1. The Bible Defined

  • not just a book but a collection of 66 books
  • Written by over 40 authors
  • Written over a period of 2000 years

The Bible is unique.

  1. The continuity of the authors are all speaking the same themes of purpose of life, heaven, judgment, God.
  2. There are 2500 prophecies int he Bible and 2000 of them have been fulfilled. the odds of 8 being fulfilled in one persons life (the events of Jesus birth were some of these prophecies) are 1 in 10 to the 17 power or a 1 with 17 zeros. The odds of 48 prophecies is 1 in 10 to the 157 power. They estimate the number of atoms int he universe as 10 to the 66 power.) Probability test # 1 and test # 2 (You can learn more by getting the book “Science Speaks” by Peter Stoner
  3. The Bible has been translated into 2500 languages.
  4. It is the best seller each year.
  5. This doesn’t prove the Bible is true, but it does make intelligent people admit that it is unique.

2. Bible full of Stories

How do we know the Bible is not just legend?

  1. Gospels were written between 40 – 60 years after Jesus death.
  2. Paul’s letters were written 25 years after Jesus death
  3. This is not enough time for legend to come into being. You need a longer gap between events and writings for legend to appear.
  4. Luke 4: 1 – 4 Luke says he interviewed eye witnesses
  5. Many stories name the characters while some do not. The purpose of naming the characters is for people to be able to go and ask them if what is being written is accurate because they are still alive
  6. Paul tells King Herod that the things he is talking about are known because they were not done in a corner. (See Acts 26: 26)

Wasn’t the Bible written to promote the agendas of the early church leaders?

  1. One of the problems of the early church was the problem of Gentile circumcision. If the leaders of the church wanted to add power to their arguments, they would have made Jesus mention this problem but Jesus is silent on the issue.
  2. The church leaders did not put themselves in very good light in the Bible. They were open about their mistakes.
  3. Women are elevated in the Bible whereas society looked down on them. They are elevated because the events happened as they are recorded.

See Youtube video about eye witness accounts.

3. Do we have the text that was written?

EXAMPLES:

How was the Bible translated

How did they decide what books to put in the Bible?

What about contradictions?

Here

and Here

4. The Bible from God, Really?

All scripture is inspired by God 2 Timothy 3: 16 Inspired means God Breathed

No Prophecy came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man. 2 Peter 1: 20, 21

  1. Peter is affirming that each writer was moved by God to write what God wanted written.
  2. God used their personalities to write what is in the Bible.
  3. There are 40 authors but they all say the same thing and reference each other which leads to one author.

What does this have to do with me?

Matthew 13 tells the story of a sower and the seed. For seed to grow, it needs two things, seed and soil. The soil is our hearts.

Vs 10 the disciples ask, why do you speak in parables? Jesus responds. “I teach in parables because this is the way I teach. Those who want to understand can and those that don’t will continue to be confused.

Key Point: Don’t stay away from Christianity because of parts that are confusing or offensive.