An apologetics discussion examining why Christians trust the Bible through its scientific and historical claims, unity, prophecy, answers to life’s questions, presentation of Jesus, persistence, and power to change lives.
Study format: Topical study; no single primary passage was identified in the historical source.
Opening Prompt
Read the F. Graham tweet.
Historical-source note: The referenced tweet was not included in the Notion record.
Introduction
The Bible will be the basis for everything we discuss this year.
- What is corroboration?
- No “typical” corroboration is possible, so how do we trust it?
- What is the Bible?
- Is it written by God?
- Does it change with the times?
- Has it been consistent for thousands of years?
- Is it supernatural?
I believe it is supernatural. Here are seven characteristics that will “prove” that.
Characteristic One: The Bible Is Scientifically Accurate
The Bible began to be written around 1450 BC, about 3,500 years ago.
However, there is not a single scientific inaccuracy in the Bible.
Not only that, there are many examples where the Bible was scientifically correct when it was written, while people did not reach these conclusions until hundreds or even thousands of years later.
Review the attached historical source image:
Characteristic Two: The Bible Is Historically Accurate
Many people claim or assume that there are errors in the Bible. However, the Bible is 100 percent historically accurate.
Archaeological discoveries throughout history have repeatedly confirmed biblical accounts.
- Dead Sea Scrolls
Characteristic Three: The Bible Has Perfect Unity
It took over 1,600 years to write the Bible, approximately 1450 BC–AD 100.
- It has 66 books.
- It was written by 40 different authors, including kings, shepherds, and tax collectors.
- It was written in different languages.
- It came from different cultures.
- Its writers represented a large range of ages.
Even with all those differences, there is not a single significant contradiction.
(Christ Jesus, Jesus Christ)
Not only is there no contradiction, but it is clear that there is a unifying story throughout the entire book.
This is humanly impossible.
Characteristic Four: The Bible Accurately Predicted the Future
There are hundreds of prophecies in the Bible that have already come true. There has never been one that was wrong. There are over 300 prophecies that Jesus Himself fulfilled. A mathematician writing in Science Speaks calculated the probability of one man fulfilling just 48 of these as 1 in 10157.
Characteristic Five: The Bible Perfectly Answers Questions
I’m talking about the big questions that all humans ponder:
- Where do we come from?
- Why are we here?
- Where are we going?
- What are we to do while we are here?
Characteristic Six: The Personality of Jesus Christ
Even Jesus’ enemies knew He wasn’t weak.
- He sometimes became angry, but always at injustice.
- He gave attention to and loved society’s outcasts.
- He corrected people in authority over Him.
- Throughout all this, He never sinned.
- Even as people nailed Him to a cross, He asked God to forgive them because they did not know what they were doing.
Characteristic Seven: The Persistence of the Bible
This book has been by far the most attacked book in history.
It has been studied up and down the river in attempts to find errors.
It has been the target of attempts to destroy it.
Several “intellectuals” have made it their life’s goal to disprove the Bible, only to become believers after their research.
- C. S. Lewis
- Lee Strobel
Bonus Characteristic Eight: The Bible Supernaturally Changes Lives
The Bible can speak to you supernaturally while you are reading it.
Historical Source Links
- Is the Bible True?
- 101 Scientific Facts
- Yes, You Can Prove the Bible Is True
- 10 Biblical Facts Science Proved Later