.

But what I discovered was that a week or two after studying them, I couldn’t remember all the pieces of the argument. I remembered that the argument seemed solid, but I couldn’t reproduce the argument in the present moment. And what made this troubling was not mainly that I couldn’t remember all the steps in the argument for the sake of the debate, but worse, I couldn’t remember them all for the sake of my soul. And on top of that, there was the nagging sense that I would meet some highly educated person who would point to something in my argument that I had overlooked, and I would be stumped. So basing my confidence on a fairly sophisticated sequence of history and logic felt fragile to me.

So you can see that my question about how a pre-literate villager with no formal education can know the Bible is true is very similar to the question, How can I know in a way that doesn’t depend on complicated historical and logical arguments? So for me this issue is not mainly about debates with the new atheists or other educated skeptics. This issue is about my own soul, the task of global missions, and the rearing of our children.

How Jonathan Edwards Helped Me

The person that helped me most in wrestling with these issues is Jonathan Edwards — the New England pastor and theologian who died in 1758. Not because he is brilliant — he is — but because he posed the question exactly the way I did, and he directed me to the Scriptures that answered my questions.

What many people don’t know about Edwards is that from 1751 to 1758, after he had been dismissed from his church in Northampton, Massachusetts, he was the pastor of a tiny church in the frontier town of Stockbridge and was a missionary to the Indians. Here’s where he connected with my concern. He wrestled with how the Indians, with no knowledge of history, or of the wider world, or any ability to read or any formal training in logic — how would they be able to have a well-grounded confidence in the message of Scripture? Here’s what Edwards wrote:

Miserable is the condition of the Houssatunnuck Indians and others, who have lately manifested a desire to be instructed in Christianity, if they can come at no evidence of the truth of Christianity, sufficient to induce them to sell all for Christ, in any other way but this [path of historical reasoning]. (Religious Affections, 304)

Thus a soul may have a kind of intuitive knowledge of the divinity of the things exhibited in the gospel; not that he judges the doctrines of the gospel to be from God, without any argument or deduction at all; but it is without any long chain of arguments; the argument is but one, and the evidence direct; the mind ascends to the truth of the gospel but by one step, and that is its divine glory. (298–299)

Unless men may come to a reasonable solid persuasion and conviction of the truth of the gospel, by the internal evidences of it . . . viz. by a sight of its glory; ’tis impossible that those who are illiterate, and unacquainted with history, should have any thorough and effectual conviction of it at all. (303)

So Edwards is arguing that the path to a reasonable, warranted, well-grounded conviction of the truth of the gospel and the Scriptures is a path that the Nigerian villager and the Papuan tribesman can follow. It is the path of seeing the peculiar glory of God in the word of God.

See Divine Glory for Yourself

I do not doubt that hundreds of you in this room have experienced what Edwards is describing, even if you have never thought of it in these terms. It’s almost always the case that God saves and gives us faith, and only later do we see in the Bible how he did that, and what language the Bible uses to describe our experience. It’s like a baby being born. He’s alive and breathing and crying and eating, before he knows how to describe any of that. Experience often precedes the ability to describe the experience.

So let me try, with three biblical analogies, to help you grasp what Edwards and I mean by gaining a well-founded conviction about divine truth by means of seeing divine glory. If you see these analogies, you may be able to interpret your own experience with biblical categories and language.

1. God’s Glory in Creation

God intends for us to have a well-grounded conviction that he is the powerful, wise, merciful creator and sustainer of the world by means of a sight of his glory.

Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens are telling the glory of God.” Notice! The heavens — the sun and moon and stars and galaxies — are not themselves the glory of God. We are not pantheists. The heavens are not God. And their glory is not the glory of God. They are telling — pointing to — the glory of God. Which means you must have eyes to see through the glory of nature to the glory of God.

Many non-Christian scientists see glory in the universe. Charles Misner said that Einstein had seen much more majesty than the preachers had ever imagined, and it seemed to him that they were just not talking about the real thing. So we have Psalm 19:1 showing us that the sight of glory can give us a well-grounded confidence that this universe is of God.

Then even more importantly, Paul says in Romans 1:19–21,

What can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

My guess is that very few of you have had trouble with the claim that God’s invisible power and divine nature are revealed in the creation, and that we are accountable to see his glory and know that God made it and that he is powerful and wise and beneficent. But you do not see this with your physical eyes. Your physical eyes see the wonders of the universe. They become the lens through which your spiritual eyes — what Paul calls the eyes of the heart (Ephesians 1:18) — see the very glory of the God.

And my argument — Edwards’s argument — is that the same thing happens when you read the Scriptures. The Scriptures reveal themselves to be the word of God the way nature reveals itself to be the world of God — God’s glory shines out from the meaning of these words, and authenticates their divine origin the way God’s glory shines out from the creation and authenticates its divine origin.

2. God’s Glory in the Incarnate Christ

Here is a second analogy of how God’s glory authenticates his divine reality — namely, the glory of God in Jesus Christ, the God-man.

God expected people in Jesus’s day to see the glory of God in him and know that he was the Son of God, even though he was really human, and looked like other ordinary people.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

Philip said to [Jesus], “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’” (John 14:8–9)

Many people looked at God-incarnate and did not see God. And many people hear God’s word today and do not hear God. But the Son of God was really there for those who had eyes to see, and the word of God is here, for those who have ears to hear. The glory of God in Christ was missed by many. And the glory of God in the word is missed by many. But neither is deficient.

3. God’s Glory in the Gospel

Here is one final analogy — the most important one — of how God’s glory authenticates the word of God — namely, the way the glory of God vindicates the gospel.

Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” The gospel, the story of how God came to save sinners, emits a supernatural light to the eyes of the heart — the “light of the gospel of glory of Christ.” Christ’s self-authenticating glory shines through the gospel. And God shatters the blindness in verse 6: “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

So the light is called in verse 4 “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” And the light is called in verse 6 “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Paul is saying that the way we come to know that the Christian gospel, as recorded in Scripture, is true is by a sight of its glory. The glory of God in the face of Christ. The glory of Christ, the image of God.

I call this a peculiar glory. It’s a glory that shines through all of the Scripture, but most brightly in the gospel of the Son of God crucified for the sake of sinners. What makes the glory of God in Scripture peculiar, especially the gospel, is the way God’s majesty is expressed through his meekness. God reveals himself in Lion-like majesty together with his Lamb-like meekness.

Isaiah cries out that this glory is utterly unique in the universe. “From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who works for those who wait for him” (Isaiah 64:4). God magnifies his greatness in condescending to help us, to save us. He magnifies his greatness by making himself the supreme treasure of our hearts, even at great cost to himself (Romans 8:32), and in that way satisfying us — serving us — in the very act of exalting his glory. This peculiar brightness shines through the whole Bible, and comes to its most beautiful radiance in the person and work of Jesus Christ, dying and rising for his enemies.

The Bible Shines a Peculiar Glory

My conclusion is that, just as God confirms that the world is his by revealing his glory through it, and that Jesus is the Son of God by revealing God’s glory through him, and the gospel is the gospel of God by revealing his glory through it, in the same way, the whole Bible authenticates itself by shining with the glory of the one who inspired it. Which means that we know that the Scriptures are the word of God because in their true meaning we see the self-authenticating glory of God. Or to use the words of Jonathan Edwards, “The mind ascends to the truth of the gospel but by one step, and that is its divine glory.”

Of course, the problem is that by nature we are blind to the glory of God. We suppress it. We love the darkness, Jesus says (John 3:19). Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:14, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” We have eyes, but we do not see. Ears, but we do not hear.

The only hope for us to see the glory of God in Scripture, and have a well-grounded confidence that it is the word of God, is for God to perform a miracle and take away our spiritual blindness that we are all born with. And Paul says God, in fact, does do this. God comes to us and he speaks a word of new creation just like he did in the old creation and says, “Let there be light.” And we are given life and new spiritual eyes. “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

You know Christ is real. You know the gospel is real. And you know the Scriptures are true, because God says, “Let there be light.” You see the peculiar glory and you know this is not the mere work of man. This is of God.

 

 

Scientific PROOF that God Exists!

 

Scientific PROOF that God Exists!

2014-12-13 08:02

-MyNews24

I've been reading a number of these 'Science vs. Religion' debates on this site and have wanted to weigh-in on the discussion for some time now. So here goes...

I see a lot of the same old stuff whenever I read through the comments. In one corner we have the Atheists with their insistence on 'Scientific proof' and 'Quantifiable Measurements’ and in the other corner we have the Christians, with the unfaltering belief that there is more to life than just being born, breeding and then dying. That we must have been put here for a reason, and that the people who believe in God and follow the teaching of Christ will one day ascend to heaven where they will take a special place beside the Creator of everything.

These disparate views surely cannot coexist? The problem is only so difficult to solve because the supernatural is not something that just anyone can experience. The supernatural is not seen in everyday life because then it wouldn't be super at all. In fact it has never been seen in everyday life, it just doesn't work that way. The supernatural can be found on the fringes of reality; the borderline between the tangible and the impossible. Some people see it, some people don’t. Those who have heard the gospels and believe in them have the ability to see that little bit extra, the piece of reality that isn't there for other people.

Think of all the wasted energy devoted to the separate beliefs? If Christianity is wrong, then all that is wasted is one’s lifetime beliefs and perception of the world. If science is wrong then medicine, technology and space exploration have all been for nothing. None of it matters in the end because we will live forever in our true form; as angels in Heaven.

Luckily, there is a solution. I have irrefutable scientific proof that God exists. This is evidence so clear that Atheists will not be able to use their normal tricks and their ‘Perceived Logical Superiority’ in order to shoot it down. I have the math.

Think of the complexity of life. It is immensely complex and we as humans have NO idea how a living creature can just ‘become’ from a thermally active chemical mixture of hydrocarbons. Even if we assume the world was 3.8 billion years old and has been undergoing massive geological changes, it seems highly unlikely that a very specific set of circumstances occurred somewhere on this vast planet in order to bring this about. We haven’t even been able to track down the time and place of this occurrence even though dozens of scientists have been looking for almost 100 years. Think of the fossils they claim as evidence. All they have are bits and pieces; a fish, a fish with some legs, a legged animal with a fish tail. Science doesn't say how these could just ‘turn’ into each other. There is still no hard evidence that these three fish-like creatures are even similar. Three separate beings can’t be the same thing.

Now on to the math and I’ll try to explain it as simply as possible. Divinity can be calculated as the ratio of how complex something is vs. how much ‘science’ can tell us about it. The less science can prove, the more faith comes into play, the more complex something is the more likely it was divinely brought about. So,

Divinity = Complexity/Scientific Facts or C/F.

No one would say a rock is complex, so let’s give it a 1 in complexity. Origin of Life is a definite 10.

So here’s our first example, a rock. Science knows 1000 things about the humble rock, so in this case Divinity = 1c/1000f = 0.001d. Not very divine and this makes sense, because only someone who knew nothing about rocks would think them divine. No one would erect and pray to a chunk of rock.

Next up: Medicine and the mysterious healing of sickness. Even scientists will admit that they can’t explain how some people can sometimes be healed from something that was first thought to be fatal. Complex diseases are an 8c and science’s explanation of the recovery, 3f. That gives us 2.666d. Now there is definitely some divinity involved here! This is why Christians pray for healing and can absolutely claim that the Holy Ghost, or God or Jesus could have definitely done something to possibly steer the results in favour of the newly non-deceased. Even causing the world-class doctors to have originally taken up medicine and stick to it tirelessly for years is definitely a possibility. And also the other stuff. Like childhood guidance, physical intervention, vibes and feelings, little disease zapping trans-dimensional lasers.

What IS important is that the specifics are NOT important. Because, God may work along the lines of quantum mechanics or something else if he wanted. So probability and uncertainty may play a part if he needed it to in order for the thing that just happened to be attributed to him by his followers. The higher the Divinity Index, the more likely this is.

And finally, we have the Origin of Life itself. This is the big one. The question that PROVES without a doubt that there is something science doesn't know. This, our greatest shortcoming, gives us the most concrete evidence that something that science cannot explain (in a way that everyone can understand) must have started everything. God fits this description perfectly! The all-powerful, omniscient being without beginning or end that can do anything he wants must have caused the universe and us, who most definitely must have a beginning and an end, to come into existence. Remarkably, that fact hasn’t swayed the non-believers for the two to three or so THOUSAND years that Christianity has been a thing, but thankfully now we have the Divinity Equation to back us up. 

Origin of life: 10c              Facts that science can tell us about the first seconds of it starting: 0f

Divinity = 10c/0f = flying miniature diplodocus pollenating brain flowers for food

Wait, no sorry. Let’s do that again…

Divinity = 10c/0f = three headed women fertilized by Saturn and then gave birth to planet Biscuit which was later renamed to Earth by a conquering alien race of Cauliflower

One more time, the divisor can be twitchy:

Divinity = 10c/0f = an entity that may or may not look and think like us created the universe and us six thousand years ago in his image. He loved us and felt that we should love him because he made us and it was only right. But then we ate a fruit from an apple tree which he carelessly and possibly deliberately planted within the vicinity of the only two people on the Earth. This made us too smart and not able to love him. It also made the lions stop eating grass and focus on a more meat-based diet. And dinosaur bones. After another 4 thousand years of rapid and insatiable breeding the human race went from 2 to 300 million. Because the powerful and benevolent entity wanted us to live with him because he loved us and because it was totally no longer possible because of the apple that we accidentally / deliberately ate he decided to send his son (which was different but actually him) to the planet by impregnating his own mother without permission. He then grew up as a mortal who had to manually spread the love until the people remembered that they should love him if they wanted to live with him and didn’t want to suffer horribly. He then died to emphasize the point. And then he got up and went home, confident that everyone would totally love him forever and those who didn’t were just poop-heads and should suffer immeasurable, agonising pain for all eternity. Then he disappeared and was never heard of again…

There we go, proof! Just ignore the last bit about not being seen again; it’s not to be taken literally.

I hope now we can put this ridiculous debate to rest in the face of this clear and compelling evidence. Christianity’s version of events is the only one that can possibly make sense and those that still deny it just can’t math very well. 

 

WHO IS JESUS?

https://youtu.be/mmRPSoDrrFU

 

Who is Jesus? What does His life, death and resurrection mean for me?

“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” — John 14:6

Many go through life unfulfilled, unfocused, searching—a blank canvas waiting for a picture of purpose to be painted on us. What does it all mean? And what does Jesus have to do with it?

Step 1 – God loves you and has a plan for you!

The Bible says, “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, [Jesus Christ], that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly”—a complete life full of purpose (John 10:10). But here’s the problem:

Step 2 – People are sinful and separated from God.

We have all done, thought or said bad things, which the Bible calls “sin.” The Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The result of sin is death, spiritual separation from God (Romans 6:23). The good news?

Step 3 – God sent His Son to die for your sins!

Jesus died in our place so we could have a relationship with God and be with Him forever. “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). But it didn’t end with His death on the cross. He rose again and still lives! “Christ died for our sins. … He was buried. … He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Jesus is the only way to God. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6).

Step 4 – Would you like to receive God’s forgiveness?

We can’t earn salvation; we are saved by God’s grace when we have faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. All you have to do is believe you are a sinner, that Christ died for your sins, and ask His forgiveness. Then turn from your sins—that’s called repentance. Jesus Christ knows you and loves you. What matters to Him is the attitude of your heart, your honesty. We suggest praying the following prayer to accept Christ as your Savior:

"Dear God, I know I’m a sinner, and I ask for your forgiveness. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son. I believe that He died for my sin and that you raised Him to life. I want to trust Him as my Savior and follow Him as Lord, from this day forward. Guide my life and help me to do your will. I pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen."

 

Jesus Is the Christ the Son of God

For several days he [Saul/Paul] was with the disciples at Damascus. And in the synagogues immediately he proclaimed Jesus, saying, "He is the Son of God." And all who heard him were amazed, and said, "Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called on this name? And he has come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests." But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.

In preaching through the book of Acts last year I arrived at the story of Paul's conversion in chapter 9. Then came the summer and our move to the new sanctuary and all the special focuses we have had since last spring. Now I feel very strongly led to pick up the series again.

Resuming the Series on Acts 

The more I thought and prayed about it, the more convinced I became that to preach from the book of Acts during the last year in our old sanctuary and the first year in our new sanctuary would drive home the point of last week's message, namely, that the authenticity of worship in these buildings must prove itself in how we spread the praise of God outside these buildings.

And the book of Acts is the inspired story of how the praise of God was spreading in the first century. So it is a great model and a great incentive for what worship should move us to do. It's true that worship is the ultimate aim of all the universe and all our ministry as a church. But it's also true that as long as there is sin and pain and lostness in the world, worship will not only be the goal but also the fuel of ministry and missions.

So if God uses the book of Acts in worship to ignite the fires of ministry and missions, then our worship will be vindicated, and the memory of our old sanctuary will be honored, and the purpose of our new sanctuary will be realized.

The Conversion of Saul of Tarsus 

You recall that Saul was a Pharisee utterly devoted to stamping out the new Christian movement. But Jesus sovereignly intervened in his life and utterly shocked and stunned him with a bright light on the Damascus road. Paul was blinded and didn't eat or drink for three days as he watched his whole world turn upside down.

The Jesus that he thought was dead was not dead. And not only was he not dead, but he was the living Lord of the universe. Jesus was able to make light shine into the world, and speak audibly to humans on earth, and strike a man blind, and give visions in prayer, and send a man named Ananias with the word that Saul was Jesus' chosen instrument to spread praise to the nations. So Paul's whole worldview collapsed in Damascus. And was rebuilt with the great, unshakable, stone pillars of truth about Jesus.

The Heart of Saul's New Worldview 

For several days he spends time with the disciples in Damascus (v. 19) and then, incredibly, he starts to preach and debate in the synagogues. And Luke tells us in two crisp statements what was at the heart of Saul's new worldview. Jesus, the hated, rejected, crucified criminal, is the Son of God and the long hoped-for Messiah. Verse 20: "And in the synagogue immediately he proclaimed Jesus, saying, 'He is the Son of God.'" And verse 22: "But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ [which means Messiah, the anointed one, the fulfiller of all God's promises to Israel]."

Isn't it amazing that the last words we hear coming out of Saul's mouth before his conversion are, "Who are you, Lord" (v. 5); and the first words we hear coming out of his mouth after his conversion are, "Jesus is the Son of God" (v. 20)? Surely Luke wants us to see that this is foundational to being a Christian and foundational to the rest of Paul's life as the greatest missionary who ever lived. "Jesus is the Son of God."

What I am praying will happen now in this message is that God will reveal his Son to you in new ways so you can enjoy fellowship and life in him.

What Does It Mean That Jesus Is the Son of God?

1. Jesus Is God

It means that he is God.

Paul said in Colossians 2:9, "In him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" (cf. 1:13, 19). He said in Philippians 2:6, "Though he was in the form of God he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself." Hebrews 1:2–3 says, "In these last days God has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of [God's] glory and the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power." Hebrews 1:8–9 says, "Of the Son [God] he says, "Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever." And John writes, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God . . . and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth" (John 1:1, 14).

When Paul said that Jesus is the Son of God, we understand him to mean that Jesus is God. He is not a mere man or a high-ranking angel in human form. He is truly man and truly God.

When we call him Son of God, we mean that he is of the same nature as God. Fathers create things unlike themselves, but they beget sons like themselves. C. S. Lewis puts it like this:

When you beget, you beget something of the same kind as yourself. A man begets human babies, a beaver begets little beavers, and a bird begets eggs which turn into little birds. But when you make (or create), you make something of a different kind from yourself. A bird makes a nest, a beaver builds a dam, and man makes a wireless set (or a computer) . . .

So when we say that Jesus is the Son of God, we mean that God has begotten his Son in his very same divine nature, nothing less, from all eternity. Begetting is a metaphor, a picture, that tries to hold two truths together: (1) God the Father is not God the Son and God the Son is not God the Father; they are distinct persons, distinct centers of consciousness, and can relate to each other. But (2) the Father and the Son are one God not two Gods, one essence, one divine nature. From all eternity, without any beginning, the Father has always had a perfect image of himself and a divine reflection or radiance equal to himself, namely, the Son.

So the first thing we mean when we say, "Jesus is the Son of God," is that he is God.

2. God Has a Unique Love for Jesus

The second thing it means is that God has a unique love for Jesus as his Son.

In Colossians Paul describes Jesus as the Son of God's love, implying that the love for his divine Son is utterly unique from the love God has for all his human children by adoption. "God has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of his love."

And two times in the earthly life of Jesus—once at Jesus' baptism and once on the mount of transfiguration—God the Father broke in and said, "This is my beloved Son." And in Ephesians 1:6 Jesus is simply called God's "loved one."

So when we call Jesus the Son of God, we should have in our minds the truth that he is God and that there is a relationship of infinite love between God the Father and God the Son that is different from all other loves.

Why Is This the First Thing Saul Proclaims? 

But let's ask why this was so crucial for Saul and for Luke that they put it right at the front of the ministry. The first thing Saul proclaims is, "Jesus is the Son of God." Why?

Consider these four truths about the Son of God and see if you don't think the truth of Jesus' Sonship deserves first place.

1. 1 John 5:12 says, "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who has not the Son of God has not life."
2. 1 John 2:23 says, "No one who denies the Son has the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also." So to have a relationship with God the Father and to have eternal life you have to confess Jesus as the Son of God and "have" Jesus as the Son of God—that is, be in fellowship with him (1:3; 1 Corinthians 1:9).
3. Galatians 4:4–5 gives the foundation of all this hope: "When the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son . . . to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." The Father sent his one and only divine Son so that he might have many human sons by adoption. "We were reconciled to God by the death of his Son" (Romans 5:10).
4. Finally, Galatians 2:20 says that we "live by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us."

So it was the coming and the dying of the Son that gave us the gift of adoption. So if you confess the Son, you have the Father also—have him as Father. And if you have the Son and the Father, then you have everlasting life. And not only for the ages to come, but right now the Son of God works for us so that our lives should be described as living by faith in the Son of God.

So it is not surprising that Saul and Luke would put this truth at the very beginning of Paul's missionary preaching: "Jesus is the Son of God."

It Must Be at the Front End of Our Lives Too 

It needs to be right at the front end of our Christian lives too. It needs to be one of the central pillars in our understanding of reality. Jesus is the Son of God.

I want you all to know the Son of God and to have personal, intimate, hour-by-hour, trustful, saving fellowship with him; and to have the Father with him; and to have life in them; and to enjoy the exalted place of adoption through the Spirit of the Son; and the gift of redemption and reconciliation and conformity to the Son; and the power of victory over the devil. "The Son of God appeared to destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8).

How Do You Come to Know the Son? 

I want all this for you. So how do you come to know and have the Son like that? Jesus said in Matthew 11:27, "No one knows the Son except the Father." So how will I ever come to know him? Then in Matthew 16:15 Jesus asks the disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Do you remember how Jesus responded? "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." Knowing Jesus as the Son of God is not something that happens by the mere mental and emotional powers resident in human nature. There must be a divine work of grace beyond flesh and blood, so that in and through and behind the Bible and the preaching and the miracles we see the glory of the Son. We taste the divine reality and know him supernaturally.

Is it an accident that Paul describes his conversion like this in Galatians 1:16, "When God was pleased to reveal his Son to me ["reveal"! the same word Jesus used to describe Peter's experience], in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with flesh and blood . . . but I went away into Arabia"? Just like Jesus said to Peter: "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven."

So how do you come to know Jesus as the Son of God and to have fellowship with the Son and walk by faith in the Son and have life in the Son?

There does have to be intelligible preaching or teaching or witnessing about the biblical story of Jesus. Our text says (Acts 9:22) that Saul "confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ." An intelligible, valid presentation of Jesus is essential. But persuasive words alone do not open the eyes of the heart. They tried to kill Paul in Damascus. "Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, Simon, but my Father who is in heaven."

"The God who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6).

How then do you come to know and to have and to fellowship with the Son of God? You listen to his Word, his story (Luke 9:35). And you pray for the revelation of the Father—the eyes to see the glory (Mark 9:24). And by grace you believe and triumph. "Who is it that overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?" (1 John 5:5).