Can the Bible be trusted?

Or stated differently, “How do we know the Bible is the word of God?”

The Bible says “In the mouth of two or three witnesses is the truth established” (Deut 19:15).

There are actually many testaments to the truth of God:

• “Nature” itself testifies to the reality and nature of God.
• The Father works upon the hearts of men — even before they are born — to draw men to Him.
• The Bible testifies to the truth if God and explains what God expects from man.
• The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement.
• God sends prophets, and others to speak on His behalf.

We know that the Bible is true because they all agree.

In addition to conveying important truths through the mouths of multiple prophets (and the pens of multiple writers), God can reveal the truth over thousands of years. For really important truths, God establishes patterns. He will speak a promise through a prophet, then provide a teaching in some form that represents the promise to come, He may provide multiple symbols that represent the promise, then He will fulfill His promise, then He will explain How the promise was fulfilled (and commemorate it.) This whole process may take thousands of years!

Take for example the teaching of salvation, perhaps the most important teaching of all, began with a promise to Adam and Eve that one of their “seed” would crush the serpent’s head (Gen 3:15). He later taught Abraham about His plan of salvation, by asking Him to sacrifice his one and only son, but then interrupted the process and taught him that God would supply the sacrifice (Gen 22:8). This teaching established the pattern for man’s redemption, but the actual implementation of this plan would not occur for thousands of years. During this time, God gave Moses a method of sacrifice in which the blood of bulls and goats was applied on an altar (Lev 16:18). This however was not yet the redemption of man. It pointed to something greater to come. God taught a principle in Lev 17:11 in which He said “it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.” God sent His word through His law and prophets to provide additional information. Later of course we find that God (the Father) sent His own Son to become the sacrifice for man’s sin. It was not only a fulfillment of every promise given in the Bible regarding salvation, heralded by angels, witnessed by multitudes, and attested by the Holy Spirit, it is remembered to this day with the practice of communion. Jesus introduced the practice by holding up a cup of wine at the last supper and saying “…This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sin.” (Matt 26:28).

No other book compares to the Bible. Sixtysix books, written by 36 authors, over the course of thousands of years, in three different languages. God moved upon people to write this record, and provide a message delivered to you by preachers, missionaries, family, and friends. Only an eternal God could orchestrate such a message and deliver it to you. Any imposter that would try to set up “another gospel,” or to write another book to substitute in place of the Bible, would be hard pressed to duplicate the miracle of progressive revelation over millennia of time. The patterns established in the ancient writings found their validation over time.

Only an eternal God could have gone to such lengths to create a universe and foresee the need to save mankind!

Only a loving God would care to go to the trouble to make it all happen!