| Can I trust the Bible? |
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We owe it ourselves to dig deeper and discover for ourselves what the Bible has to say and what other evidence supports the Bible. Conversely, is there evidence that supports the world view, that is evolution? First let's set the basis by which we are going to determine if something is true and if we accept it. That is an absolute truth is an objective standard that is outside ourselves and is independent of personal opinion or feelings. Therefore, let's evaluate some facts about the Bible and then compare that with the world view, with evolution theory and with the teachings of your church. What it comes down to is that the Bible is either accurate or it is not. If it is accurate, then the Bible needs to be the standard by which you base your faith and if other teachings contradict the Bible then they need to be tossed aside as mere myths if you want to have a faith that is grounded on God's truth. What is the Bible? The Bible is the Word of God and is in a category all by itself of every possession that we own. It transcends all the writings of every book written by men for it shows us the mind of God and His plan for man. Jesus viewed the scriptures as inerrant and quoted from them and He submitted to their authority. The Bible could rightly be called the Biography of Jesus. Over half of the Bible prophecies (predictions) have already been literally fulfilled which would mean that the others should be literally interpreted. Out of the 1,800 prophecies, 1,700 have already come true. This is one test that God told his prophets that they can know if something is true or if a person was speaking on his behalf. The following Bible passages state this direction and confirmation from God: "You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?” If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed" (Deuteronomy 18: 21-22). Directly below are a selected, short list of the many prophecies that have come true: The Bible has a unified central message even though it contains sixty-six books written in different literary styles by perhaps forty different authors with diverse backgrounds over fifteen hundred years. Think about it. The Bible was not written in the age of the internet or computers. The writings were on scrolls. The authors often lived great distances from each other with very little opportunity to get together and collaborate their story, especially over a fifteen hundred year period. There are too many prophecies that have literally come true, exactly as described in the Bible, for it to be a work of imagination and a well thought out plan by men. No, It was inspired by God, penned by man, and is God's truth so that we could have a reliable source, unchanged over the centuries, that will guide us and give us the specific direction to eternal life through faith in God's son Jesus. But doesn't science really explain how we got here? The important question to ask is what does science not explain? The answer is that there is no evidence that we evolved from apes over time. Think about this, with our modern science, and with carbon dating, we can accurately determine the age of fossil records. If we really evolved from apes there would be a stream of fossil records that can be proven by carbon dating, to show the migration of ape bones to human bones. No such discovery has ever occurred. The few that have been reported in the press have been later discovered to be a hoax. Some will say Doesn't Darwin's theory explain our origin? The answer is that Darwin's theory has not been proven or supported by any scientific research. It has been latched onto by many but there is no evidence to support it. In fact, a scientist named Stanley Miller decided to test the hypothesis and created an experiment where he recreated the atmosphere of the primitive earth in a laboratory and shot electricity through it to stimulate the effects of lightning. Miller, and other evolutionists thought that life could be formed where energy (supplied by lightning) combined with the right "prebiotic" ingredients would enable life form to emerge over billions of years. His experiment found that amino acids -- the building blocks of life -- had been created. Did this prove the evolution theory? No. The flaws of the experiment were not widely taught. The problem was that the Miller did not have any proof that the earth's early atmosphere was composed of ammonia, methane, and hydrogen, which Miller used in his experiment. They based their theory on physical chemistry. They wanted to get a chemical reaction that would be favorable, and so they proposed that the early atmosphere was composed of these gases. This was the major flaw -- "From 1980 on, NASA scientists have shown that the primitive earth never had any methane, ammonia, or hydrogen to amount to anything". Instead it was composed of water, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen -- and you absolutely cannot get the same experimental results with that mixture. ** The events in the Bible have been confirmed by Archaeology. There have been thousands of archaeological finds in the middle east that support the Biblical record. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was thought to be mythological until evidence was uncovered that all five cities mentioned in Genesis were, in fact, situated just as the Old Testament said.* If archaeology supports the details found in the Bible then it enhances the credibility of the authors. If they are right about the smaller details then the reliability of the overall account is enhanced. Conversely, if archaeology does not support or disproves of alternate theories of our origin then they need to be thrown out as unreliable. Here are some selected accounts spoken of by critics that were previously thought to be inaccurate statements in the Bible, only later to be confirmed by archaeology.
And there are other discoveries -- the pool of Siloam from John 9:7, Jacob's Well from John 4:12 and many more, which gives historical credibility to John's gospel. Furthermore, various aspects of Jewish captivity have been confirmed. Every reference in the Old Testament to an Assyrian King has been proven correct. There is evidence that the world did have a single language at one time as the Bible says: the site of Solomon's temple is now being excavated: and on and on. Many times, archaeologists have been skeptical of the Old Testament, only to have new discoveries corroborate the Biblical account.* Archaeology has discovered whale carcase on the top of our worlds tallest mountain ranges, as well as other fish life. This would also confirm the Biblical account of the global flood that took place in the time of Noah. The fish life and even whales would die naturally and their bones would descend to the ocean floor or nearest bottom, which in this case was a tall mountain range. DNA Research is consistent with the Biblical record of our origin. A DNA Research scientist has conducted a thorough study of DNA from different races an found the entire human race came from one woman. Furthermore, the location of this woman is in the Middle East. This is another example where science is corroborating the Biblical account of Adam and Eve. There is so much evidence that supports the Biblical record. In Fact, one author set out to gather evidence that contradicted the Bible, hoping to disprove the accuracy of the Bible and in the process, discovered so much evidence that proved the accuracy of the Bible that he became a believer and follower of Jesus. I urge you to read his books, "The Case for Christ" and "The Case for Faith". The author's name is Lee Strobel and has a law degree from Yale University and was a former legal editor for the Chicago Tribune. His website is LeeStrobel.com. |
| "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." 2 Timothy 4:3-4 |
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