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THE HOLY BIBLE —Authoritative Source of Divine Truth
GOD's Word, the Holy Bible is a compilation of 66 books written by multiple authors, on multiple continents, spanning a period of more than 5,000 years. Each of its authors testifies to having a relationship with a spiritual Super Being whom they described as "the Lord" or "the Eternal One".
A Wise and Loving GOD Intervenes
The Bible declares GOD as the Creator and Supreme Moral Sovereign of the Universe. It describes Who He is, His values, attributes, and both His near-term and long-term objectives. The Bible describes the races of human and spirit beings (such as angels) He created with free will, and the eternal rewards for them that obey Him. The Bible also describes rebellious beings who have chosen to reject GOD's Sovereign will and authority, and their eternal fate.
The focus of the Bible is upon GOD's plan to restore the Earth and its inhabitants to His original creative purpose. It describes the creation of man, and how man - deceived by the rebellious archangel (Satan), departs from GOD's purpose, and how GOD personally intervenes to restore man to His purpose.
What the Bible Is
The Bible claims to be the exclusive source of GOD's supernaturally inspired revelation of Himself to mankind. The Bible (also referred to as the Word of GOD, GOD's Word, the Book, or the Scriptures), is the complete and infallible record of GOD's message of hope to mankind.
The essence of the Bible is Supernatural power, spirit and Divine Life:
- It is the power of GOD unto salvation for everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16)
- It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. (John 6:63)
The Bible describes man's origin and destiny, and GOD's purpose spanning from eternity past, to the present Age, to eternity future. The Bible provides specific historical and prophetic details relating to GOD's dealings with man since creation.
Why You Can Trust the Bible
The Bible provides a record of man's origin from the period of GOD's restoration of the Earth, its cosmos, plant life and animal life in approximately 4004 BC. Although the Bible's main message is about restoring man back into GOD's plan, the Bible provides numerous proofs of its authenticity, supernatural origin and divine message.
The Bible makes references to various facts that have taken man thousands of years to discover. None of the Bible's facts have ever been proven wrong. For example, in the Book of Isaiah (40:22), the Bible stated that the earth was spherical in shape, 2,200 years before 15th century man discovered it to be so.
Geology
Although it seems absurd and even laughable to modern man, but up until the 15th century, educated man believed the world was flat. In contrast, the Bible (Job 26:10, Prov 8:27, Isaiah 40:22, Amos 9:6) stated in numerous references that the earth is spherical (round) in shape, predating man's discovery of that fact by over 2,000 years.
Astronomy
A total of approximately 4,000 stars are visible by the naked eye, from all points on the earth. Since the beginning of astronomy, astronomers have reported what they believe to be a scientifically provable maximum number of stars. Ptolemy cataloged 1,056 stars; Brahe counted 777; and Kepler cataloged 1,005.
- But the Bible (Jeremiah 33:22, Isaiah 55:9) states that the total number of stars cannot be counted; that they are innumerable like the grains of sand on the beach (Genesis 22:17). Scientists now estimate there are one hundred million, billion, billion stars. Counting 10 stars per second would take one thousand, million, billion years - quite impossible, as the Bible states, for a human being to count.
- The Bible described the orbit of the sun, thousands of years before astronomers discovered the sun's 200-million year orbit (within the Milky Way).
- The Bible (Job 38:31-32) provides astronomical insight into the cosmological attributes of 3 star systems, Pleiades, Orion and Arcturus. Note that this was recorded in the Bible thousands of years before astronomers discovered it to be true. How could anyone know -thousands of years ago -without benefit of any instrumentation such as telescopes, about the subtle characteristics of these distant star systems?
- The Bible (Job 26:7) states that the earth is suspended in space upon nothing.
How we received the Bible
The Bible was given to mankind through the audible voices of GOD, angels, prophets, Jesus Christ and the apostles - through visions, dreams, revelation and inspiration.
The Bible claims to be "GOD-breathed", that is, its writing is the direct result of GOD's special influence upon the minds and lives of holy men. Each of its authors testifies to having a relationship with a spiritual Super-Being whom they described as "the Lord" or "the Eternal One".
These men were of varied occupations including, farmers, kings, shepherds, priests, judges, lawyers, princes, soldiers, courtiers, statesmen, musicians, inventors, singers, poets, preachers, prophets, fishermen, tentmakers, publicans, physicians, rich men and poor men.
This divine influence enabled them to supernaturally document an infallible account of GOD's special revelation to mankind (2Tim. 3:16; Acts 3:21; 2Pet. 1:21).
Logistical Impossibility for Man
The Bible was given to mankind through the audible voices of GOD, angels, prophets, Jesus Christ and the apostles - through visions, dreams, revelation and inspiration. The Bible consists of 66 books, written in 3 languages (Hebrew, Chaldee and Greek), over 16 centuries, on 3 continents (Africa, Europe and Asia), by over 40 different authors -many who never met or knew of each other's writings.
Yet, when the 66 books were assembled into one volume, there were no contradictions. Its divine message is a flawlessly consistent record of GOD's creation, man's fall and GOD's plan to save man.
Information integrity and consistency
The Bible's two main divisions, the Old Testament and New Testament, cross-validate each other. The Old Testament prophesies hundreds of events that are later fulfilled in the New Testament. Likewise, the New Testament attests to the authenticity of the Old Testament, with 287 direct references and quotations by Christ and the apostles.
Its message complete
The Bible's message addresses man's complete need, spiritually and intellectually. It describes man's origin and destiny, spanning from eternity past to the present Age, to eternity future. The Bible provides specific historical and prophetic details relating to GOD's dealings with man, from Earth's restoration (approximately 4004 BC), to present times - and beyond.
| No other text provides mankind such a competent and morally acceptable rationale for his origin, nature, destiny and hope. |
Its Message Relevant
The Bible describes GOD's law and the grave moral responsibility that free will imposes upon individuals to obey it. The Bible describes man's moral failure and the horrifying consequences of facing a righteous GOD's wrath. The Bible also describes GOD's great love for mankind and His awesome sacrifice to restore believers to His creative purpose.
GOD Reveals Important Facts About Himself
The Bible identifies in 130 instances that GOD is the Creator of all things. The Bible includes over 20,000 references concerning GOD's attributes, values and plans. The inspired writers of the Bible quote directly from GOD over 3,800 times.
The Bible's Authority - Exclusive
The Bible represents GOD's final authority in matters of life and death and shares this sovereign status with nothing and no one else; neither religious tradition, nor the Church, nor for the convenience of man's interpretation.
The Bible further declares its unique status as the only complete and final revelation of GOD to man. The Bible places a Divine curse upon any who would modify its text or its interpretation.
The Bible declares GOD's Word as the Standard whereby all mankind will receive eternal life —or judgment.
The Bible Proves Itself as the Inspired Word of GOD
Of the Bible's 6,408 statements of prophecy, over 3,200 verses have been fulfilled, another 3,140 are now being fulfilled and are yet to be fulfilled. Several hundreds of these prophecies were spoken centuries before they were fulfilled.
Over 330 distinct prophecies concerning Jesus Christ were fulfilled by Christ Himself. Of the more than 3,000 fulfilled Bible prophecies —none has ever failed.
- Key Benefit of the Bible
- The key benefit of the Bible is not in its scientific or archeological accuracy, but it's Supernatural presentation of GOD's gracious lifesaving offer to an undeserving humanity.
What the Bible Is About
The Bible describes GOD's creation of the first man and woman and how they rebelled against GOD's Law and subjected the whole human race to face GOD's judgment.
The Bible describes GOD's love for mankind and His plan to save lost humanity by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay man's debt to GOD's law. It describes how faith in Christ's death and resurrection secures the believer a new destiny of eternal life.
Summary
Man's fallen state only magnified his need for Divine Revelation.
As the verbally inspired Word of GOD, the Bible is the supreme authority regarding all matters of life. These various proofs show that the Bible is indeed a divinely inspired and factual text worthy of thoughtful investigation.
The Bible is proven trustworthy for countless generations by the testimony of great men and great women who were inspired and transformed by its message.
But perhaps the Bible's greatest evidence of Divine origin is its impact upon the life of the individual. For this test, we must look further into what the specific message of the Bible is.
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